I grew up on southern gospel music, in the day when a song about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego proclaimed in lively tones, “They wouldn’t bend, they wouldn’t bow, they wouldn’t burn!”
As Pastor Mark pointed out, though, the outcome could have been different. They entered the fire with no “fire insurance” to guarantee their protection. They had God, who guarantees His Presence and His sufficiency, who promises to bring good out of everything… but doesn’t promise to conform to our idea of deliverance. That’s why 18 theology (Dan. 3:18) requires faith, and stretches even that! It says “But if not… I still will not bow.”
Think about bowing. When you bow, your head is lowered. Your shoulders droop. Your spine bends. Your eyes drop to the ground. You are waving the white flag before something or someone looming above you, holding power over you.
Nebuchadnezzar is long gone. But maybe your Nebuchadnezzar is another person - or a chaotic situation, an ongoing struggle, a memory, an illness, a failure or sin, a fear… If you identify such a tyrant in your life today, look at the position of your heart. Are you standing or bowing before it? Intimidated or unmoved? Has your gaze dropped from the heavens to the ground in front of you? Has the strength gone out of your spine?
18 theology says God is the only One deserving of the bent knee. The only One worthy of our surrender and worship. God’s Word urges us:
“Do not fear what [the people] fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary” (Is. 8:12-14 NIV),
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…” (Eph. 6:13-14 NIV). With a stiff backbone. With a clear and steady gaze. With an unbent knee and unbowed heart.
Worshipping God alone.
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