Daniel 5:23 “…But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.”
If I saw a hand out of nowhere writing something on the wall, I guess my face would pale and my knees would knock, too. That was the reaction Babylonian King Belshazzar had during a night of revelry with his friends when he called for the gold and silver goblets taken from Jerusalem’s temple to be used. As they drank from those sacred vessels, they praised the gods of gold and silver in defiance of the true God.
Belshazzar should have known better. He saw how God stripped his father, Nebuchadnezzar, of his high position due to his pride and arrogance. Nebuchadnezzar had been at the top of his game, the most feared man in the whole world, but in one minute it all came crashing down. He lost his kingdom as well as his sanity and lived with the wild animals in the field until he was willing to acknowledge the Most High God (Daniel 4).
Pride has a way of deceiving us into thinking we can beat the odds.
Belshazzar intentionally used the vessels set apart to worship the Sovereign God for his own pleasure. He blatantly set himself up against the One who “held his life in his hands.” His blasphemy cost him his life that very night.
Belshazzar lacked a holy fear of God. I think we do, too, at times. We focus on how much God loves us and forgives us. Rightly so. But if not careful, we can view him as a doting grandfather who winks at our blasphemies of self-adulation. We are not as self-made as we think. We have nothing and are nothing without him. That alone should elicit never-ending reverence.
God takes much pleasure in giving both saints and sinners unmerited blessings. But let’s not take his grace in vain. Our society has come a long way from the fire and brimstone preachers of the 1700s. But maybe the pendulum has swung too far. Let’s not take for granted the One who holds our life and all our ways in his hand.
We sing, “You are worthy of it all.” Indeed He is. So let’s live like it. Let’s honor him in everything we do. Let’s embrace a holy fear.