Daniel 4 - Grace and the Beast

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Our passion is to experience and express grace.

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Amen.

Turn with me this morning to Daniel chapter 4.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

Daniel 4.

There's been a clash of kingdoms going on so far in the book of Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon in one corner.

And Yahweh and the kingdom of Israel in the other corner.

Who's the true king with the lasting kingdom?

Who's going to come out on top?

After an initial flurry of activity from Nebuchadnezzar conquering God's people

and taking vessels from God's temple back to His own gods,

God has one round after another shown Himself convincingly to be the strongest king,

the God greater than all the gods of Babylon.

Last week, in fact, at the fiery furnace,

God showed up to rescue His people from the clutches of Nebuchadnezzar and his idol

and to prove once again that He is the only one worthy of our worship.

Today, in round 4, chapter 4, God throws the knockout punch.

This is the last time we'll hear from Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel.

His kingdom fades and God and His servants continue and stand.

But Yahweh doesn't just defeat Nebuchadnezzar in this chapter.

He does it in such a way that when it's over,

his opponent calls a press conference, so to speak, to praise the power of God.

Nebuchadnezzar's declaration to all peoples is recorded at both the beginning and the end of this chapter.

I want us to read it together before we then go back and walk through the story

that led him to make such a declaration as this.

For now, we'll start reading at verse 34 of Daniel chapter 4.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

Let's give our attention to God's holy word.

At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven,

and my reason returned to me.

And I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.

And He does according to His will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

And none can stay His hand or say to Him,

What have you done?

At the same time, my reason returned to me,

and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me.

My counselors and my lords sought me,

and I was established in my kingdom,

and still more greatness was added to me.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven.

For all His works are right, and His ways are just,

and those who walk in pride, He is able to humble.

Pray with me.

Father, indeed, You are the one whose kingdom lasts forever,

from generation to generation.

You are the one who is able to humble the prideful.

And Father, we struggle with our own pride,

and we would ask this morning that through Your Word,

You would humble us.

That You would not only humble us,

but give us great dependence upon You.

Father, do that in my heart first.

That the one who speaks Your words this morning would not do so in pride,

but in complete dependence upon You.

Holy Spirit, work in my heart and in all of our hearts

that Your Word might do its mighty work,

and that we would be different forever

because we met with You this morning.

We do ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land,

a young prince lived in a shining castle.

Although he had everything his heart desired,

the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.

But then one winter's night,

an old beggar woman came to the castle

and offered him a single rose

in return for shelter from the bitter cold.

Repulsed by her haggard appearance,

the prince sneered at the gift

and turned the old woman away.

But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances,

for beauty is found within.

When he dismissed her again,

the old woman's ugliness melted away

to reveal a beautiful enchantress.

The prince tried to apologize,

but it was too late,

for she had seen that there was no love in his heart.

And as punishment,

she transformed him into a hideous beast

and placed a powerful spell on the castle

and all who lived there.

Ashamed of his monstrous form,

the beast concealed himself inside his castle

with a magic mirror

as his only window to the outside world.

The rose she had offered

was truly an enchanted rose,

which would bloom until his 21st year.

If he could learn to love another

and earn her love in return,

by the time the last petal fell,

then the spell would be broken.

If not, he would be doomed

to remain a beast for all time.

That's a fairy tale.

The prologue, of course,

to the classic fairy tale

we know as Beauty and the Beast.

But in real human history,

there was another such prince

in a shining castle,

in a faraway land,

with everything his heart desired,

but spoiled,

selfish,

and unkind.

And Daniel chapter 4

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

is the story of that prince

becoming a beast

until he learns something significant

as well as the other prince had to do.

Until Nebuchadnezzar learns

his own humble state

in the glory and might

of the true king.

Let's start the story there

with King Nebuchadnezzar,

the self-made man.

Nebuchadnezzar is so proud of himself,

isn't he?

We've seen this king over and over

through the first chapters of Daniel.

Already he's marked by Aaron,

arrogance, right?

Narcissism, we would say these days.

Obsessed with his own glory.

And you see it coming again

in verse 4 of this chapter.

I, Nebuchadnezzar,

was at ease in my house

and prospering in my palace.

And you think, by now,

oh no, that may not last real long.

And then Nebuchadnezzar gets a warning

through a dream that he and his kingdom

will be cut down

and are coming to an end.

