Monday, February 11, 2008
Daniel 5:23b And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.
A SURE THING: GOD'S WILL IS DONE
The prophet Daniel gave the message of our Scripture reading to King Belshazzar of Babylon after he had seen the miraculous and mysterious handwriting on the wall at his feast. This message foretold the imminent demise of the king and his kingdom.
The one and only thing that is ever sure in this world is that things will happen as God has declared that they will happen, because only God has the power to control all things for His purposes. And yet, instead of trusting the living, all-powerful God, King Belshazzar trusted in non-living, non-powerful idols and in his own power and position according to the things of this world.
One doesn't have to be the king of a mighty empire to fall under these delusions. Like the wood and stone and metal idols worshiped at the feast described in our reading for today, how often do people of this world try to turn to the silver and gold of riches and pleasures to find happiness? How often do the people of this world try to turn to the bronze and iron of business and economies to find security for the future? How often do the people of this world try to turn to the wood and stone of expensive houses to find their places of solace and refuge? How often do we ourselves have to admit weaknesses in our own faith which also turn to such things when we should be turning to God and His Word first and foremost to find the true and only source of our happiness, security, and refuge.
It is always God who is in control of all things and because of this it is only God who can give us the good things that we desire and need. Of course, to find out about all of this we look to His Word where He has told every important thing that we need to know for life and for salvation through Jesus.
