A SINGING FAITH
Habakkuk 3:1-19
S: Worship
Th: Where is God when things go wrong?
Pr: WE NEED GOD THE WAY HE IS AND THE WAY HE WORKS.
?: How? How should we respond?
KW: Responses
TS: We will find in our study three responses we need to have to God and His ways.
The _____ response we need to have to God and His ways is to…
I. REVERE
II. REVIEW
III. RISE UP
RMBC 27 January 02 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Notebook: Trouble (You know you’ve got trouble when…)
You know you’ve got trouble when…
you wake up face down on the pavement
you call 911 and they put you on hold
you see a 60 Minutes news team waiting in your office
your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles
you turn on the news and they are showing emergency routes out of the city
your twin forgets your birthday
When your life seems troubled, what do you do?
Sometimes, we laugh at our troubles just to keep our sanity.
But you clearly cannot laugh at all of your troubles.
We have proved that this past month.
We have experienced some difficult things as families have been experiencing some pretty intense grief.
And it makes us ask—where is God when things go wrong?
TRANSITION:
This is the question that Habakkuk asked as well.
He wants to know where God is.
Things haven’t been right.
Because…
1. Habakkuk is troubled when…
1.1 …he complains to God that Judah is unrighteous.
He was distressed by the wickedness of the people around him.
And Habakkuk is concerned that God is putting up with it without doing anything about it.
How could He be so indifferent?
They needed a revival…now.
They needed to turn back to God, just like it used to be.
How come God was not answering his prayer?
Well, God does answer…and…
Habakkuk is troubled when…
1.2 …God answers and says He is sending the Babylonians as His judgment.
This was not the answer that Habakkuk was looking for.
He had been distressed by the Lord’s slowness to answer his prayers.
Now he is unhappy with the answer.
Before he thought God didn’t care.
Now he thinks God cares too much.
So…Habakkuk makes another complaint…
1.3 …he complains to God that the Babylonians are much worse than his people.
Now he is distressed by the greater wickedness of the Babylonians.
How could God use a people as an instrument of justice that needed God’s justice more than his own people?
Did this make sense?
Habakkuk gives up.
The more he has complained, the worse it has gotten.
He decides to go to the tower to get a different and higher perspective and wait for God’s answer.
And answer He does…
2. Habakkuk discovers that God…
2.1 …provides a way of salvation.
God is merciful.
He shows Habakkuk that there is a way for the faithful to live.
The just shall live by faith.
Habakkuk also discovers that God…
2.2 …works judgment in His timing.
While we wait for God to work, we find that God has been working all along.
But God never thinks in the short term.
He is always thinking long range.
I guess you get that way when you happen to be from everlasting to everlasting.
Finally, Habakkuk discovers that God…
2.3 …is worth listening to.
God was going to do a whole lot more than Habakkuk had anticipated.
God is going to do more than forgiving people’s immorality and idolatry.
He’s going to root it out.
He’s not just going to forgive them; He’s going to purge them as well.
I believe that as we come to our final study in Habakkuk that the prophet discovers this…
3. WE NEED GOD THE WAY HE IS AND THE WAY HE WORKS.
Habakkuk had not been content with God.
He had not been content with the way He was working.
But as he complained to God, he discovered that God was doing a lot more than he had originally thought.
Not only that, He was doing exactly what was needed.
So now Habakkuk offers his response and this is what we will give our attention to this morning…
4. We will find in our study three responses we need to have to God and His ways.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first response we need to have to God and His ways is to REVERE (1-2).
The text begins…
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.
Now that Habakkuk has his answer, it is a time for prayer.
Not only that, it is a time to sing.
The word “shigionoth” is a bit of a mystery.
It may be a musical instrument or a name of a tune.
But we do know by the way this chapter ends that these are words that are set to music.
So this is both a prayer and a song.
These two often go together.
I recently listened to a song that is performed by the group FFH (which stands for “Far From Home”) that puts prayer and song together and which, I think, reflects Habakkuk’s new found attitude…
ILL FFH
Lord move in a way that I’ve never seen before
‘Cause there’s a mountain in the way and a lock on the door
I’m drifting away, waves are crashing on the shore
So Lord move, or move me.
Did you hear that last line?
So Lord move, or move me.
It seems to me that this phrase reflects Habakkuk’s attitude and Habakkuk is moved.
Hear now Habakkuk’s song of worship…
(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.
Habakkuk has become an example to us.
For…
1. As the heart grows humble, the mind grows wise.
He has heeded the admonition to be silent and listen.
And how He had heard.
And now it was the time to submit.
I think this teaches us an important lesson.
God may be patient with us when we place demands upon Him, but our demands are not successful.
When we think we deserve to be heard, we discover that God owes us no answer.
When we think that we are better or more faithful than others, God shows us Himself and humbles us, because we can never compare to Him.
We always fall short.
So…
2. Standing back can give us the right perspective.
Habakkuk looked away from himself, his own people and the Babylonians and then focused on God.
The picture suddenly changed.
Now he was faced with the righteousness of God.
Now he had to come to grips with the eternal and sovereign God who is always just and pure.
The relative goodness of Israel was insignificant in comparison.
This was the Almighty God.
Habakkuk was so convinced by this new perspective on God that he asks Him to keep going.
Though Babylon coming to Judah as an instrument of justice was going to be difficult and heartbreaking, he says, “Keep Your work going!”
He knows that God’s work is necessary and it is going to be good, even if it is for discipline and correction.
But Habakkuk also makes a plea.
He knows that the justice is deserved and needed, but he still asks, “Lord, in wrath remember mercy.”
You see…
3. We need God’s justice to be tempered by His mercy.
God does act justly.
He is a moral God, who knows and discerns what is right and wrong.
And as a result, wrong does not go unpunished.
But if there is not mercy, we die.
Thankfully, it is God’s character to be merciful.
He does provide cleansing and forgiveness.
And how we need it to recover, restructure, and grow forward with our lives.
II. The second response we need to have to God and His ways is to REVIEW (3-16).
ILL Notebook: History (Stoppard)
The comedian Tom Stoppard has said:
If Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at the age of 22, it would have changed the history of music...and of aviation.
The next part of Habakkuk’s prayer is a review of history.
There is a repetitive Old Testament command when it comes to history.
It is “don’t forget” and “remember.”
Whenever you get discouraged, remember what God has done.
And though the circumstances of life change, remember that God does not.
So, as we give consideration to this poem, we understand that…
1. When God came in history, nothing could stand in His way.
Throughout this wonderful piece of poetry, there is imagery that demonstrates God’s power.
The imagery speaks to the plagues and the delivery of Israel from Egypt.
There is reference to the parting of the Red Sea and the shekinah glory.
We also see Joshua’s battle with the Amorites mentioned when God cause the sun to stand still in the sky.
There is also an allusion to the story of David and Goliath.
In each of these instances, God has moved powerfully.
Habakkuk also tells us that…
2. When God stands and measures His judgment, He knows what He is doing.
He is unafraid.
God measures the nations.
He examines them, even to the point of seeing the individual.
As Hebrews says, His gaze penetrates our innermost being.
His present activity becomes a part of His everlasting ways.
So…
3. When God marches, He will certainly fulfill His purpose.
Simply…nothing stops Him.
He deliberately moves on to accomplish His purposes.
Notice how Habakkuk responds to this news…
(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.
Habakkuk trembles at the recognition of God’s wrath.
God’s wrath is so great and so fierce that, even when it is applied to the enemy, it shakes Habakkuk up.
From head to foot, the voice of God makes the body quiver.
But he must wait.
Judah deserves what it is going to get, but Babylon will also receive what it deserves as well.
III. The third response we need to have to God and His ways is to RISE UP (17-19).
(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.
1. No matter how bad it looks, rejoice in the God who is above it all!
Habakkuk paints a pretty bleak picture.
But he does it on purpose.
He wants us to know that no matter what happens, he will trust God.
The judgment is inevitable.
God must do His work.
But at the same time, God will keep us.
The just live by faith.
God will steady us and take us safely through to the other side.
So…
2. Let God take you above the troubles of this world.
The Lord wants us above our problems.
He does not want us forever dwelling in the valley of troubles.
He wants us to rise above them.
And He will give us the strength to do so.
We can be like a deer going up into the mountains, leaping with strength and power.
ILL William Cowper
William Cowper has written verse that reflects these last verses:
Though vine nor fig tree neither
Their wonted fruits should bear,
Though all the fields should wither,
Nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet, God the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
For, while in him confiding,
I cannot but rejoice.
APPLICATION:
So…how do we apply this prophetic writing of Habakkuk?
First…
1. Wait on God when you don’t understand Him.
We often do have a sighing faith.
Life is not turning out as we had hoped and imagined.
It often turns out much different and much sadder.
When those times come, it is time to wait and…
2. Have confidence in God, for in His sovereign judgment, He is merciful (Romans 8:28).
Paul writes in Romans:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
God wants us to have a seeing faith.
God wants us to be looking, listening and understanding what He is doing.
He wants us having the confidence that He is ultimately working for our good, even though that for a time, we may be hurting.
God, though, is not satisfied with just that.
He has even more!
ILL Notebook: Joy (Joni)
Many of us know the story of Joni Eareckson Tada who was paralyzed in a swimming accident and became a quadriplegic. She tells this story:
Honesty is always the best policy, but especially when you’re surrounded by a crowd of women in a restroom during a break at a Christian women’s conference. One woman, putting on lipstick, said, "Oh, Joni, you always look so together, so happy in your wheelchair. I wish that I had your joy!" Several women around her nodded. "How do you do it?" she asked as she capped her lipstick.
"I don’t do it," I said. "In fact, may I tell you honestly how I woke up this morning?"
"This is an average day," I breathed deeply. "After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 A.M., I’m alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 A.M. That’s when a friend arrives to get me up.
"While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, ’Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don’t have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don’t have a smile to take into the day. But you do. May I have yours? God, I need you desperately.’"
"So, what happens when your friend comes through the bedroom door?" one of them asked.
"I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It’s not mine. It’s God’s. And so," I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, "whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning."
I have learned that the weaker we are, the more we need to lean on God; and the more we lean on God, the stronger we discover him to be.
This is what God has for us…joy…even joy that is hard to obtain.
So…
3. Rejoice in the God who calls us His possession (I Peter 2:9-10).
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
A sighing faith turns into a seeing faith.
A seeing faith turns into a singing faith.
Once we had not received mercy.
But now we have received mercy.
That is worth singing about!
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Wait for the Lord…be strong and take heart and see all that He does is for our benefit, for we need Him as He is and as He works.
Have confidence in the Lord…for as He executes judgment, He remembers mercy; we never receive more than we can bear and He always moves us forward toward Christlikeness and a future that is forever with Him..
Rejoice in who God is…for He is worth singing about; delight in Him for we need Him the way He is and the way He works.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
