God's

God's sovereignty is, for some, a comforting assurance upon which we can rest.

For others, it's a stumbling block that exposes confusion, uncertainty, or even frustration.

Today on Truth for Life, we'll see how Nebuchadnezzar wrestled with these issues and more,

as we consider the Babylonian king's disarming dream and its interpretation.

Alistair Begg is teaching from Daniel, Chapter 4.

Music Alastair Begg is teaching from Daniel chapter 4. We this morning find ourselves in Christ living as aliens and strangers, and we may also from time to time be tempted to think that the prevailing forces around us are stronger

than the affirmations that we make, for example, in the songs that we've already been singing.

And therefore, as we have often said, the doctrine of providence is a really wonderful pillow

upon which to put our heads at the end of the day, and it is a bright

and a shining light when a new day dawns. And underlying that is, of course, this matter

of God's sovereignty, that God is a sovereign God. Our good friend Sinclair Ferguson, picking up on

that, says, no truth about God

is more likely to evoke either humility or rebellion. So, for example, you can test yourself,

even as I speak to you now, is your response, humility before the fact that God, who knows exactly

what he's doing, is accomplishing everything

according to the purpose of his will, do you bow down before the mystery of that and say,

Father, I trust you? Or do you find yourself in your heart standing up, as it were, on your

hind legs and saying, no, no, no, no, not for a moment? It is in many ways a litmus test of where we stand before God.

And so in Daniel's dealings with Nebuchadnezzar here in this chapter, we find that this is being worked out.

It's an interesting chapter for a number of reasons. We won't go into them all, but you will

notice, perhaps, that it both begins as it ends, and that is with a doxology, with a hymn of

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