God’s Glory and Majesty - All Our Daily Bread Daily Devotionals for 2026

Bible in a Year : 2 Chronicles 32-33, John 18:19-40

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens . . . .” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead.
Isaiah 14:13, 15

Today's Scripture & Insight : Isaiah 14:12-15

The ceiling of London’s Banqueting House is magnificent. Painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens between 1629 and 1634, it was commissioned by King Charles I to glorify his family’s reign. In one painting, the goddess Minerva celebrates the achievements of Charles’ father, King James I. In another, James is carried to heaven on the wings of an eagle. Gazing up at the ceiling, banquet guests got a clear message: Kings like Charles and his father were virtually divine.

In the prophet Isaiah’s day, the king of Babylon felt similarly about himself. Here was a king who longed to “ascend to the heavens” and “sit . . . on the mount of assembly,” where the gods were thought to reign (Isaiah 14:13). Instead, Isaiah prophesied that this king would fall (vv. 3-4), being “brought down to the realm of the dead” (v. 15) without even a tomb to be remembered by (vv. 18-19). Charles I met a similar fate. In an ironic twist, he was marched beneath the very ceiling depicting his supposed divinity before being executed outside Banqueting House in 1649.

It’s a sad fact that has repeated through time: Powerful people who claim divine glory for themselves will one day discover how human they are. For there is only one who is worthy of reigning from heaven, and all power, glory, and majesty are His alone (1 Chronicles 29:11).

By: Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray
Why do you think rulers throughout history have claimed divinity for themselves? How does Jesus compare to the attitude of such rulers?

Heavenly Father, You are God, and all power and glory are Yours!