We'll come back to that part in just a bit.

But he gets that warning

and still a year after that warning,

we read this in verse 29.

At the end of 12 months after the dream,

he was walking on the roof

of the royal palace of Babylon

and the king answered and said,

is not this great Babylon

which I have built by my mighty power

as a royal residence

and for the glory of my majesty?

And you think, bless his heart.

He just doesn't get it, does he?

We've been reading your story.

We know how this is going to go.

You didn't do all of this.

But maybe that's what you expect

from the king of Babylon,

the enemy of God and his people.

He's the villain.

He's the bad guy in the story, right?

Of course he's like this.

My eight-year-old daughter Caitlin

came downstairs one morning this week

and I was working on my sermon

and she looked over the computer

and saw Nebuchadnezzar typed in there

and she said, oh, Nebuchadnezzar,

I don't like him very much.

She said, he's always grouchy.

I thought, oh boy,

our Sunday school teacher's doing a good job.

They've pegged Nebuchadnezzar.

He's always like this, right?

That's just who he is.

But stop and think for a minute.

Think of all Nebuchadnezzar has seen.

Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

rise to the top of his advisors

to the cream of the crop.

A dream interpreted for him

about the fall of his kingdom.

Three men spared from the fiery furnace.

You think he'd begin to pick up

on something here, right?

Then think of all of the things

that he's said as he's witnessed

these events happening.

Daniel 2 at verse 47,

the king says to Daniel,

truly your God is God of gods

and Lord of kings

and a revealer of mysteries

for you've been able to reveal this mystery.

And then the next chapter,

in chapter three,

Nebuchadnezzar says after the fiery furnace,

blessed be the God of Shadrach,

Meshach and Abednego

who sent his angel

and delivered his servants

who trusted him

and set aside the king's command.

They yielded up their bodies

rather than serve and worship

any God except their own.

I'm gonna make a decree.

Any people, nation or language

that speaks anything against the God

of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

shall be torn limb from limb

in their houses and ruins

for there's no other God

who's able to rescue in this way.

Sounds like a guy who's met Yahweh, right?

Think of all the things he's done.

Promoting God's people in his government.

Protecting God's people

through his decrees like that one.

Trusting God's interpretation

of his dreams through Daniel.

This is the second time.

And you'd think he'd be getting

the message by now, wouldn't you?

Nebuchadnezzar is on board.

He understands who the true king is.

But as we've seen,

that's not the case, is it?

What we see here in this king

is that pride blinds us

from seeing our true selves

or our true king accurately.

Despite what Nebuchadnezzar

has supposedly learned,

he still surveyed his kingdom

and thought highly of himself.

He was walking on the roof

of the royal palace in Babylon,

verse 29 says.

A view from which you could see

not only the walls of the city,

thick enough for four chariots

side by side to ride

along the top of the wall.

He sees the expanse of his city

and how far and how magnificent it looks.

From the roof of the royal palace

in Babylon,

you can see the hanging gardens

that Nebuchadnezzar has built.

One of the glories

of the ancient world.

And his pride obscures

the reality of his condition

and the true king of heaven.

He misses that all of these things

come from God

who gives power to whom he will.

Perhaps it's his power

that leads him to feel self-sufficient,

that he's got that kind of influence

over so many people.

Or maybe it's his possessions,

which do seem pretty impressive,

you've got to admit,

when you think about Babylon

and all Nebuchadnezzar can call his own.

But whatever it is,

he looks out over his kingdom

and he thinks,

yes, I am pretty awesome.

I am really fabulous, you know.

As I stand up here and look out,

I really am something.

And we may chuckle at that,

but we do the same thing ourselves,

don't we?

We saw last week

how easily we,

like Nebuchadnezzar,

worship idols

to get what we really treasure.

How often does our relative wealth

tempt us to believe

we are self-sufficient,

self-made men and women?

Haven't we,

like Nebuchadnezzar,

praised the name of God

in here on Sunday?

Prayed to Him?

Confessed our need of Him

only to find our fickle hearts

wandering right back

to building our own kingdoms

on Monday morning?

Nebuchadnezzar's not the only one,

is he,

to praise God with his lips

only to see his life

not back it up time and again,

back and forth praise,

and then living for my own glory?

