Habakkuk 3:16-17
THE PEACE OF HABAKKUK’S FAITH
[Psalms 18:18-33]
The last section of this glorious chapter contains some of the most moving verses in all the Bible. On one occasion it was used by Benjamin Franklin, who was not a Christian, to confound some of the sophisticated, cultured despisers of the Bible whom he met in when he was serving as United States Plenipotentiary to France. The skeptics were mocking him for his admiration of the Bible. So he decided to find out how well they knew the book they professed to scorn. One evening he entered their company with a manuscript that contained an ancient poem he said he had been reading. He said that he had been impressed with its stately beauty. They asked to hear it. He held it out and read this great third chapter of Habakkuk ending with the verses 16-19 (read).
The reading was received with exclamations of extravagant admiration. "What a magnificent piece of verse!" they cried. Where had Franklin found it? How could they get copies? They were astonished when he informed them that it was the third chapter of Habakkuk’s prophecy.
What is it that makes this chapter, and particularly the final verses, so forceful? To me it is the courageous way in which Habakkuk faces possible calamities and triumphs over them through knowledge & faith in his Savior.
Habakkuk, being a righteous man, has learned the lesson of faith taught in 2:4 - to trust in God’s sovereignty regardless of circumstances. He declares that even if God should send suffering and loss, he would still rejoice in God his Savior, one of the strongest affirmations of faith in all Scripture. Pray it will be yours also.
I. A DISTRESSING WORD, 16a.
II. A DELAYING WORD, 16b.
III. A DISCERNING WORD, 17.
[I. DIFFICULT DAYS, 16-17. II. WONDROUS WALK, 18-19.]
The person speaking changes again. The prophet now speaks in the first person of his own experiences. Habakkuk’s questions have been answered and his acceptance of God’s Word produces one of the most powerful statements recorded in scripture. [But before you get to verse 19 you have verse 16.]
Bad things happen while you live on this earth! But when they do, how do we as believers respond? Habakkuk 3:19 tells us that there are "high places" on which we can walk when bad things happen. He says in verse 19, "The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet makes me walk on my high places." The "high places" refer to God’s victory you can have in Him over any circumstance in life. "What’s over your head is under His feet." But, how do you reach the high place where life does not defeat you but works for you?
Remember what Hab told us. Bad things were going on in his life and his nation, which in and of himself he could not understand, so he went to God and sought His guidance. We should learn from him that if we are going to walk on the high places, we first of all must hear from God. Find out what God says in His Word, and purpose in our heart that we are going to trust Him by living in the light of all that He says in His Word.
In verse 16 Habakkuk acknowledges that he heard, understood and accepted what God said about the devastation that the coming of the Babylonians will bring. "I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble, because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us."
Obviously anyone who is impacted by the dynamic word of God’s power previously expounded upon would be left in awe. Habakkuk was no exception. He had asked for a show of God’s might (v.2). Little did he realize what a revelation it would be.
The prophet’s heart pounded, his lips quivered, and his legs trembled. Habakkuk was about to collapse from this amazing encounter with God. He felt as though his bones were in a state of decay, ready to collapse and his nervous system was all unraveled. Yet even though His encountered with God left him in a weakened state, his confidence and hope were renewed. In the acceptance of the impact of God’s Word upon himself, he found a new sense of peace and purpose in his life and in his prophetic ministry. He said he would wait patiently (lit. "rest") for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading Judah. He will wait in faith, even when the wick rule the earth in injustice and arrogance.
Habakkuk heard from God and it made him tremble. When God spoke, Habakkuk had to learn to take the bad in life along with the good. Both are going to come. None of us like this fact. I don’t even like stating it, because I know we are all going to have to take the pain that comes simply because of the sin of Adam, which still effects the world in which we live. But when bad things come, we must remember God has a high place, a place where we can experience Him. If He allows bad things into our lives, then somehow He’ll use them for good in our lives.
II. A DELAYING WORD, 16b. or A DYNAMIC WORD
If we are going to get up on our high places, we also must learn to wait upon God. Personally, I too often find myself trying to drag God along behind me. I don’t know which is worse: hearing from Him when He says things I don’t want to hear or waiting on Him. But we’ve got to learn to wait on God. He works in His own time. He told Habakkuk: "I am going to do what I said I was going to do, but it will come at the appointed time." He is the God of the eleventh hour. Learn to wait on Him.
How do we wait? Habakkuk says (v. 16): "Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress" Did you hear that? How do we wait? "Quietly." In other words, "Whatever God allows must be good because He is a good God. I trust Him. I am going to put all my faith in Him, and I’ll wait until it comes. I’ll wait until it is over, quietly." Please understand; this is the normal Christian life. When you trust God, and He is doing something in your life that you can’t fathom, you just have to wait until He is finished.
[There are four things to consider about waiting. First of all, it involves anticipation.] If you really trust God, it involves anticipation. Habakkuk said in 3:16, "I must wait quietly." The word for "wait" in Hebrew is an exciting word. It means "to weave." It is never passive when you wait. It is always full of anticipation. God is weaving everything together. Learn to let God take all those circumstances that you cannot begin to understand. He’ll weave them together into a design you would have never believed was possible.
[When I was growing up we didn’t have power mowers. We had the old push kind-"armstrong" power. My Dad wanted me to mow the grass. I hated mowing the grass. To this day I hate it. My father came tome one day and said, "Wayne, "If you’ll cut the grass every Saturday for the next four weeks, we’ll go to California and have a wonderful time together as a family." We had some relatives there who had said we could stay with them.
Man, the next Saturday morning, I jumped out of bed and I got that lawn mower out. Son, I was making that blade sing as I walked across the yard pushing that thing. Every time I would cut a row, I kept thinking, "I ’can’t wait to go to California."]
Part of waiting is that anticipation of what God is doing. What’s going on in your life right now? Wait on Him. Just wait. When He is ready for you to know what He is doing, He will let you know. He’ll bring it about at the appointed time.
The prophet was determined to wait for that day which would be filled with destruction which would be followed by another day of victory and vindication over wicked Babylon. Habakkuk has faced the frightening fact that his nation will be invaded by a merciless enemy. He knows that many will go into exile and many will be slain. The land will be ruined, and Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed. Yet he has placed his faith in God, trusting Him to act responsibly. He can rely upon God’s character even in the day of distress.
[God’s deeds on Israel’s behalf in Egypt, at the Red Sea, at Mount Sinai, at the Jordan River, and in the Conquest of Canaan were unquestionably awe-invoking. This review of God’s power in the past assured the prophet that God would provide a similar deliverance for Israel from Babylon. Habakkuk was confident that someday God would again "renew" (v.2) those acts of power, with "wrath" on Babylon and "mercy" (v.2) on Judah.]
The second factor in waiting is advantage. The advantage is that God can do what you cannot do. [Once, in my ministry, there was a man in our church who was causing some problems. He basically laid an ultimatum on us, as a staff, and he thought he had us squirming. If I hadn’t known this Scripture in Habakkuk, I would have been a wreck, but I knew that God was in control. Granted, it took me awhile to get to this perspective. When he made his verbal attack on us, it literally knocked me into a low place, but I finally came to realize that God had allowed it to happen, for His purposes. It is God who brings us to that high place.]
That’s what waiting is all about. You don’t jump in and take over. You learn to wait and let God weave those things together. "Weave" is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated "wait."
God is wanting to place you on your high place. Oh, how the anticipation begins to build. God, what are You up to? God, I can’t begin to imagine. Just tell me what to do, Lord. I can’t wait to see whatever it is that You are weaving together.
III. A DISCERNING WORD, 17.
Listen to Habakkuk’s great confession in verse 17 that His faith in God good purpose and character does not depend on His experiencing the common blessing of life. "Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls."
Habakkuk knew it would be a difficult wait but he was learning to look to God for his answers to the perplexing problems of life and trust God’s solution even when they were not to his liking. Out of this exercise of overcoming doubt and impatience had come an unswerving trust in spite of coming trouble. Habakkuk is talking about a time when Judah is going to be taken into captivity for seventy years. The Babylonia invasion would strip the land and bring about the worst possible situation. The enemy would come in and destroy crops and animals and devastate Judah. Devour the produce of the fig trees, the vines, the olive trees, mar the fields and carry off the flock from the fold and cattle from the stalls.
The nation’s prosperity was dependent upon the Lord’s blessing and protection. Prosperity was forfeited due to disobedience and disloyalty to the covenant which resulted in chastening through natural and military disasters (Lev. 3:3-33, Deut. 28:2-42; Isa. 7:22-25; Hos. 2:12; Bel. 1:7-12; Amos 4:6-9; Hag. 1:6-11; 2:16-19). The nation’s actions made judgment inevitable. In this dark hour with trembling lips and shaking legs the prophet bursts into praising God. Habakkuk says, "Even during that time, in those agonizing moments, when I don’t even know if God is anywhere around, I am going to trust Him."
It reminds us of our Lord before He went to the cross (Mk. 14:26) and Paul and Silas in the Philippian dungeon (Acts 10: 19-34). God can give us "songs in the night" (Ps. 42:8; 77:6; Job 35:10) if we’ll look to His greatness and trust Him. The question is how would your attitude be toward God during reversals of fortune? during such judgment?
MY FIRST WIFE was KILLED while serving God faithfully on the mission field. Like Habakkuk, I wondered why it had happened to me. Later I realized that what mattered was how I dealt with the experience.
Most of us have come to expect, and feel that we deserve, a trouble-free life. We never quite believe that bad things will happen to us. Thus, when worse comes to worse, as it invariably does, we have difficulty accepting such life-changing events such as serious illness, economic reverses, marital crises, or a death in the family.
Habakkuk was a prophet who questioned God when he could not understand God’s ways of dealing with sinful Judah. God’s answers erased his doubts and gave Habakkuk assurance and inner joy even in troubled times. The prophet knew that no matter what the future held, God would provide the needed strength and help.
I have often joined in singing the chorus "GOD IS GOOD, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me." I could sing this with sincerity, thanking Him for my family, my fulfilling occupation, my many friends, and above all my salvation. But one day a feeling of conviction swept over me as I sang. Would I sing these words if I were living alone, felt unloved, and had little to eat?
I hope so. I am confident that the Lord, in whom I have placed my trust, would give me the same grace He’s given to millions who have nothing but Him. Imprisoned for their faith or undernourished or ostracized or painfully ill, they can rejoice in the Lord and declare His goodness.
A friend who has been working with Christians in Africa told me that thousands of new converts reflect a joy and gladness that puts him to shame. Could it be that because they are desperately poor they focus more fully on Christ? This friend and I have Jesus Christ plus many earthly possessions and pleasures. They have Christ plus nothing. He’s all they need, and so they sing with greater fervor than I, "God is so good!"
Yes, God is good, no matter what our circumstances. It’s a lesson we all must learn sooner or later.
CONCLUSION
I read about a family who LOST THREE CHILDREN to diphtheria in the same week. Only a 3-year-old girl escaped the disease. On the following Easter morning, the father, mother, and child attended church. Because the father was the Sunday school director, he led the session when all the classes met together. As he read the Easter message from the Bible, many were weeping, but the father and mother remained calm and serene.
When Sunday school was over, a 15-year-old boy was walking home with his father. "The director and his wife must really believe the Easter story," said the boy. His father answered, "All Christians do." "Not the way they do!" replied the young man.
How we react under trial demonstrates the depth of our convictions. This is not to say that a true Christian will not weep at the loss of a loved one. However, knowing that all believers who die go into Christ’s presence, we need not "sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13). We can say, "Thank You, Lord," because we know He can be trusted to do what is best. The prophet said it well: "Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; ... yet I will rejoice in the Lord". The prophet was prepared to trust God. He realized that inner peace did not depend on outward prosperity.
Habbakuk found peace in knowing that the presence of God is the bounty found in scarcity. God’s presence makes all the difference. He therefore had resolved to be joyful, not superficially with his eyes closed to the problems and injustices, but by looking difficult circumstances and hard truth in the face and then accepting that in it all God would fulfil His good purposes.
