Daniel 4.37-Nebuchadnezzar Praises, Exalts And Honors God Because His All His Works Are Right And His Ways Are Just And Can Humble The Proud
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday October 31, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 4:37-Nebuchadnezzar Praises, Exalts And Honors God Because All His Works Are Right And His Ways Just And Can Humble The Proud
Lesson # 140
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 4:36.
This evening we will complete our study of Daniel chapter four by noting Daniel 4:37, which records Nebuchadnezzar praising, exalting and honoring God because all His works are right and His ways just and is able to humble the proud.
Daniel 4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” (NASB95)
“Praise” is the masculine singular paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel stem) active participle form of the verb šeḇǎḥ (שְׁבַח) (sheb-akh´), which means “to praise” in the sense of acknowledging and esteeming one’s excellence.
The word denotes Nebuchadnezzar acknowledging and esteeming the excellence of the King of heaven’s character with emphasis upon His mercy, which is based upon His attribute of love since God did not kill the king but simply disciplined him in order to humble him.
Nebuchadnezzar would be praising God for His omnipotence since God was able to execute that which He warned He would do to the king if he didn’t repent.
Lastly, the king would have praised God because of His sovereignty since God had demonstrated His sovereignty over the king by deposing him from power and then reinstating him after the seven years.
“Exalt” is the masculine singular paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel stem) active participle form of the verb rûm (רוּם) (room), which means “to exalt” in the sense of elevating someone by praise or enhancing the state of someone.
Here it refers to Nebuchadnezzar “exalting” God in the sense that he elevated God by praising God to his subjects and enhanced his subjects understanding of Daniel’s God through this proclamation, which appears in Daniel chapter four.
“Honor” is the masculine singular paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel) active participle form of the verb hǎḏǎr (הֲדַר) (had-ar´), which refers to the honor in the sense of public recognition that the God of Israel received from Nebuchadnezzar after having his sanity restored to him by the Most High.
“The King of heaven” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) and its object is the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “king” which is followed by the masculine plural noun šemǎ∙yin (שְׁמַיִן) (shaw-mah´-yin), “heaven.”
The noun mě∙lěḵ means “king” and of course is used with reference to the God of Israel referring to the fact that He is the governmental head over the inhabitants of the first, second and third heavens.
These inhabitants would include elect and non-elect angels and regenerate and unregenerate human beings.
The noun mě∙lěḵ is in the construct state expressing a genitive relationship that is one of subordination indicating that Nebuchadnezzar is acknowledging that Daniel’s God is the sovereign authority over both men and angels including himself.
“For all His works are true and His ways just” presents the reason why Nebuchadnezzar made it his habit of praising, exalting, and honoring the King ruling over the heavens.
“All His works” is composed of the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole) “all” which is modifying masculine plural construct form of the noun mǎ∙ʿǎḇāḏ (מַעֲבָד) (mah-bawd´), “works” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “His.”
The plural noun mǎ∙ʿǎḇāḏ means “works” referring to the actions God performed on behalf of Nebuchadnezzar which are recorded here in Daniel chapter four and which the king in Daniel 4:2-3 describes as miraculous, wondrous signs.
The noun mǎ∙ʿǎḇāḏ is modified by the construct noun kōl, which denotes totality in a distributive sense referring to the totality of God’s works and ways in relation to disciplining and reinstating Nebuchadnezzar and denotes that “each and every one” of God’s works are right and His ways just.
“True” is the masculine singular noun qešōṭ (קְשֹׁט) (kesh-ote´), which signifies that Nebuchadnezzar is acknowledging that God was “right” in disciplining him and deposing him from power in the sense that it was just, good and proper.
It was right that God deposed him from power because the God of Israel is Nebuchadnezzar’s Creator and Sovereign as demonstrated by the fact that he deposed him from power and thus the king recognizes he was a disobedient subject who deserved to be punished by God.