We confessed together earlier this morning

that we have a tendency to do that

and trust ourselves rather than God,

but we'll do it again this week,

won't we?

After all we've seen

and all we've learned,

we'll fall again

and fail to trust Him.

To be honest,

it is quite ridiculous

ridiculous that we do that.

You'd think we'd know better by now.

You'd think we'd have gotten it figured out

and stopped pursuing our own desires

and trusted that God knows best.

But you know,

sin is ridiculous.

That's what it's like.

We should look and say,

this makes no sense.

Why do I live this way?

The pride in our hearts

blinds us

to seeing

the seemingly clear reality

about ourselves

and about our true King.

It's why pride often comes

before destruction

and a haughty spirit

before the fall

because it blinds us

and so of course

when we're walking around blinded,

we're likely to stumble

on something.

We don't see reality

the way we should.

Have you ever in your heart

looked out

from your back porch

or your office window

and thought to yourself,

oh yeah,

I am something.

Or maybe you've walked in

to look at your kids

sleeping at night

before you go to bed

and you've looked over them

and thought to yourself,

is it not this a great life

or family?

Or kingdom

that I've built?

Haven't I done

just a wonderful job?

I haven't struggled

with that since last night.

Percy Shelley captured

the emptiness

of our feelings

of grandeur

in his classic sonnet,

Ozymandias.

If poetry is not your thing,

this is the poem,

but if you're not

going to figure it out

anytime soon

what he's saying,

I'm with you.

What he sees

is a broken statue.

This statue

with only the trunk,

the legs left,

and this broken face,

the head of the statue,

sitting there

in the middle

of the desert sand.

And he realizes

that there's a plaque

on the bottom

of a statue,

like all good statues,

to tell you

who it is, right?

Who is it

who had this statue

built of himself?

And it's down here

towards the end

of the poem.

On the pedestal,

the words read,

My name is Ozymandias,

King of kings.

Look on my works,

ye mighty,

and despair.

The king is so confident

in his own might,

and Shelley says,

Nothing beside remains.

Sand.

A broken head,

some crumbling rock,

and desert

all around.

As far as the eye can see,

that's all that's left

of apparently

a once mighty kingdom.

We outwardly prosperous,

successful people

of southeast Huntsville

need to realize

something this morning.

It's hard to see reality

when you've built

or accumulated

lots of things

that seem great

and wonderful,

but really don't last.

It makes it hard

to see the reality

about yourself

or the reality

about God.

Nebuchadnezzar's pride

blinded him

to the reality

that he was not

the king of kings,

that he wouldn't

last forever.

His days would pass,

and his kingdom

would end.

That's the reality

that Nebuchadnezzar

only realizes

as the humbled beast.

Now there's a dream

here in this passage

and then Daniel

interprets the dream

for Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel's interpretation

recounts almost

all of the dream

in the interpretation,

so I'm just going to read us

the interpretation part

and you'll get

a pretty good idea

of the dream itself.

Let's read at verse 20

of chapter 4.

Daniel talking to Nebuchadnezzar

says,

The tree you saw

which grew

and became strong

so that its top

reached to heaven

and it was visible

to the end

of the whole earth

whose leaves

were beautiful

and its fruit abundant

and in which was food

for all

under which the beasts

of the field

found shade

and in whose branches

the birds

of the heavens lived.

It is you,

O king,

who have grown

and become strong.

Your greatness

has grown

and reaches to heaven

and your dominion

to the ends of the earth.

I mean,

Nebuchadnezzar

was quite a guy,

right?

And Daniel says,

It's true.

This tree in your dream

is a picture of you

and your kingdom.

But there was more

to the dream.

And because the king

saw a watcher,

a holy one,

coming down from heaven

and saying,

Chop down the tree

and destroy it,

but leave the stump

of its roots in the earth

bound with a band

of iron and bronze

in the tender grass

of the field.

And let him be wet

with the dew of heaven

and let his portion

be with the beasts

of the field

till seven periods

of time pass over him.

Because that happened,

Daniel says,

this is the interpretation

of that, O king.

It is a decree

of the Most High

which has come upon

my Lord the King

that you shall be driven

from among men

and your dwelling

shall be with the beasts

of the field.

You shall be made

to eat grass like an ox

and you shall be wet

with the dew of heaven

and seven periods of time

shall pass over you

till you know

that the Most High

rules the kingdom of men

and gives it

to whom he will.

