Day of Praise

Fr, Sep 7 "Day of Praise"

"At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored." - Daniel 4:34

Recently, someone dear to me asked if they could tell me something. "Of course," I said. They proceeded to tell me how they'd been drawn into the temptations of the world.

When they were done, we talked about both the temptation itself but also the process of confessing. Their closing comment was, "I feel better now that I've told you."

Confession is good for the soul.

Just ask powerful King Nebuchadnezzar, who, in today's Bible verse, tells how he himself had persistently turned away from God by sinning. But God, Nebuchadnezzar confesses, was and is more powerful; God is powerful and loving enough to bring us down to our knees.

And God is powerful and loving enough to restore us.

Nebuchadnezzar, who had persistently opposed God, was so moved by God's power and love, in dealing with Nebuchadnezzar's sin, that Nebuchadnezzar was compelled to confess his own sin to the world and encourage others to do the same. For he says in Daniel 4:37, "And those who walk in pride, [God] is able to humble."

Nebuchadnezzar had learned first hand what surely many of us have heard in Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Let us be encouraged by powerful King Nebuchadnezzar's testimony and the dear one who said to me, "I feel better now that I've told you."

Confession is good for the soul.

Praise God!



Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson