Habakkuk: Faith Waiting
Habakkuk • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
In this mini-series on the Book of Habakkuk, we have seen Faith Wavering in chapter one. This is trying to understand why bad things happen to good people. It makes us wonder what God is up to when the world around us seems so horrible. Yet, God is at work and we need to trust Him. We have seen in Faith Watching in chapter two. God reveals to His people the faithfulness of His word, just as He promises us He will. Finally, we look today at chapter three and the idea of Faith Waiting. We see the prayer of Habakkuk in this beautiful chapter that gives great insight on how God is glorified. We will see examples of the ways God is glorified. Chapter three also reminds us that our current situation is not our final destination.
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.
2 Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
8 Were you angry with the rivers, O Lord?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
when you rode with your horses
and your victorious chariots?
9 You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows. Selah
You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot. Selah
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
God is Glorified for His Person (vs. 2, 3b, 4)
God is Glorified for His Person (vs. 2, 3b, 4)
In these introductory verses, there is one term that is difficult to understand. It is the word shigionoth. It is a literary or musical term that is only found in a few places in the Bible. This rare term is associated with verses that declare complete reliance on God’s faithfulness. We can rely on God’s faithfulness because of who He is! God is glorified for His person!
The Fame of God
The Fame of God
Verse 2 proclaims, “Lord, I have heard of your fame.” What have you heard about God? Who in your circle shares about the goodness of God? You need to surround yourself with folks that have God in their lives and they can testify about Him and all He is! That is why being in a good Bible believing church is so important! We should always focus on the fame of God, declaring to each other His goodness, His greatness and how they both are demonstrated in His grace!
The Face of God
The Face of God
Verse 4 makes the statement, “His splendor was like the sunrise.” The Hebrew word for sunrise literally means “our light of life.” In my mind, that takes me to the face of God. He is our light of life and His splendor shines brilliantly before me! In Him there is no darkness!
The Force of God
The Force of God
The second part of verse 4 shows me the force of God. “Rays flashed from His hand, where His power was hidden.” The Bible tells us that God spoke and creation came into being. The force of God is like no other. It is powerful and God is to be glorified just for who He is!
We see also in this chapter, God is glorified for His creation.
God is Glorified for His Creation (vs. 3a, 5-15)
God is Glorified for His Creation (vs. 3a, 5-15)
The Compass of God
The Compass of God
We see in this passage that God indeed is glorified for His creation, but notice the compass of God.
If you study this passage carefully, you will see instances of God coming from the North from Mount Paran, coming from the South from Teman, His presence in the sunrise which comes from the East, and His provision and protection of the children of Israel coming out of Egypt which is from the west. This helps me understand that God is omnipresent, which means that God is everywhere with His whole being all the time. There is no where that God is not. This leads to the control of God.
The Control of God
The Control of God
God has the power to bring plagues and pestilence forth as He did to the Egyptians to persuade Pharoah to let His people go! God controlled the Red Sea so the Israelites could cross and flee from the angry Egyptians. We see here that God controls all nature because of His eternal ways. We also see the clout of God.
The Clout of God
The Clout of God
God causes the cosmos to into existence. He delivers His people and crushes the enemy. He truly is an awesome God. God is glorified for His creation.
Yet, Habakkuk testifies to all this and he realizes that God is present, there in the midst of His people. God is glorified for His presence.
God is Glorified for His Presence (vs. 16-19)
God is Glorified for His Presence (vs. 16-19)
The Awesomeness of God
The Awesomeness of God
We sing “Our God is an Awesome God,” but do you ever think about what that means? Habakkuk’s dialog with God helped him understand and realize the presence of God despite the misfortunes he saw and experienced. Habakkuk said his “heart pounded and his lips quivered.” Have you experienced the awesomeness of God to the extent that your heart pounded and lips quivered?
120 My flesh trembles in fear of you;
I stand in awe of your laws.
Our sinful nature before a Holy God should make our legs tremble like Habakkuk’s did . We are all sinners before God, but thanks be to God, His awesome ways have provided for us a Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
The awesomeness of God proves the actuality of God.
The Actuality of God
The Actuality of God
Actuality means that something truly exists. We are reminded in this passage that even though we think things are not going the way we want, God still exists and is very much in charge. We see in verse 16 that Habakkuk says he will wait patiently for God to do His thing. What an example! Habakkuk is close enough to God that he can question Him in conversation to gain understanding. Habakkuk has faith in Him enough to trust Him and His answers. Relying on the character of God, Habakkuk is okay with waiting on Him. There is a lesson in this for us. No matter what, God is real, He is in control, and we can trust His ways.
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk’s “rejoicing is grounded in and springs from, the relationship which God has with Him and His people.”
Sometimes we can’t see it, but it is there. The activity of God always points us to His ways.
The Activity of God
The Activity of God
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
Deer are fascinating creatures. Habakkuk compares the activity and strength of God and how He enables us to keep climbing! The Lord brings stamina, stability, and sure-footedness and additionally skipping joy!
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I love the New Living Translation of that last part.
“My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10b NLT
When Jesus invites us to follow Him, He is inviting us into something so much larger than just getting into heaven when we die. Jesus is inviting us into kingdom life now- a life that is forgiven and redeemed, restored and renewed. Jesus came not to give us a religion or a set of beliefs. He came to set us free. We’ve been set free so we can really live in the here and now, not just someday, somewhere else.
Just as Habakkuk clings to the hope despite the terrible destruction surrounding him, the hope we find in Jesus assures us that what we are experiencing right now is not the end of the story. It is just one chapter in a life of many chapters. Whatever you are going through right now, know that the message of Habakkuk and the message of Jesus is that it is not over yet. God is in control and God has the final word.
The Book of Habakkuk starts in depression and expresses doubt to God’s righteousness and justice, but it ends in a phenomenal confidence of God’s provision and power.
What an example for us. We can work through the depression, the doubt and the dark times knowing that God is with us and working for our good and His glory. Only trust Him.