And as it was commanded

to leave the stump

of the roots of the tree,

your kingdom shall be

confirmed for you

from the time

that you know

that heaven rules.

The dream actually

comes true

in the worst way

right at the height

of the king's pride

right when he's making

that statement

of how awesome Babylon is

as he looks at it.

Verse 31,

those words are still

in the king's mouth

and a voice falls

from heaven.

O king Nebuchadnezzar,

to you it is spoken,

the kingdom has departed

from you

and you shall be driven

from among men

and your dwelling

shall be with the beasts

of the field

and Nebuchadnezzar

immediately becomes a beast

and fulfills the dream

that he has had.

we must see the darkness

of our hearts

of our sin

for what it really is.

The beastliness

that is true of us.

That we're not

the greatest of kings.

That we have no power

and no great deeds

to trust in before God.

That what we accomplish

doesn't impress God.

We have to see that reality

in our own hearts

and lives.

While pride blinds us

to that reality

so we don't see it clearly,

humility opens our eyes

to our own weakness

and God's strength.

We learn those things together,

don't we?

John Calvin says

in his Institutes

that that's how it works.

Knowledge of ourself

and knowledge of God

coming hand in hand.

They work together.

As we see our own emptiness

and need,

we see God's fullness

and provision

at the same time.

It's when we see

how incredibly worthy

of all worship

and glory God is

that we know clearly

that we are not

worthy of worship

and glory.

It's when we come

to the end of ourselves

that we begin to see God

for who He really is.

And that's what we can learn

from watching

Nebuchadnezzar's life.

As amazing as were

all the signs and wonders

from God

that he had already seen,

there was too much

of himself left

to see God

as the only true king.

God was impressive to him.

He said as much,

didn't He?

But Nebuchadnezzar

was pretty good too.

You know?

I mean,

as far as kings go,

He had a few things

going for Him.

He'd done some

pretty powerful stuff.

And so God persists

in showing him

His beastliness

in all its ugliness,

in all its limitations,

until Nebuchadnezzar learns

that the Most High rules

the kingdom of man

and gives it

to whom He will.

Three times that's repeated

in this passage.

Until you learn

that heaven rules,

that Yahweh is not

one God among many,

but is the Most High God.

Just as the prince

in the movie

has to learn

as a beast

to love,

and that true beauty

lies within,

Nebuchadnezzar has to learn

as a beast

to bow,

and that true power

lies above.

Nebuchadnezzar has to see

himself as nothing

to see God

as everything.

That's how he describes

all the inhabitants

of the earth

in verse 35.

That includes him, right?

One of the inhabitants

of the earth,

he says,

all of them

are accounted as nothing.

Nothing.

They don't register

on God's scale

in the scheme

of powers

and of glorious rulers

and great kingdoms.

Even the most powerful

are not on the chart.

Only God is king

and He will reign forever.

So if His kingdom

is everlasting,

mine never rules.

If all power

and authority

comes from Him,

mine is never

my own

to glory in.

Are you willing

to see your beastliness

this morning?

Do you see the horror

of your own

self-focused

desires

and decisions

and what a life

built around

my glory

looks like?

Do you acknowledge

the absurdity

of your own

claims to control

and glory

that it makes

no sense

to think of ourselves

as strong?

If you're willing

in humility

to be completely

weak,

you will find

God

to be for you

immeasurably

strong.

And that's really

the beauty

of the gospel

of grace

that we see

on display

in this passage,

isn't it?

Perhaps the pride

and the depravity

of King Nebuchadnezzar

is not surprising

to you.

Maybe you expected

that of him.

But the gracious

pursuit

of the King

of Heaven

certainly

is amazing.

We can't say

for certain here.

There are

some commentators

who take

Nebuchadnezzar's

statements

of praise

for God

in this story

to be yet again

more examples

of his false

worship

just like the

statements we read

from earlier

in the book.

But I think

the evidence

is pretty strong

toward Nebuchadnezzar

finally and sincerely

bowing the knee

to Yahweh.

I think that's

what happens here.

Regardless

of that reality,

what we can say

for certain

is that God

is amazingly

gracious

to the guy

who all the way

through the first

stories of this book

is his arch enemy

in these stories,

right?

Whose kingdom

is set up

against his.