“And His ways just” is epexegetical meaning that it is an assertion Nebuchadnezzar makes about God, which describes from a different perspective his previous assertion that each and every one of God’s works are right.
“His ways” is composed of the feminine plural construct form of the noun ʾǎrǎḥ (אֲרַח) (o´-rakh), “ways” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “His.”
The noun ʾǎrǎḥ means “ways” and refers to God’s grace policy toward Nebuchadnezzar and all of sinful humanity and speaks of God’s decisions and actions that He performed on behalf of Nebuchadnezzar, which fulfill His eternal purpose for the king.
It refers to God’s manner of doing things through His policies, decisions and actions that bring to realization His decree or eternal purpose for Nebuchadnezzar.
“Just” is the masculine singular noun dîn (דִּין) (deen), which denotes that what God did in deposing Nebuchadnezzar from power and reinstating him after he repented conformed with what is morally upright and good.
It was morally upright and good because the God of Israel is Nebuchadnezzar’s Creator and Sovereign as demonstrated by the fact that he deposed the king from power for seven years and then reinstated him after the king repented.
“And He is able to humble those who walk in pride” is advancing upon and intensifying Nebuchadnezzar’s previous statements that God works are always right and His ways are always just.
The advancement and intensification is that the king defines explicitly that God’s works are always right and His ways always just to telling his readers that He can humble the proud like himself.
“Those who walk in pride” refers to unidentified individuals whose attitude and conduct reflects pride, which can manifest itself by having inordinate self-esteem, or displaying excessive self-esteem and can demonstrate itself by having delight or elation arising from some act, possession or relationship.
Pride can manifest itself by disdainful treatment of another because of considering oneself superior to that person and expresses itself by showing scorn for those who one considers inferior to oneself.
“To humble” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active infinitive construct form of the verb šep̄ǎl (שְׁפַל) (shaw-fale´), “humble.”
The verb šep̄ǎl means “to humble” someone referring to the action of reducing a person to a state of humility and is used of God reducing an arrogant person to a state of humility.
Daniel 4:37 “Now, I myself, Nebuchadnezzar make it my habit of praising as well as exalting and in addition honoring the King ruling over the heavens because each and every one of His works are always right in other words, His ways are always just. Indeed, those who live in pride, He is able to humble.” (My translation)
Nebuchadnezzar closes this proclamation contained in chapter four by presenting a doxology, which is a brief ascription of praise to the God of Israel.
It is fitting for Nebuchadnezzar to burst into a doxology of praise of the God of Israel since he witnessed a great miracle, in which the God of Israel was revealing Himself personally to the king as omnipotent and sovereign.
Nebuchadnezzar is worshipping the God of Israel here in Daniel 4:37.
As a result of Nebuchadnezzar witnessing the power of God in his life as recorded in Daniel chapter four, the king’s attitude toward the God of Israel is one of deep respect and awe for Him.
Nebuchadnezzar possesses an overwhelming feeling of reverence and admiration for the God of Israel as a result of the events recorded in Daniel chapter four.
As a result of personally encountering the power of the God of Israel as recorded in Daniel chapter four, Nebuchadnezzar is filled with admiration, amazement and awe for the God of Israel.
The miracles reached right into his heart and shook him up.
They enriched his life and overwhelmed him with an emotion which was a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence and fear and love for the God of Israel.
The discipline the Lord administered to Nebuchadnezzar conformed the king’s conduct to His will and produced in the king a proper attitude towards God and other human beings.
This disciplining also resulted in the king being blessed more than he was before he was deposed from power.
Nebuchadnezzar’s proclamation to the people in his world-wide kingdom would have greatly encouraged the Jewish exiles in Babylon.
It would demonstrate to them that God was working on their behalf and in control of the rulers of this earth.
The Holy Spirit’s purpose for this proclamation for the Jewish exiles was not only to encourage them while in Babylon but also to invoke faith in them.
God wanted the Jewish exiles to have faith in Him and that He has everything in control including the most powerful man on the earth at that time, Nebuchadnezzar.