We can turn in your Bibles to the prophet Habakkuk. We'll look at chapter 3 this evening. This morning we looked at Hebrews 10 and specifically verse 38. The apostle quotes Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4.
And the primary purpose for the apostle doing that is to exhort the people, to encourage the people that it's by faith that they endure It's by faith they persevere. It is faith, the foundational principle from which those graces of endurance and perseverance flow. The Apostle quotes Habakkuk 2.4 as well in Romans chapter 1 and in Galatians chapter 3. It's a very important passage in Scripture.
We've already covered it or looked at it or thought about it. The just shall live by his faith. Tonight I want us to see how Habakkuk puts this principle into practice in his prayer, or his psalm, rather, in chapter 3. So, beginning in verse 1, a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigionoth.
O Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make it known. In wrath, remember mercy.
God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran, Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light. He had rays flashing from His hand, and there His power was hidden.
Before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His feet. He stood and measured the earth. He looked and startled the nations. The everlasting mountains were scattered.
The perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Kushan in affliction. The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
O Lord, You were displeased with the rivers. Was Your anger against the rivers? Was Your wrath against the sea that You rode on Your horses, Your chariots of salvation? Your bow was made quite ready.
Oaths were sworn over your arrows. Selah. You divided the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and trembled.
The overflowing of the water passed by. The deep uttered its voice and lifted its hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. At the light of your arrows they went.
At the shining of your glittering spear. You marched through the land in indignation. You trampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of your people.
For salvation with your anointed, you struck the head from the house of the wicked by laying bare from foundation to neck, Selah. You thrust through with his own arrows the head of his villages. They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me. Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
You walked through the sea with your horses, through the heap of great waters. When I heard, my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness entered my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people, he will invade them with his troops. Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit beyond 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.
The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. To the chief musician with my stringed instruments. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for the Word of God, and thank you for these prophets that we learn so much from, and we would pray that tonight, as we consider this particular psalm of Habakkuk, that it would be an encouragement to us, that we would see it flashed out, how the righteous shall live by faith. We thank You, Lord God, that You have justified us freely by Your grace, and we know that faith that justifies is not alone. It's given all, or it is accompanied by all those other graces, and we pray that You would just help us to persevere, help us to endure, help us to do so by faith in the One who lived for us, who died for us, and who rose again for us. Again, forgive us for all of our sins and our transgressions.
Provide to us now the Holy Spirit that we would find much benefit from this passage of Scripture. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, the book of Habakkuk, we can't just jump into chapter 3 without giving some background concerning the book as a whole. It's broken down, or it breaks down into three primary sections. In the first place, chapter 1, verse 2, to chapter 2, verse 4, is a dialogue between Habakkuk and God. In fact, there are two specific questions that Habakkuk asks of God in chapter 1.
The Lord then answers those particular questions. Secondly, there are woes of judgment pronounced in chapter 2, most likely upon Babylon. And then, as I've said and have mentioned, this third chapter is a psalm of the prophet. The only personal information we know about Habakkuk is his name.
We also know that he agonized over the wickedness in Judah during the time in which he ministered. The reference to Chaldeans in this book has reference to the Babylonians. Now, he most likely prophesied about 608 to 605 BC. This was on the brink of the fall of Jerusalem, on the brink of the fall of the Southern Kingdom.
This would take place in 587, 586. roughly around that period. Nebuchadnezzar would lead the Babylonians in and would ultimately devastate the nation of Israel, specifically the southern kingdom. The temple would be destroyed, the people would be exiled for a period of 70 years, and then they would return, and thus the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi prophesied during that particular time. But when we see the context in which he lived, impending judgment is coming.
And so chapter 2, verse 4, that definitive statement is absolutely crucial for us to understand. He says, Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Again, this is an answer to two questions. Go back to chapter 1 for just a moment.
Habakkuk cries out to God. He engages in lamentation. There's an ethical issue that perplexes him. And in verses 2 to 4, he asks God.
He sees the nation around him. He sees the sin of Judah. And he's essentially crying out to God, how long? And the answer comes in verses 5 to 11.
Note specifically what Yahweh says. Verses 5 and 6, look among the nations and watch, be utterly astounded for I will work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. In other words, God answers the prophet's question by saying, I am going to deal with the ethical transgression of Israel by sending judgment via Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar.
This leads into the prophet's second question, beginning in verse 12. He says, Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have appointed them for judgment.
O Rock, you have marked them for correction. You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. Why do you look on those who deal treacherously and hold your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he? Essentially, what the Prophet says at this particular time is that the answer to his question seems a bit more severe than he bargained for.
Perhaps you've heard those advertisements before for a particular medicine, and it says, this medicine will help treat this particular issue. but the side effects may involve death, suicidal thoughts, plagues, lice, boils, all these horrific things, and you kind of reason to yourself, it might actually be better just to have the original malady, because if I take this corrective medicine, it may cause all of these other things. The prophet says, God, you're going to send the Chaldeans? You're going to send the Babylonians? You're going to send this bitter and hasty nation to deal with the southern tribes of Judah?
This perplexed the prophet. God's response in chapter 2, specifically beginning in verse 2. Then Yahweh answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time.
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry." In other words, God's not going to relent. Judah has indeed filled up the measure of her guilt.
She has violated the covenant with God, vis-Ã -vis Deuteronomy 28, and she will reap the curses associated with that. And then in verse 4, God, through the prophet, prescribes to the people of God the disposition they need to adopt. Remember that not everybody in Judah was a vile, wretched, unsaved person. There was always a remnant.
There were the faithful ones. And so God gives this prescription. Verse 4, behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. That's the principle that governs the thought of Habakkuk as he comes to compose this psalm in Habakkuk chapter 3.
In other words, we are to reflect upon this and we are, by God's grace, to put these same things into practice in our own lives. And this psalm breaks down into three parts. First, the prophet's petition to God in verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the prophet's remembrance of God in verses 3 to 15.
And then the prophet's refuge in God in verses 16 to 19.
The Prophet's Petition to God
But note his petition in verses 1 and 2. says a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigionoth. Now, that word Shigionoth is in the margin at Psalm 7. The superscription calls it a meditation. If you look at the margin, it says Shigion.
And it's probably a musical term, it's probably a musical direction, much like the Selahs are. The Selahs are inscripturated. These superscriptions in the Psalms are inscripturated. They are to be received as the Word of God.
Selah was probably a musical pause, and this whole idea of Shigienoth was most likely something that indicate how the psalm was to be chanted or sung. Now note, he says in verse 2, O Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. Before we move on, we ought to notice and observe that this is a good response to the word of the living God. I heard your word and I was afraid.
You see this throughout scripture. You see that when men or women receive the truth of God's word, specifically concerning judgment, they are afraid. He has understood all too well God's plan to deal with the sin of Judah. He understands all too well this bitter and hasty nation.
He knows that the Chaldeans are going to come in and they're going to wipe out Judah and take them into exile. He hears that speech and he is indeed afraid. Notice the specific request in verse 2b, O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known.
I know that we deserve this. I know the calamity is coming. I know that hardship is rightly due to us. But Lord God, I don't want you to forget your work.
I want you to be concerned with your work. In many respects, the prophet reflects what Jesus will teach later in the Lord's Prayer. When Christ tells us to pray, what comes first? It's not our work, it's not our happiness, it's not our desires, it's God.
Jesus teaches us to pray that God's name be hallowed, that God's kingdom come, that God's will be done. And it's intriguing that the prophet imbibes that ethic in this particular situation. O Lord, revive your work. This is your people, these are your covenant bodies.
These are the inheritance that you have purchased for yourself. And I want you to understand, Lord God, that I pray that you revive your work in the midst of the years." And then he makes this particular plea. He says, in wrath, remember mercy. there will be wrath. In fact, if you survey chapter 1, as you see God describe the Chaldeans, and as you see the prophet describe the Chaldeans, this is going to be an expression of God's wrath, similar to what we find in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel is just a few further years down the pipe. Ezekiel is right in the thick of it at the time that he prophesied. Habakkuk is still right before it, or a few years before it, and he prays that God in his wrath would remember mercy, which we know that he does, because the exile lasts for 70 years, Judah returns to her land, and it is from that vantage point that Christ comes to redeem his people from their sins. This is a legit prayer for the people of God as intercessors at the throne of grace to pray.
In wrath, remember mercy. It's legit because God is good. God is gracious. God is kind.
God is just. God is righteous. God must punish sin. But we can beseech Him in His wrath to remember mercy.
And then
The Prophet's Remembrance of God
notice, secondly, the prophet's remembrance of God. We saw that this morning as well. The past is a present reminder, and it's as if the prophet understands that very concept, because what he does is rehearse the glory of God, and he reviews the power of God.
God's Glory and Power Rehearsed
Notice in verses 3 and 4. Essentially what you have in this section is a collage. Some of you kids have had to make collages before. And a collage is simply one big picture with a bunch of little pictures, right?
That's what a collage is. And this convention is used. It's used in several places in Scripture. It's used obviously here in Habakkuk 3, but it's in the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, the Song of Deborah in Judges 5, and then David, the victory chant in Psalm 68.
It's pieces of a collection of who God is and what He has done, and it's put onto this one frame so that we can gaze at it and view it. And that is what the prophet is doing here. You see, he petitions God, and then he remembers God, and he realizes that in this he has great confidence, because the Lord has shown himself merciful, the Lord has shown himself gracious, the Lord has shown himself kind. You see this convention used here in terms of collage, but you see the convention of remembering who God is and what He has done several times throughout the Psalms as a means of encouragement to the psalmist himself.
Now note, specifically he highlights the Exodus in verses 3 and 4. Now Timan is generally identified as a site in Edom or Seir's territory. Paran is identified with Sinai. And so this psalm, at least at this portion, traces the steps over which God led Israel as she journeyed to take possession of the promised land.
It's a good place to start when we review the glory and the power of God. The Exodus. How many times does the Exodus come up in the Psalms as a means by which the psalmist himself encourages himself and encourages the church or the people of God? We might bring this into the New Testament.
We might ponder the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That great exodus, that great display of liberation, that great display of redemption that we find at the cross. So you see, what the prophet does here, we ought to be doing in our psalmody. We ought to be doing it in our hymnody.
We ought to be doing it in our prayer closets, reviewing the glory of God and His redemptive acts. And that's where the prophet begins in this particular instance. Notice in 3B, His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light.
He had rays flashing from His hand and there His power was hidden. probably a description of God on Sinai, when there was that thundering and that lightning, and the people were afraid and they did not want to draw near, and they were prohibited from drawing near. But it's the redemptive act of God, having accomplished it at the Exodus, bringing the people of Israel to Sinai, to now command them how to live their lives in the land. Notice the power of God reviewed in verses 5 to 15. We won't spend a whole lot of time here, but note the plagues of Egypt is probably the reference in verse 5.
Before him went pestilence and fever followed at his feet. You want to understand the power of God? See how God liberated Israel from Egypt. You want to understand something about the sovereignty of God?
Review those ten plagues and see the demonstration of that power. In fact, he tells Moses specifically in Exodus 9, he did this, he raised up Pharaoh in order to demonstrate his power in all the earth. that all the earth would know there is a God in Israel. And so the prophet, as he comes to pray, encourages his own heart with this. It's the power of God over creation, found in verse 6.
He stood and measured the earth. He looked and startled the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered. The perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting.
We see the vindication of God's people in verse 7. Two references to the book of Judges. the victory over Cushon Rishithim under the judgeship of Othniel. We see as well the victory over the Midianites under the judgeship of Gideon. You see, these things are to encourage us and not just the prophet in 608-605 BC.
Brethren, this stuff is for us as well. Yes, we have the great redemptive act of God at the cross, but we also have the exodus. We also have the victory over Cushon-Rishathame under the judgeship of Othnia. We have the victory over the Midianites under the judgeship of Gideon.
Those things are for us. When we come to pray to God and we beseech Him, in your wrath remember mercy, and we review His power, and we rehearse His glory, we ought to bespeak the great things of God, not just in one particular book in the Scriptures, but all the books of the Scriptures, because they provide for us this collage that feeds the faith of God's people. We need to put collages in our heads. We need to piece these things together to review the great power of God.
We come against a particular temptation or a trial or a difficulty at work. We start to put together a particular collage. We see Joseph in Potiphar's house. We see Job making a covenant with his eyes.
We see our Lord Jesus telling us to cut off right hands or gouge out right eyes. We see the apostle Paul. We see Peter. We see the apostles in the New Testament.
This is a collage for the people of God to review the glory of God and the power of God in order to steady them in the present. This is the just living by faith, faith in the One who has revealed Himself in the Scriptures. And the prophet is displaying this for us now.
God's Wrath Against the Nations
He poses this question in verses 8 to 11. Essentially, he says, were you upset with the rivers? Were you upset with the created order? Were you upset with the mountains?
And the answer comes in verses 12 to 15. No, God did these things because He was angry with the nations. He was angry with sinners. He was not upset, but He was showing His wrath and demonstrating His power in the judgment of the nations of the earth.
So the power of God is revealed by the prophet of God after having given his petition to God, and that brings us finally to consider the prophet's refuge in God.
The Prophet's Refuge in God
The prophet's refuge in God, verses 16 to 19, and I just want to bring out four observations here concerning faith. Faith, because if the just shall live by faith, We see in Habakkuk 3 an expression of this faith. Again, what's happening? The Chaldeans are coming, this bitter and hasty nation.
They're coming not to have tea with Judah. They're coming not to have parties with Judah. They're coming to devastate Judah. They're going to destroy the temple, they're going to destroy the city, they're going to take the people and lead them back to their own nation.
They are going to do so in a manner that is very, very severe. And so, this is a tumultuous time for the prophet Habakkuk. And so, he needs to activate this principle found in Habakkuk 2.4, that Josh shall live by his faith. So, let's look at these four things that faith provides in these tumultuous times.
Faith Provides Rest
In the first place, faith provides rest in the day of trouble. Notice at verse 16, when I heard my body tremble, my lips quivered at the voice. Again, a good response when we understand God's Word. In Psalm 119, 120, the psalmist says, my flesh trembles in fear of thee.
Daniel, after receiving visions, trembled. He was physically affected by the things that he had heard. In Isaiah 66, 20, God looks upon those who are lowly and of a contrite spirit, those who tremble at His Word. And so Habakkuk here joins the chorus of men who understand the word of the living God, and he says, I might rest in the day of trouble.
When He comes up to the people, He will invade them with His troops." Now there's a couple of different ways perhaps we can understand verse 16. The ESV seems to indicate, I will rest or I will quietly wait for the recompense of God to come upon the Babylonians. So the idea being that Babylon is going to accomplish what God sends them to do with reference to Judah. But after that 70-year period, as prophesied through Isaiah, God's going to raise up Cyrus, king of Persia, and he's going to deal a death blow to Babylon.
So, ultimately, Babylon is going to get what's coming to them, and so the understanding on this reading says he will rest quietly, he will be content until the day of trouble comes upon Babylon, until they are revisited by God for their sins against God. Or, it may just mean that he rests in the day of trouble when he comes up to the people, specifically Babylon, he will invade them with his troops. In other words, I understand this is coming. It produces great fear in my heart.
It produces this trembling flash, but I will rest. I will trust. I will have confidence. I will seek my refuge in God because if God has spoken and God has deemed it appropriate, then I will not buck His system.
In other words, I resign and I resolve that I will rest no matter what. Faith provides rest in the day of trouble. Haven't we tried God in this and proven it to be the case? Isn't this the whole argument in Hebrews 10, 32-39?
Remember, when you were illuminated, remember when you had been enlightened, remember that you suffered reproach and difficulty and hardship. The apostle uses that as an argument to steady them in the present. The idea, the implication seems to be that the audience would read that and say, you know, he's right. We went through those hardships.
We had our goods plundered. We had people thrown in prison. We ourselves were thrown in prison, but we've always seen God faithful. We've always seen Him deliver us.
We've always seen Him restore us. We've always seen Him put things back to right. It may not happen in our time frame. It may not happen like that.
It may not happen for 70 years if you happen to be in exile in Babylon. That could seem like an eternity. I mean, seven days seems like a long time for some of us, doesn't it? Imagine one of your kids are going to go do something cool next Monday.
That's a long way. They'll never get here. Well, imagine 70 years in exile in a foreign country where the people are not very nice. You see, the prophet says that God has spoken, my flesh trembles, there's fear in my heart, but, but, but, but, I will rest in the day of trouble.
Because I know whatever my God ordains is right. Trinity Hymnal number 94, whatever my God ordains is right. Brethren, that's confidence, that's faith. That's what it produces.
It provides rest in the day of trouble.
Faith Provides Joy
Notice, secondly, that faith provides joy in God in the midst of devastation. Faith provides joy in God in the midst of devastation. Notice in verse 17, he acknowledges the loss that is sure to come. 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." What's he saying?
When Babylon comes, they're going to ruin our country. When Babylon comes, they're going to devastate our land. When Babylon comes, they're going to take us from the land, and certainly we're not going to be in the position to have those things that provided sustenance to us. In short, the absence of crops, the absence of flocks, the absence of herds, the devastation of Babylon upon Judah would be complete.
It would be comprehensive. This would be akin to us saying something to the effect, no more Superstore, no more Walmart, no more Power Grid, no more Internet, no more texting, no more going down to the store and buying milk, no more benefits and produce and food from animals, none of that. They're going to devastate. They're going to lay us low.
And this is consistent with Deuteronomy 28. Several times in those covenant curses, God explains how they will be exiled. And when they're exiled, it's not going to be Costco. It's not going to be Walmart.
It's not going to be all the good things that they had come to rely on. So notice, there is this loss acknowledged. Let's just read it again for effect. Though the fig tree may not blossom.
It's beautiful language as well. The literary merit of all this is just glorious. Though the labor of the olive may fail and the field yield no food, though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls. What would we be tempted to say?
Well, if there's no Costco, I don't want to live there. I mean, isn't that how they plant Costcos and plant Walmarts, based on population sort of centers, and if there's that many people, good. Perhaps people live that way. Well, I don't want to live there if there's not a Costco.
I don't want to live there if there's not a Walmart. I can't live where there's no Superstore. I got to have a Canadian tie. I just can't have all that.
He's facing certain devastation. And notice what his response is in verse 18. Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Are we at that point? Has faith so worked in our heart that it provides joy in God in the midst of devastation? Would we complain? Would we cry?
Would we whine? Would we murmur? Would we grumble? Would we just fall apart?
I mean, think about it. It's one thing to just, you know, kind of entertain this theoretically, but really think about it. The people of God have suffered many things that we know nothing of. Habakkuk is standing on the brink of societal collapse.
Societal collapse. We freak out if the person in our political party isn't going to be the president or the prime minister. The church has always flourished under whatever regime it may be because of the power of God Most High. We don't need a particular prime minister or a particular president to ensure the success of the church.
We've got the spirit of the living God. We've got the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The church in the first century thrived and flourished and grew and conquered under Nero, the man whom John Fox called the beast. And yet the church triumphed. because they preached the gospel and depended upon the Holy Spirit.
This man is facing devastation and he says, yet, I will rejoice in Yahweh, I will joy in the God of my salvation. I've always loved that sort of convention there. I will joy in the God of my salvation. I'm just going to joy in you, God.
We don't talk that way, do we? I will rejoice, I will have joy, but he says, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Because you see what the prophet understood is that crop loss, the devastation of herds, the removal of flocks, the closing of a Costco, the outage of the power grid does not affect our salvation. They cannot take that from us.
Once the Lord God has wrought this in our hearts, it is our possession till the end. Paul says in Philippians 1.6, I am confident of this very thing. He who began a good work in you will do what? He'll complete it on to the day of Christ, provided there's a Costco or a Walmart to tend to all your needs.
No. He will complete it to the day of Jesus Christ. He understood that the salvation God provides does not depend on the political order. It does not depend on which empire is in control.
It does not depend on sheep or on cows or on milk or on wool. It doesn't depend upon any of those things. The salvation of God is a certainty that the people of God possess and therefore when the just shall live by his faith, that faith provides joy in God in the midst of devastation. Calvin says, that is, our joy shall not depend on outward prosperity.
It doesn't depend on outward prosperity. I'm not suggesting go get rid of everything, shave your head and put an orange robe on and go dance at the airport like the Hare Krishnas. There's nothing wrong. If God does provide and God does bless, I'm not suggesting you go get rid of all that or have some big, massive garage sale.