The king

deserves,

of course,

to remain

a beast forever.

Yet when Nebuchadnezzar

acknowledges

God's greatness,

when his reason

returns

after some time,

perhaps seven years,

we don't know

for sure,

he's restored

to his senses

and to his throne.

Look at verse 34.

At the end

of the days,

at the end

of my days

as a beast,

I,

Nebuchadnezzar,

lifted my eyes

to heaven

and in the moment

of me looking

up to heaven,

sanity comes.

Reason

returns

to me

when I look

up to heaven.

I bless

the Most High,

praised and honored

Him who lives

forever,

for it's His dominion

that's an everlasting

dominion

and His kingdom

that endures

from generation

to generation.

And at that same time

that my reason

returned to me

when I saw

things correctly,

for the glory

of my kingdom,

my majesty

and splendor

returned to me.

My counselors

and lords

sought me again

as the king.

I was established

in my kingdom

and even more

powerful,

even more greatness

added to me.

Nebuchadnezzar's

restored

and in fact

grows

after being a beast.

Wouldn't have seen

that coming.

Consider the incredible

grace

and patience

God shows

to this pagan king.

Think about it

for a minute.

Nebuchadnezzar

has brutally

murdered

the people

of God.

He has repeatedly

spurned

God's miracles.

He has sought

His own glory

above all else.

He has neglected

the poor

while living

a lavish lifestyle.

He has built

monstrous idols

to be worshipped

by everyone.

He's done

everything

to earn

the judgment

of God.

Shouldn't God

give up on him?

Shouldn't He be

done with him?

That's not the heart

of our God

is it?

His grace

reaches

to love

those who seem

least deserving.

He delights

to display

the riches

of His grace

by pouring it out

on the spiritually

poorest

of men.

You're not

beyond His grace

this morning.

You're not.

No matter

what you've done,

no matter

how you feel,

you're not beyond

the reach

of His grace.

Are you burdened

by the shame

of beastly

desires

and actions

in your present

or your past?

Do you know

that reality

and it weighs you

down and you

can't even lift

your head?

Listen,

you need to know

Christianity

is not a religion

where the favor

of God

falls on those

who appear

most deserving.

Christianity

is good news

that takes

beasts

and wretches

and makes them

children

of the King.

That's what

the gospel,

the good news

of Jesus Christ

is all about.

It's a situation

where the lost

are found

and the blind

see not because

they looked

inside themselves

and found

the moral fortitude

to earn God's

favor,

to perform

just well enough

to deserve it,

but because

they gave up

on earning it

and they looked

up to heaven

like Nebuchadnezzar

to receive

God's favor

as a gift

that they could

never

have earned.

God relentlessly

pursues

the proud

king

until he

humbles him

and makes him

look to heaven

for help.

That's how God

works, isn't it?

It's what he does

in our hearts.

God's grace

makes proud

people humble

and humble

people his

children.

He opposes

the proud

but gives grace

to the humble

we read.

And sometimes,

sometimes his grace

is so incredible

that it doesn't

just find

the humble

person

and come

meet him

there.

Sometimes it

chases after

the proud

person

and actually

turns him

into a humble

person

then meets

that humble

person

and adopts

him as his

child.

And many of us

know that story

don't we?

We've experienced

it firsthand

that his grace

has humbled

our prideful

hearts

and then

in our lowest

point met us

there to say

but I love

you

and you're

my child.

It's not

the great

king that I

wanted to adopt

it's the

humble

lowly

beast.

You I love

you're my

child.

Sometimes he

does that.

He allows us

to see our

emptiness

and then he

meets us

there empty

and gives

salvation

that's by grace

alone

nothing we

could have

earned.

Look how

Daniel reflects

that heart

of God

toward this

stubborn

violent king

in this

passage.

Daniel has

some bad

news to tell

him doesn't

he?

Daniel because

he knows

the interpretation

of the dream

is dismayed

for a while

it tells us

I don't know

how long

Daniel doesn't

want to tell

the king.

He has so

much respect

for this

pagan king

that Daniel

doesn't even

want to deliver

the bad

news.

Nebuchadnezzar

has to pull

it out of

him.

And when

he does

Daniel says

my lord

may the

dream be

for those

who hate

you and

its interpretation

for your

enemies.

I don't want

this to be

true of you

it's bad

news.

Then in

verse 27

after Daniel

tells him

the dream

he says

listen king

hear my

heart for you

in light of

this terrible

dream you've

had.

Let my

counsel be

acceptable to

you.

Break off

your sins

by practicing

righteousness

and your

iniquities

by showing

mercy to the

oppressed.

That there

may perhaps

be a

lengthening

of your

prosperity.

Daniel cares

about this

guy doesn't

he?

He wants

him to

prosper.

That makes

no sense.

He realizes

he has bad

news for the

king but

he's taken

to heart

the compassionate

and gracious

heart of

his God.

He desires

the welfare

of even the

pagan king

who has

persecuted

God's

people and

spurned

God

himself.

In doing

this Daniel

reflects the

call of the

prophet Jeremiah

who tells

the exiles

to seek the

welfare of

the land in

which they

live to

pray for

it to

work for

its blessing

and that

of its

people.

And so

Daniel

remarkably

offers life

through

repentance

to a

king who

has already

ordered the

death of

him and

his friends.

Amazing.

But that's

the heart

of God

reflected

in his

servant.

Do you

reflect that

same heart?

Do you

pray for

and seek

the salvation

of your

enemies?

Goodness.

I struggle

with my

friends.

Who needs

to hear the

hope of the

gospel from

you?

Whom have

you given

up on

assuming he's

so arrogant

and so

stubborn that

he's beyond

the reach of

God's

grace?

grace?

Who needs

to know

the message

of repentance?

There is yet

time to turn

from her own

attempts at

control and

look to

heaven.

That's the

heart of our

God that we

are called as

his people to

reflect.

What we see

about him

particularly in

this passage,

we learn about

God here is

that his grace

extends to

his proudest,

most hardened

enemies.

You don't

get a much

better example

than Nebuchadnezzar.

For depth

of depravity,

for years

of resistance,

the Bible

offers few

worse characters

than this

king of

Babylon,

but God's

grace knows

no bounds

and it

restores even

the beastly

king.

king.

I didn't

read you the

whole prologue

to Beauty

and the Beast

at the

beginning.

There's one

more sentence.

After saying

that if the

prince couldn't

learn to love

and be loved

in time,

he would

remain a beast

forever,

it ends

this way.

As the

years passed,

he fell

into despair

and lost

all hope.

For who

could ever

learn to

love a

beast?

Who

could love

a beast?

Have you

ever asked

that question

about yourself

in your

shame,

a particular

moment or

season of

discouragement,

being aware

of your

failures?

Have you

ever wondered

that towards

someone else

that you

don't seem

to be able

to find it

in your

own heart

to love

such a

beast,

to care for

them and

want their

good?

Who

could love

a beast?

Praise

God.

Our

gracious,

faithful,

forgiving,

patient

king does

love people

like that

and people

like us.

And just

as the

beast is

restored to

a prince

in the

movie,

I believe

that thanks

to the

incredible,

undeserved,

persistent

love of

God,

Nebuchadnezzar

is restored

to being

not merely

an earthly

king over

Babylon again,

but a

prince,

a child

of the

true king

over heaven

and earth

because there's

grace for

beasts

and arrogant

leaders

and short

tempered

parents

and selfish

kids.

Grace that

finally takes

our hearts

from their

self-centered

bent and

focus and

turns them to

heaven to

see God as

the supremely

valuable,

the supremely

powerful,

the supremely

gracious

king that

we all so

desperately

need.

Let's pray.

God, would

you turn our

eyes there this

morning?

If we can't

see ourselves

for who we

are, might

we see you

as supremely

valuable and

powerful and

gracious as

the king

who delights

to love

and to

restore

and to

forgive,

might that

give us

an awareness

of our

need for

you to do

that in

our lives?

Father, for

those of us

who can't

see a God

like that

at all,

we've never

known love

like that,

would seeing

the beastliness

of our

hearts,

the selfishness

of the way

we treat

others,

the emptiness

of trying

to make

life all

about us,

might in

that moment

that give

us a vision

for your

glory, that

there is

something

worthwhile

and someone

worthy of

all of our

praise.

Oh, Father,

do that work

in our hearts

by your grace

because it's

the thing that

you love to

do.

Would your

grace be

strong and

powerful in

our hearts

today?

We ask

it in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

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