Joel M Bradshaw

40he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
42The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.–Psalm 107

This psalm spoke of the steadfast love of God and how we who have been redeemed by God should be both grateful and thankful. This last part at the end grabbed ahold of me. He lowers the proudly powerful and raises the humbly weak.

I first thought of Nebuchadnezzar who once had a dream and called in Daniel to interpret. Daniel 4…

28All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

31Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”

33Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. 34At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.

God humbled the greatest of kings and led him to a season of brokenness. This led to a great theological reversal.

I also thought of Haman from the Esther story. Esther 8…

3Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. 4Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

5“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 6For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”

7King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. 8Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”

A reversal for the proud and powerful and also for the lowly Jewish people.

God humbles the proud and raises the humble (James 4:10). Reading a devotion like this invites you to take stock of your life and attitudes. When we go through hardships and troubling seasons, a question I have learned to ask is, “What is God expecting you to learn through this time?”

For many it is to trust and depend upon God. For others, they are being brought low and humbled. It’s not just that they are to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10), but they are being stilled by God. I myself have experienced both sides of this. I have learned humility and have learned to trust and depend. What is God accomplishing in you as he leads you?

As our psalm today says: the upright see it and are glad, while the wicked shut their mouth. God may just be doing a reversal in your life and situation. What are you learning? What is your response?–JMB