Daniel 2:1-2 ESV – In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
Daniel 2:3-6 ESV – And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,[a] “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.”
Daniel 2:10-11 ESV – The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
Daniel 2:12-13 ESV – Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
The Problem– Desperate Thinking
1. Feeling “Life’s out of control!”
Ecclesiastes 8:7 NIV – Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
2. Feeling “There’s no solution!”
The genesis of desperation
Daniel 2:11, The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one canshow it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
Despair: “Your problem is too big for you and there is no God for you to turn to.”
Psalms 14:1 ESV – The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
3. For most desperation is NOT a conscious rejection of God
Rats!
Could it be that feeling hopeless is a choice?
Romans 12:2 ESV – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind….
Hope Begins– Believe there is a God who lives among people….
Daniel 2:12 ESV – Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.
Daniel 2:13-14 ESV – So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel 2:15-18 ESV – “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.
16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel 2:19 ESV – Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven
Hope Begins when you believe, “There is a God who lives among people and I can turn to Him for help!”
Psalm 46:1-5 ESV –
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Daniel 2:20-21 ESV –
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
Daniel 2:22-23 ESV –
he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Overcome Despair—Make Your Ambition to Honor God
What’s your “So That”?
Philippians 1:20 ESV – it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Daniel 2:24-28 ESV – Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.
The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?”
Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:
