Blessing

 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
Daniel 3:28 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/dan.3.28.ESV

Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most powerful men who ever lived, more powerful than Presidents Biden, Putin and Xi. There was no pretense of checks and balances in his global superpower of Babylon. In fact, he was worshipped as a god by many of his people.

When Daniel interpreted his dream that the Kingdom of God would topple all the empires of men, he rebelled against the vision. He created a statue that didn't have feet of clay like in his dream. Instead, it was pure gold and had to be worshipped by his people upon pain of death.

Faithful Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to compromise their faith in God by bowing to the golden statue with the hordes of other people. They must have stuck out like sore thumbs as they stood their ground, and faced execution in a fiery furnace. Yet God was with them in the midst of the furnace and refused to let them even be singed.

Understandably, Nebuchadnezzar was impressed by God's preservation of His people. He blessed the Lord and seemed to eat a slice of humble pie. Daniel is ambiguous as to whether Nebuchadnezzar ever came to a true faith in God, but I like to think he did.

'O Lord our God, we pray for those in authority over us, that You would humble them to acknowledge You and not to seek to work against You. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen'

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