King Nebuchadnezzar had a problem with pride. At the beginning of Daniel, he marched the Babylonian army into Jerusalem, conquered the capital city of God’s people, and hauled the best and brightest teenagers back to Babylon so that they would serve him and his kingdom rather than God’s kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar had a problem with pride.

Then, in the second chapter of Daniel, God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream of a statue with a head of gold, which represented Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, a body made of various metals, which represented other kingdoms that would follow his, and a small stone that shattered the whole statue. The meaning of the dream was that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was temporary, but God’s kingdom would stand forever. God gave the king that dream to warn him because Nebuchadnezzar had a pride problem.

However, instead of repenting for building his own kingdom and seeking first God’s kingdom, he sought to make his own kingdom permanent. Nebuchadnezzar had a problem with pride. And in our passage this morning, God warns and humiliates him because of it.

That’s easy to see. What can be more difficult to see—and even more difficult to admit—is that we all have a miniature Nebuchadnezzar living inside us. You and I have a problem with pride.

Christian author Sam Storms says:

“Pride is that ugly part of your heart that causes you to be more concerned about yourself and your own reputation than you are about Christ and his.”

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the root from which all other sins grow is pride—thinking too much and too often about yourself. Pride is like a disease, best identified by its ugly symptoms.

In his essay Undetected Pride, the 18th-century theologian Jonathan Edwards helps us identify some of those symptoms:

• Fault-finding – Pride excuses self, but convicts others.

• A harsh spirit – The proud heart is irritated and angry with others’ sins but highly tolerant or unaware of its own.

• Superficiality – Pride is more concerned with who you think I am than with who I actually am.

• Defensiveness – The humble love a rebuke; the proud resist and defend.

• Flippancy toward God – Pride forgets that God is God, not your life coach. Pride prizes its own thoughts over God’s Word.

• Attention-seeking – Pride craves recognition, even when quiet.

• Neglect of the lowly – Pride ignores those who can do nothing in return.

We all have a problem with pride. So what is the cure for this disease that infects us all?

The cure is learning the lesson that Nebuchadnezzar had to learn before God cured him of his beastly humiliation. That lesson is repeated at least three times in our passage—it’s like a blinking warning light:

“You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven…till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” (Daniel 4:25)

What is the cure for pride? How do we become humble?

The big idea of this passage is this: Know that our God rules the kingdom of men.

The cure for Nebuchadnezzar’s pride—and ours—is to know that God, not us, rules the kingdom of men. To truly learn this pride-curing lesson, we’ll take the passage in three parts:

1. Warning

2. Humiliation

3. Exaltation

WARNING (vv. 1–27)

Daniel 4 begins with God extending stunning grace to Nebuchadnezzar: He warns him. We don’t often think of a warning as an act of grace, but it is. If God were not gracious, He wouldn’t warn; He would simply judge.

The warning came in the form of a dream. Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of a beautiful, fruitful, massive tree whose branches reached the heavens and provided food and shelter for countless creatures. But then an angel came down from heaven and commanded that the tree be chopped down, leaving only a stump among the beasts of the field.

Daniel was troubled by the dream, but he spoke the truth:

“King Nebuchadnezzar, you are the tree. God will cut you down to a stump if you do not repent of your pride and acknowledge that the Most High rules the kingdom of men.”

Daniel didn’t stop with interpretation; he showed grace by warning the king plainly:

“…you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” (vv. 24, 27)

The warning was clear: God rules the kingdom of men; therefore repent of living as though you rule, or be cut down.

HUMILIATION (vv. 28–33)

For an entire year, Nebuchadnezzar ignored God’s warning. Then judgment came. While walking on the roof of his palace, he boasted:

“Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power…for the glory of my majesty?”

Before the words were finished, a voice from heaven declared his downfall. His kingdom was taken, and he lived like a beast—eating grass, drenched by dew—until he learned that the Most High rules over men.

The lesson? Pride goes before a fall.

Like Nebuchadnezzar, Israel was in exile because of pride. And like them, we too are Nebuchadnezzar-clones—seeking to call our own shots, run our own lives, and ignore God’s rule.

The right response to Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation is to humble ourselves through repentance. Repentance is not just how we begin the Christian life; it is how we grow. It’s not penance (trying to outweigh sin with good works—that’s just more pride). Repentance is humbly turning to God for grace and letting Him uproot pride from our hearts.

EXALTATION (vv. 34–37)

At last, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven, his sanity returned, and he confessed:

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

When Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself, God restored him.

And when you humble yourself under God’s mighty hand, He will lift you up. For He has set over His kingdom the lowliest of men—the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, Jesus truly could say, “All things exist for my glory.” Yet He humbled Himself—taking flesh, living among us, and dying on the cross. Though King of the universe, He became lowly for our sake. And because He humbled Himself, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name.

This is why the humble are exalted: not because humility earns anything, but because humility fixes its eyes on Jesus—the one who was humbled, then glorified. When we look at Him, pride loses its grip.

So, humble yourself under His mighty hand. Fix your eyes on Christ, the true tree of life, and trust that at the proper time, He will exalt you.