Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - 8 Steps to Humility | The Writings | Daniel 5

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

In Daniel 5, we see the consequences of living a life of pride and selfishness. How can you lead a life filled with humility instead of pride? In today's episode, Keith shares 8 steps to walking in humility. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Daniel 5

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. In October of 2014, the Chicago Bears were down 25 points to the New England Patriots, with only a few minutes left in the game. The game was over. It was impossible for the Bears to win. That's when Lamar Houston, a bear's defensive lineman, broke free and sacked Tom Brady,

the Patriots quarterback. Instead of just getting up and going back to the huddle, Lamar Houston did a celebration dance and in the process tore his ACL. Down 25 points, Houston did a dance that drew attention to himself instead of the team and in the process and in the process suffered a serious injury. It was almost as if that was a modern day parable explaining Proverbs 1618. Pride goes before the fall. Pride is on full display in Daniel chapter 5.

Let's dig in. King Belchazar is giving a great banquet for his nobles. When they've all had way too much to drink, verse 2 says that he had the gold and silver goblets his father, King Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. The king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them and praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Now you can tell this is not a normal dinner party, not a normal banquet, because the king didn't usually have his wives and concubines in the same place at the same time. Also, there's a strong

vibe that he is mocking Israel's God by drinking out of the goblets used in the temple. No, this is not a normal party at all. By the end of the night, at the end of this chapter, Belchazar will be dead, and Darius of Persia will be the new king. Belchazar knows the end is near. The events described in this chapter happened on October 12, 539 BC. Daniel, is approximately 80 years old. Verse 5 tells us what happened in this dinner party. Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall

near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. The king summoned all the wise men, but none of them could tell him what the writing on the wall meant. The queen mother entered the banquet hall and she reminded the king that Daniel had served under his father, King Nebuchadnezzar,

and that Daniel had been able to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems. King Belchazar had Daniel brought to him, and he offered Daniel power and riches and glory if he would tell him what the writing on the wall meant. Daniel refused the gifts, but he was willing to reveal the mystery. He reminds King Belchazar that his father, King Nebuchadnezzar, was a great king, but because of his pride, God had made him live like an animal. You can learn more about that story by listening to Jeff and Daniel 4. But here's the payoff line for today.

It comes in chapter 5, verse 22. Daniel says, But you, Belchazar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you set up yourself against the Lord of Heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines, you drank from them. You praise the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone. which cannot see or hear understand, but you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. See, Daniel goes on to tell Belchazar that the writing on the wall communicated the judgment of God.

The chapter ends in verse 30 by saying that very night Belchazar, King of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mead took over the kingdom at the age of 62. Belchazar didn't learn from the sins of those who'd gone before him. Instead, he kept walking down the road of pride. Proverbs 26 says, Do you see a person who is wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them. A fool can be smart.

A fool can be successful and wealthy and admired and respected. A fool can be fun to be around. But no matter what they have going for them, a person who takes credit for God's grace and goodness in their life is a fool. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4. For who makes you different than anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? Now, that's a rhetorical question.

Paul wants you and me to realize that everything we have in our life is something we have received from another person and ultimately from God. He goes on, and if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? See, if our life is going well, then we are often prideful because we believe that our good life is due to our good choices. Like, look at what I did. I deserve all this. If our life is going poorly, then it is prideful to think, I deserve better than this. I deserve a better life from God. Either way, we're getting to pride, right? It reminds me of sweets. If I have a good day, I deserve some ice cream. If I've had a lousy day, I deserve some ice cream. Either way,

we're getting to the ice cream. Well, either way, we're getting to pride. If we are good, we feel like we deserve the good things that we have in our life. If we have a bad life, we end up thinking we deserve better. Either way, we end up in pride. Did you notice that God gave Belchazar a long time to deal with his pride? Like Belchazar knew the story of his father, King Nebuchadnezzar. He had plenty of time to think about what he should learn from his father's experience. God is very patient. He gives us time to turn from our sin. He is slow to anger. God is abounding and loving kindness. Right now, God is being patient with you. God is giving you time to repent. Repent of your pride or repent of any sin that he's convicting you of. But when Belchazar refused to

humble himself, then God acted in a decisive way. Pride comes before the fall. Nebuchadnezzar and Belchazar is a warning to us. Will we take heed? Or will we like Belchazar refuse to learn from those who've gone before us. I want to try to give you some practical steps to walk down a path of humility. This path comes from St. Benedict, who lived in the 6th century. He was an Italian monk,

and he wanted to give other monks some steps for growing in the grace of humility. You can find his full path online, but I wanted to give you a condensed and updated version so that you can walk down a path of humility. Step one. Fear God and be mindful of Him. The truth is that we often forget the presence of God and we act as if he is not with us.

Step two down the path of humility is do God's will, not your own will and not other people's will. Step three, be willing to subject yourself to the direction of others. Give up that arrogant attitude that says you know more than anyone else. give up that attitude that resists advice from other people. Sometimes God speaks to you through a manager at work or through directions from a friend. Listen without a grumbling attitude. Listen without grumbling or a bad attitude. Step four down the path of humility is be patient to accept the difficulties of others.

Life with other people, whether it's roommates or a marriage or with your kids, it's just full of aggravations. We need to be patient with others the way God is patient with us. Step five, radical honesty with others about our own weaknesses and faults. Quit pretending to be something you're not. Admit your sin, admit your weaknesses, admit your limitations. Step six, be aware that you are the chief of all sinners. Be more bothered by your sin than you are other people's sin.

Step 7. Choose to speak less. St. Benedict said, the wise are known for their few words. You don't have to have the last word on everything. You don't have to be the center of attention. The last step is step 8. St. Benedict said that you'll be transformed into the love of God, where there's no hearting, where there's no pride, no sarcasm, no put-downs, no errors of importance. but instead we're able to embrace our limits and those of other people and we're fully aware how fragile we are we aren't living under illusions but we are at home with ourselves and content to rely on the mercy of God we recognize that every good thing in our life is a gift the path of humility is the path of Jesus amen