Introduction:
I. We have been looking these past weeks at listening to the voice of God.
A. The first week, we looked at what it takes to be prepared to hear from God.
B. In the second week, we looked at a few ways that God speaks to us.
1. The Bible,
2. Teachers,
3. Impressions, call them visions or dreams,
4. And sometimes even in our pain.
C. Last week we spend some time looking at the tests that we can apply to our thoughts, visions and dreams to help determine if they are truly from God.
D. This week, we look as some steps to put us in a place to hear the voice of God.
E. These words will help us to hear God
1. Withdraw,
2. Wait
3. Watch
4. Write
5. Worship
II. Our primary text this morning is found in Habakkuk, chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, but I want to begin by reading the first 2 verses from chapter one of this prophet because they will help us understand the context of Habakkuk’s plea.
III. 1:1The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. 2 How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, “Violence!” Yet Thou dost not save. Why dost Thou make me see iniquity. (Hab. 1:1-2) NASB
IV. There is not much in history, nor even in the writings of Habakkuk that explain who he was or what the exact circumstances were that caused him to write.
A. If we were to read the book in it’s entirety, what we would see is that Habakkuk had seen a lot of pain and he is beseeching God as to why He is allowing all this to continue, and why God is not answering.
1. Wickedness, violence, lawlessness, and unrighteousness are rampant.
2. In chapter one, verse 6, God answers Habakkuk saying that indeed He has raised up the Chaldeans and they are in fact running roughshod over everyone, with nothing and no one seemingly able to stop them.
B. In verse 13, Habakkuk says, “...Why do you look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours one more righteous than he?”
C. We might say something along the lines of,
1. “God, how long will you allow Satan to rule?
2. How long will we call out for You to act, to speak, before you finally do that which you have promised to do?”
D. In fact, in three chapters, Habakkuk asks twice, “How long” and four times he asks “Why.”
V. Habakkuk one makes a case for God to speak, and then in chapter two, Habakkuk says, “And this is what I will do in order to hear from you.”
A. 2:1 I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. 2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision, and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. (Hab. 2:1-3) NASB
VI. And low and behold, although we are not looking at is this morning, the rest of chapter two is God answering Habakuk’s prayer, which is exactly what we want to see happen when we approach God in prayer.
A. The reason I ask us to pay particular attention to these first verses is because they tell us what Habakkuk did in order to prepare himself to hear, when God spoke.
B. And the first thing he did was to prepare himself to “Withdrew” and prepared to wait for God’s reply.
C. In the same way, we need to withdraw from what is happening around us, and get alone with God.
Withdraw
I. The first part of verse one says - “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart”
II. It is believed that Habakkuk was probably written sometime between 612 B.C., with the ascension of the Chaldean nation, and 605 B.C.
A. During that time, many cities had walls which were built around them for protection.
B. One commentator gave this description of a typical fortified city wall for a town called Mizpah. (Yadin, Art of Warfare)
1. The city had a wall 600 yards long, 4 yards thick and about 12 yards high surrounding the city.
2. It was built of stone with salients (sections that angled out) and recesses, and was further buttressed at it weak points.
3. The wall had a total of ten towers on it’s perimeter, with two additional towers at the gates.
C. The idea was that single or perhaps at most pairs of guards would be stationed at various points, on look out for would be attackers.
III. For those of us familiar with “guard duty,” we know that often
A. Guards are placed at the perimeter, away from the main camp
B. Guard duty can seem long, lonely, and even scary as you wait in the middle of the night for something to happen, that you hope will not happen, even while the sounds around you seem to be the enemy creeping up.
C. Guards have “withdrawn” from the main camp, and serve the important function as a first line of protection.
IV. So says Habakkuk as well.
A. I will withdraw from the hustle and bustle of what is happening around me.
B. I will withdraw from the distraction of seeing the Chaldean’s moving forward, with nothing seemingly able to stop them.
C. I will withdraw from everything that distracts me, and keep my ears open for God to speak.
V. How we need that today, and how difficult is sometimes is to find.
A. The story is told of Susanna Wesley, mother of 18 children, including Charles and John Wesley.
B. In order to spend time in prayer, every afternoon, Mrs. Wesley would sit in her living room, and throw her apron over her head.
C. When the children would come in, they would know that if mother had her apron over her head, she was talking to God.
VI. What method do you use to make time to pray?
A. When I worked at the rock quarry, I would often get to work 30 minutes or so before everyone else arrived, and I would have some time for prayer.
B. How we need to find a time and place to make time to listen for God to speak.
Wait
I. My New American Standard translates the second part of verse 1 as “station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved
II. The Living Bible says, “There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.
III. “Keep watch” or “Waiting” the idea is this,
A. To calm your thoughts and emotions.
B. To quiet yourself down.
IV. Habakkuk says, I’m going to station myself so I can hear God.
A. God speaks to the person who takes the time to listen.
B. The one reason why many of us don’t hear God is we’re just too busy.
V. Consider a couple of typical prayer times,
A. Think of a typical prayer gathering,
1. People come in and we spend time catching up.
2. As it gets time to prayer, we start sharing our “prayer lists”
3. As we share our concerns, and thoughts, we write everything down, and then eventually we begin to pray.
4. Maybe I’m unique, but often when there is a list concerned, I think, “Don’t forget to pray for this thing or that thing, because if we don’t pray for it, they will think we don’t care.”
5. Our minds are racing to cover the list, but when is the time to hear from God?
B. Or your private prayer times,
1. Maybe your time is in the morning or evening, or for some of us, we say, “I like to go to sleep praying” so our prayer time is when we lay down.
