TO GOD BE THE GLORY
Daniel 2:11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream that he felt was so significant that he must have only the correct interpretation of it. So he decided to test the men that would interpret the dream, by telling him what he had dreamed. If they could do this he felt certain that they must also have the ability to tell him what it meant. Of course the magicians enchanters astrologers couldn't do it. This upset Nebuchadnezzar so much that he wanted them all killed, and even have their houses destroyed. This meant that their families would have probably been killed too. As much as they would have liked to have given the king what he wanted it was beyond their ability. No amount of intelligence could help, it would take divine inspiration.
When Daniel found out about the order by the king to kill him and the other advisors to the king, he went to the king to ask for time to pray to the Lord. That night as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego prayed, God gave Daniel a vision and in it the king's dream was revealed and explained. When Daniel went to the king he reminded him that no wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner could do what was asked. Then Daniel added that there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Daniel was making sure that God got all the glory for what was about to take place. Daniel could have very easily not mentioned the Lord, and taken the credit for himself but he didn’t. Daniel realized that God had answered his prayer, and it was God who should get all the credit and glory.
Sometimes even in the life of the most mature and dedicated pastors God will not be given all the credit let alone the glory for what he did through the pastor. Sometimes the pastor will allow his education, maturity, experience or even their own ego to receive the credit and glory for any good that they have done. And if this is the case for pastors, it is easily the same for the laity.
In some ways it goes back to Satan and his desire to be God. We see this in Isaiah 14:13,14. Satan said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” It all stems from that carnal nature that Adam and Eve received and passed down to us that says, “Not your will, but mine. I want to be like God!”
God is God alone and he deserves to have all the praise and glory for all that he has done. Andre Crouch sang a wonderful son called, “My Tribute”. In it one the most memorable lines was, “To God be the glory for all the things that he has done.” Andre was absolutely right! God does need to receive all the glory for all he has done. Maybe this is why God likes to use people that have so very little ability on their own. When they do something it is obvious to everyone that it had to God, that person couldn't do something like that on their own. Sad to say it is not an uncommon thing for laity to give prayer chains, pastors, prayer cloths, oil and even scripture for the source or reason that their prayer was answered. If these things should get the credit, let's just take God entirely out of the situation and see how good these things can answer our prayers on their own! They can’t! The powers of darkness can do it through them, but the price they demand is something that no one will want to pay. It is interesting that the first thing that Daniel mentions to the king is that no man can do what he has asked. He didn’t mention that he and his three friends were up all night praying for an answer, or that their three years of training by the best educators in Babylon helped in any way. Daniel gave all the credit to the Lord, right where it belonged. Time and again we see Daniel doing this very thing of giving God the glory.
I believe possibly possibly one of the fastest ways to get God to stop answering our prayers is to give the credit due him to someone or something else. I don’t care how people may roll their eyes at our saying that God did something for us, believe me it is not worth not giving God the glory. This is not to say we need to be always throwing it out as pearls to the swine. (Matt 7:6) It is never a good thing for anyone to mock what God has done for them or even for us to hear someone do it. We need to have discernment in whom we glorify the Lord, but at the same time glorifying the Lord should not be done just for Christians to hear. As a rule a person if what said is with a grateful heart it not be mocked. How it must put a smile on God’s face when we glorify him, and appreciate what he has done for us. God is a good God and we should never forget it, nor fail to appreciate him and want to glorify him!
Prayer: Lord thank you so much for all you have done for us, and all that you will ever do. Please help us to never fail to give you all the thanks and glory. We ask this in Jesus name.
