Psalm 48:9-14, Daniel 5:1-30, Revelation 21:9-27 - Lectionary for 11/25/11

Today's readings are Psalm 48:9-14, Daniel 5:1-30, and Revelation 21:9-27. None of us likes to be confronted with our wrong. We normally have a pretty good idea that we have done something wrong and are fairly sure what it was. And yet sometimes we need to be told exactly what we have done. We need someone to stop us and make us think about our attitudes that led to our actions. And we need to realize that the consequences we are receiving are related to what we did. This is Belshazzar. He knows his arrogance. After all, you can't be a king of Persia without being arrogant. He knows that he and his people are acting like the haughty conquerors of the Hebrew people. That's the intention behind bringing out the golden vessels from the temple. And he knows the humiliation Nebuchadnezzar (probably his grandfather, not his father, the word can mean "ancestor") suffered. He knows that his reign over Persia is tenuous, just like the reign of any monarch in that time. Yet Daniel reminds him of all this. He points out the whole situation which could lead to the arrival of the handwriting on the wall. Belshazzar is warned quite specifically of his evil. How has our Lord warned us of our evil? Have we heeded his call to repentance? May we be ready to repent and believe in our God's promises, trusting in his goodness rather than our own.