2. Our minds start thinking
a. I have to do this, and
b. I have done that, and
c. I can’t forget to take care of this,
d. All kinds of thoughts start crowding in, and we rarely hear the voice of God.
VI. Habakkuk says,
A. “I’m going to wait for God to speak.
B. I’m going to stop talking, stop doing, stop letting thought crowd in, and I am going to wait for God’s voice to come through.”
VII. How do I wait, check this out
A. Ps. 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God."
B. Ps. 62:1 " My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation."
C. Sometimes we need to just be silent before God, and listen.
VIII. 2 Kings 3:15 says that Elijah asked for soft music to be played while he tuned into God to find the answer to a question he had. He said " But now bring me a harpist.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha
IX. What would it take to help you stop and wait for God to speak?
Watch
I. Now hear is an interesting concept.
A. We are still in verse 1, Habakkuk has been asking God to answer his prayer, and look what he says at the end of the verse, “I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,
B. “I will keep watch,” or “I will look” to see what He will speak to me.
C. I am waiting for God’s answer to my prayer; God please speak your answer to me,
D. I have withdrawn to a quiet place, I am waiting for you to speak, and I am watching for you answer.
II. We sing, “Open the eyes of my heart”
III. Throughout scripture God has presented a visual manifestation of who He is,
A. A burning bush,
B. A pillar of fire,
C. A tabernacle, where I may reside,
IV. God often speaks to us through visual presentations,
A. Four kinds of soil,
B. Chariots of fire,
V. Might we call it a “vision”
VI. In Ephesians 1:18 Paul said, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,”
A. Next Sunday, when we present the plan for the next several months for our church, I am going to ask you to “Imagine” what it might be like.
B. To visualize what God wants to accomplish in and through this church body.
VII. John 3:3 says, “Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
VIII. Fred Perkins was telling me that some of the “older” folks helping to plan his new church plant said,
A. “When you preach, especially for us that are older, we can see what you are talking about.”
B. Fred happens to preach in a very visual style, and his folks said, “Keep doing that, so that we can visualize what God was saying and doing.”
IX. It is not common for some of us in our conservative tradition, to think in terms of visions.
A. Think about this, how many times have you read a portion of scripture, and then one day, some new meaning takes place in your mind; that’s God speaking to you.
B. Habakkuk says, “I am going to WATCH to see how God will answer me.”
1. Will he suddenly open the earth to swallow the Chaldean’s.
2. Will he give me a rainbow to say everything is under control.
3. What will He do, to let me know that He has heard my prayers?
C. What will He do to show you that He has heard your prayers?
D. If you don’t keep your eyes open, you might miss the voice of God.
Write
I. God begins His answer to Habakkuk’s prayer by telling him, “Write down what I am about to tell you.”
A. Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision, and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.
B. Did you ever consider how we got the bible?
1. A lot of scripture, an awful lot of scripture, most especially perhaps the Old Testament are what certain men said to God, and what God said in reply to man.
2. We call that prayer.
C. Read through the Psalms and over and over again the writers will pose a question to God, and then write down His response.
II. God gives Habakkuk three benefits of writing down the answer to his prayers.
III. First God says, “write it down so that the one who reads it may run.”
A. Now that may sound a bit odd; why would God want the reader to run from what is written.
B. To “run” is often used as a poetic means of saying “to carry out one’s life in obedience to the Word of God.
1. A good example of what God means when He speaks of running is found in Psalm 119, verse 32 - I shall run the way of Thy commandments, For Thou wilt enlarge my heart. (NASB)
2. A New Testament example of the word is found in Philippians 2, verse 16 where Paul writes - holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. (NASB)
IV. Second God says, “Write it down because the ultimate answer is not hear yet.”
A. “the vision is yet for the appointed time”
B. God says, “I am answering your prayer verbally, but the carrying out of the vision is yet future; it’s not time yet.”
V. And third God says, “Wait for it.”
A. We consider our prayers answered when we can see the finished result.
1. We pray for healing, and when God heals, we say He has answered our prayer.
2. We pray for someone’s salvation, and when they finally accept Christ, our prayers are answered.
3. We pray for people to come to church, and when the come our prayers are answered.
4. Maybe we pray for that new job, or new car, or new home, and when we receive, our prayers are answred.
B. But God tells Habakkuk, “write it down so that everyone who reads it will know how to live, and by extension so that everyone who reads it will know that the final answer it yet future.
VI. Just because it hasn’t happened yet, does not mean that God has not answered our prayers,
VII. How exciting to know that God is about to do something great. If we write down what he is going to do, we have that much more to look forward to. Worship
I. The last thing I want to share with you this morning is found in Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 2 - Lord, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear. O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.
A. Now remember,
1. Although Habakkuk has heard the voice of God speaking, God has said, “The answer to your prayer is yet future.
2. Restoration has not yet come.
3. The Chaldean’s are still in charge.
4. God has not performed the mighty work of bringing down the enemies of God.
B. All God has done is spoken and affirmed to Habakkuk that He will indeed act.
II. You Habakkuk
A. Continue to wait,
B. Write down what I have told you, so that you know what you are waiting for.
C. Be patient, and trust in me,
III. And Habakkuk’s response is,
A. I have heard what you have said, and I fear or worship you.
B. The NIV translates this verse - LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.
IV. When was the last time that you worshiped God, not for what He has done, but for what He is going to do.
V. When God speaks, don’t forget to worship.
