Daniel 5:22,23

Hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this.

The Prophet’s Indictment

It included three counts.

1. The teaching of God had been disregarded. The sovereignty of Nebuchadnezzar had been from God. That dependence had been forgotten, and so pride had been chastened by insanity.

2. God had been insulted. A poor worm had dared to exalt itself against him. In the midst of a scene of which many a heathen would have been ashamed, the consecrated vessels of His house had been used to drink to other gods, “which see not, nor hear, nor know.”

3. The glory of God had not been sought. It was not in Belshazzar’s power, indeed, to add anything to the essential glory of God, but it was for him to reflect that glory. He could add nothing to God’s ineffable brightness, but he could catch light from Heaven, and diffuse it. He could be such a man, and live such a life, that others might have their ideas of God exalted, and be constrained to confess that “He whose name is Jehovah is the Most High over all the earth.” (H. T. RobJohns, B.A.)