(How Shall We Live?)
Part 1 – Setting the Stage: Habakkuk’s Cry
It is a privilege to worship with you today and open the Word of God.
Our text is Habakkuk 2:4:
> “The righteous shall live by his faith.”
Those few words have shaped world history. They fueled Paul’s gospel, sparked the Reformation through Martin Luther, and still speak to believers living in anxious times.
But to feel their weight, we need to start where Habakkuk himself started—with a heart full of questions.
> “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and You will not hear? Or cry to You, ‘Violence!’ and You will not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2)
Can you hear the ache? Habakkuk looked around and saw corruption, violence, and leaders who seemed immune to justice. Courts were crooked. The innocent suffered. It felt like God was silent.
If we’re honest, we know that feeling.
You pray for a child who has wandered far, but months become years and nothing seems to change.
You work for honesty in a system that rewards shortcuts, and injustice keeps winning.
You watch the news—wars, shootings, refugees—and wonder, “Lord, how long?”
Habakkuk is our companion in that tension. He doesn’t pretend everything is fine. He brings his complaint straight to God.
And God answers—but not in the way Habakkuk expects.
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God’s Surprising Reply
Instead of promising quick relief, the Lord says (1:5),
> “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”
God’s plan will unfold through a rising empire, Babylon—a pagan power far more ruthless than Judah. The cure seems worse than the disease.
Habakkuk wrestles again. “Why, God, would You use the wicked to punish those more righteous than they?” (1:13).
This is not a neat Sunday-school story; it is a real conversation with the living God.
Habakkuk chooses to wait.
“I will take my stand at my watchpost,” he says (2:1). “I will look out to see what He will say to me.”
It is while he waits—watching, listening, wrestling—that the pivotal word comes:
> “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.” (2:4)
This is the hinge of the book.
God contrasts the arrogant (the Babylonian conqueror, and anyone who trusts his own power) with the faithful one who trusts God’s timing and character.
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From Habakkuk to Paul to Luther
Centuries later the apostle Paul quoted this line in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 to explain the gospel:
> “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Paul wasn’t taking it out of context. He was reading Habakkuk rightly: the righteous person survives and flourishes not by self-reliance but by trusting God’s promise, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Fifteen hundred years after Habakkuk, a young monk named Martin Luther read Paul’s words and felt the walls of guilt and fear crumble. He discovered that justification is not earned by penance or indulgence but received by faith in Christ alone. Luther later wrote, “Before those words broke upon my mind I hated God; but when I grasped the truth that the just shall live by faith, I felt myself reborn.”
Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed.
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Living by Faith Today
Now the question moves from history to us.
How shall we live by faith when the world still feels like Habakkuk’s—violent, unjust, and confusing?
Living by faith is more than a moment of conversion. It is a daily posture of trust.
When prayers seem unanswered, faith waits with expectancy.
When culture rewards pride, faith chooses humility.
When the future is hidden, faith holds fast to God’s character.
Faith doesn’t mean passive resignation. Habakkuk kept watch; he kept the conversation going. Faith is active reliance—leaning on God’s promises when sight and feelings give no encouragement.
Faith takes hold of Christ with the hand of love, and presents Him before the Father, saying: I will accept the Saviour You have promised.
That is how the just live—today
as in Habakkuk’s day.
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Part 2 – Faith as a Lifeline in Uncertain Times
Habakkuk teaches us that faith is not a sentimental feeling but a sturdy lifeline anchored in God’s character.
When God’s answer was not what he expected, Habakkuk did not walk away. Instead, he climbed the watchtower of trust.
> “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me.” (2:1)
Waiting in faith is hard work.
It means choosing to believe that God is both good and sovereign when the evidence seems thin.
Many of you know that struggle.
You’ve prayed for a spouse to return to Christ, or for healing that has not come.
You’ve watched injustice triumph at work or in politics.
Faith, in those moments, is not a warm feeling; it’s a choice to rest your full weight on God’s promises.
Faith is trusting God—believing that He loves us and knows best what is for our good. Thus instead of our own, it leads us to choose His way.
That’s the heart of living by faith: choosing God’s way when your way looks easier.
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From Ancient Watchtower to Modern World
Think about how Habakkuk’s watchtower faith speaks to our moment.
We live in a 24/7 news cycle of wars and disasters.
Markets swing, technologies disrupt, ideologies collide.
We are tempted to panic or to grasp for control.
But the righteous will live by faith.
That doesn’t mean ignoring the world’s pain.
It means staying rooted in the deeper reality that God is writing a story bigger than today’s headlines.
A simple, modern parable helps:
Imagine crossing a long suspension bridge in fog.
You cannot see the far end, but each plank beneath your feet is firm.
Faith is stepping forward on what you cannot see because you trust the bridgebuilder.
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Faith Expressed in Daily Life
What does that look like tomorrow morning?
Prayerful Dependence – Setting aside time with God even when the calendar screams otherwise.
Integrity at Work – Refusing to pad numbers or shade truth, trusting God to honor honesty.
Generous Living – Tithing, giving, and helping the needy when budgets are tight.
Persevering Hope – Refusing bitterness when you face personal loss.
Each choice says, “I believe God’s promises more than my fears.”
Habakkuk himself moved from complaint to confidence.
By chapter 3 he sings:
> “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (3:17–18)
That is the music of mature faith.
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The Gospel Thread
Paul heard that music when he wrote to the Romans,
> “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17)
Paul’s point was not that we muster faith to earn salvation.
He meant that God gives righteousness as a gift to those who trust in Jesus Christ.
We begin by faith and we continue by faith.
Martin Luther discovered this when he pored over Romans in a cold Wittenberg tower.
His heart, once terrified of a wrathful God, was set free by the truth that justification is God’s work, received by faith.
That same gospel sets us free.
It invites us to stop striving for acceptance and start resting in Christ’s finished work.
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Part 3 – Faith Tested and Triumphant
Faith that lives must also be tested.
Habakkuk’s world did not improve overnight.
The Babylonians still marched.
Judah’s leaders still schemed.
The prophet still felt the weight of delay.
And yet, by the end of his book, Habakkuk could sing.
> “Though the fig tree may not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines;
though the labor of the olive may fail,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
and there be no herd in the stalls—
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Notice the contrast: though… yet.
Faith does not deny hard realities; it defies them with praise.
The barns can be empty, the future uncertain, and still the heart sings because God is faithful.
Rely upon Jesus -- not only in the greatest emergencies, but in the daily round of life.
When the path seems obscure, He still leads the way.
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A Modern Echo
Many of you have faced a “though… yet” moment.
Though the medical report is grim, yet you trust the Great Physician.
Though a loved one is far from Christ, yet you believe the Spirit is still at work.
Though finances tighten, yet you choose honesty and generosity.
This is not stoicism.
It is the victory of a heart anchored in the unchanging character of God.
Think of a storm-tossed ship.
The anchor does not calm the waves; it holds the vessel secure until the storm passes.
Faith is the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19).
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From Waiting to Witnessing
Habakkuk’s journey teaches another dimension of faith: witness.
As he waited, he not only survived; he became a testimony.
His very act of steadfast trust proclaimed to his generation that God can be relied upon.
We too bear witness when we hold steady.
Neighbors notice when you choose joy instead of bitterness.
Children learn from parents who keep family worship alive during trials.
Coworkers see Christ when you act with integrity under pressure.
Paul captured this in 2 Corinthians 4:
> “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned.”
Faith that endures becomes light for others still groping in darkness.
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From Fear to Song
The book of Habakkuk begins with a question mark
and ends with an exclamation point of praise.
The prophet moves from fear to song because he has shifted from focusing on circumstances to focusing on God.
This is the same movement the gospel makes in every believer.
We begin troubled by sin and brokenness.
We cry out, “How long, Lord?”
We encounter Christ, the faithful One.
We end with joy and confidence.
Faith grows strong in earnest conflict with doubt and fear. ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.’ This is the most precious triumph of faith.
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Part 4: How shall we live?
We have followed Habakkuk from complaint to confidence, from questioning to praise.
We have heard Paul declare in Romans 1:17 that “the righteous shall live by faith.”
We have watched Martin Luther stand before emperors and councils, unshaken because he had discovered that salvation is the gift of God’s grace, received by faith alone.
Now the Word turns to us.
How shall we live?
1. Live by Faith in Jesus Alone
Living by faith begins with trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Paul writes in Galatians 2:20:
> “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Faith is not wishful thinking.
It is confident reliance on a living Person—Christ who died and rose again.
It means resting in His finished work rather than in our performance, and it means walking with Him day by day.
Faith is the clasping of the hand of Christ in every emergency.
2. Live by Faith When the World Shakes
Faith also steadies us in uncertain times.
Habakkuk’s Babylon has modern cousins—economic turmoil, political unrest, cultural confusion.
Our call is the same: watch, pray, and trust God’s unseen plan.
Remember Jesus’ words:
> “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Faith does not shield us from difficulty; it carries us through.
3. Live by Faith in the Everyday
Finally, living by faith means ordinary obedience:
showing integrity in business when shortcuts beckon
forgiving when you’ve been wounded
giving generously when budgets tighten
rejoicing in worship when feelings lag
These daily choices proclaim that God is trustworthy.
Faith is the very life of the soul. Its presence gives strength, serenity, and perseverance.
Invitation and Appeal
Perhaps today you feel like Habakkuk in chapter 1—confused, discouraged, waiting for God to act.
The Lord invites you to move with the prophet to chapter 3—to the “though…yet” praise of a heart anchored in God.
Will you choose to live by faith?
Not by sight.
Not by mood.
But by trust in the unchanging promises of God.
Let today be the day
you climb the watchtower of faith,
fix your eyes on Christ,
and say with Habakkuk:
> “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Benediction
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Amen.
