Lift up your eyes

“And at that time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.” Daniel 4:34

There is one chapter in the book of Daniel that is written from a different perspective, and that is chapter 4. It is written in the perspective of King Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king. God allowed this pagan king to take part in writing a portion in the Bible for his experience he had with God.

The king had everything. He was powerful and he was the conqueror of the whole world. The city of Babylon was magnificent and glorious. Nebuchadnezzar was so proud of himself for the things he had achieved in his life. He was full of himself. In fact he was so full of himself that there was no place in his heart for no other being.

One day the king walking in his royal palace and he said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” At that moment God made him mad. The king was driven from the people and was left outside like an animal and he “ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

That is what happens when there is no place for God in your heart. You are full of yourself and God cannot come into your heart. You don’t need (or want) to look up to where God is. You just look down, and only beasts do that. When we do not have God in our lives, what makes us any different from the beasts?

All things returned to the king only when he “lifted his eyes to heaven,” and “and his understanding returned to him.” What Nebuchadnezzar did after that is amazing. He praised God. He completely emptied himself to make space for God to come in. That is what we need to do. We should look up. We should acknowledge God and praise Him for that is why we exist.