I Don’t Have A Posh Praise; Just A Savage One!

Hab 3:17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither [shall] fruit [be] in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and [there shall be] no herd in the stalls: (18) Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (19) The LORD God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ [feet], and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

I. Habakkuk starts us out on a depressing note, the harvest has failed, the labor that was put in the harvest failed, and all the herds have died. He basically said the worst case scenario is a reality, we are at rock bottom. Have you ever been there?

A. Life comes with problems built in. Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. You're not going to Get through this life without trouble, without hardships without pain, without getting your heart broken at least once or twice. Without being lied on, persecuted, and despised. Mix in a little betrayal and deception into the pot, because that's life.

1. All you have to do is look in the Bible and you will see what I'm talking about. David was a great Man of God, a great King of Israel, a worshipper, but that did not exempt David from pain. If you study David’s life, you will see a man who endured much pain. Look at Job: He was a righteous man, but he endured more grief and pain than would seem humanly possible.

2. Sometimes life hurts. Sometimes you're in the pit and sometimes you're in the fire, sometimes you're on the Mountain calling fire down from heaven, and sometimes you're in the cave hoping Jezebel doesn't find you. There are just some things that happen to us all, just because we're in the world. Then there are things that are demonic in nature, attacks straight out of hell; your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:

B. Habakkuk did something that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. He was standing in the midst of chaos, of loss, of emptiness and confusion and disappointment and he did something that will send shock waves through hell and applause through heaven. He said: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. He decided to praise God even when it didn’t make any sense. Praise and Worship is not easy, real praise and worship usually comes from a place where there has been pain.

1. Through sickness, grief over the passing of a loved one, through the fire of divorce, family turmoil, lost loved ones that keep you up all night in tears, foreclosure, pink slips, bounced checks, harassment, brokenness, through all of life’s trials and tribulations; what are you going to do???

2. I tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to let my feelings and my emotions take over. I'm not going to go into deep depression. I'm not going to run to the frig and try to consume my sorrow in food. I'm not going to overdose on prescription meds. I’m not going to going to drink away, smoke away, shoot up or snort up away my problems, I’m not going to clear up my head in some else’s bed. I'm not going to get angry at God and accuse him of not loving me, and not caring about me and leave the Kingdom and the church.

3. I'm going to do what David did: I'm going to encourage myself in the Lord. Then I'm going to get my praise on. I'm going to get beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; I'm going to open my mouth and praise God. Ps 109:30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. Ps 107:15 Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men!

C. In 2 Sam. 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all [his] might; and David [was] girded with a linen ephod. (15) So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. (16) And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.