But we need to understand that our joy is not contingent upon our outward prosperity. Our joy is contingent upon the cross, the gospel, the doing and the dying and the rising of Jesus. Our joy is uniquely connected to Romans 4.25. He was delivered up because of our offenses, and He was raised for our justification.
Remember when the disciples come back from that preaching ministry and they're rejoicing because they say, Wow, Lord, we saw demons cast out and we saw people healed and we saw all these things. And Jesus says, Don't rejoice in that, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Don't rejoice in what you can do. Rejoice in the reality that God has saved you.
You see, when our joy is tied to what we can do, or our joy is tied to our outward prosperity, when we no longer can do it and we're no longer prosperous, what happens to our joy? It's dried up. But when our joy is locked in to the triune God of heaven and earth, when Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the very source of our joy and our blessed privilege, then whatever comes, whatever happens, cannot dry up that joy. Calvin says, our joy shall not depend on outward prosperity, for though the Lord may afflict us in an extreme degree, there will yet be always some consolation to sustain our minds, that they may not succumb under evils so grievous, for we are fully persuaded that our salvation is in God's hand, and that He is its faithful guardian.
Babylon can come, they can destroy everything, they can put hooks in our noses and lead us back to their country, but they can't take our salvation. Isn't that glorious? Do you ever ponder that? Maybe this is what led Paul to say, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Now remember when Paul says that, he's in prison. It was a potential that he could die. It was a potential that he could be executed as a criminal, as a malefactor, as a person who brought tumult to the Roman Empire. Yet he says, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Have you ever wondered what you do with a guy like that? He's sitting in his prison cell, and you come to him, and you're the guard or the warden, and you say, OK, we're going to let you live. I get Christ. We're going to kill you.
I get more Christ. We can't punish you, Paul. We can't hurt you. We can't make anything bad for you, because if you live, you're going to go out and preach and produce more fruit.
And if you die, you're going to depart, which is far better, he describes in Philippians 1.23. You see, with Paul, you can't really hurt him. But that's not just true for Paul. You can't really hurt us.
If we have, by the grace of God, passed from death into life, it's not outward prosperity, it's not our outward usefulness, though that's important. We ought to seek, by the grace of God, to be useful in His hand. It is that inward salvation wrought by the Spirit of God, secured by the power of God. In the language of Calvin, he is a faithful guardian of that which has been given to us.
Faith provides joy in the midst of devastation.
Faith Provides Stability
A third lesson we learned from the prophet. Faith provides stability in God. Isn't this one of the things that I think everyone craves? We like stability, don't we?
What could be more instability or in unstabilizing, I guess is the correct grammatical form there. What's more unstabilizing than the thought of the Babylonians coming and destroying your nation? That's a really unstabilizing thought. And for those of us who are a little bit OCD and we like everything in its place, where the herds are, where the flocks are, where the Costco's are and where our stuff is, that can throw us off our game.
You see, he's not looking for that stability in his outward prosperity, he sees that stability in his God. Notice, verse 19, the Lord God is my strength. No matter what comes, no matter what happens, no matter what comes down the pipe, God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet.
Now, deer are pretty incredible when it comes to running and leaping. little hymn from the kids running and leaping and praising God. I guess deers are doing that. They're doing what God made deers to do. I was just thinking about this particular image, so I did what every pastor in the 21st century does.
I googled it. Of course, there's all these Christian sites. It's actually from the Psalms. It's actually from Psalm 18.33, which comes from Psalm 2 Samuel 22.
So David composed this. He uses this particular image. He will make my feet like deer's feet. But I went to a hunting site.
I don't know if it was a hunting site, but it was something about deer. They can leap like eight feet. They can go up hills and mountains. They've got a stability when it comes to the rough terrain.
They've got grounding. They've got the ability to stand fast in uncertain circumstances. And this is what the prophet says concerning God. He is my strength.
He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills again. This isn't some bumper-sticker theology. In some health, wealth, and prosperity context, he is standing on the verge of societal collapse via Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. And nevertheless, for him, faith provides stability in God.
And then the fourth and final observation.
Faith Provides Worship Material
Faith provides material for the church's worship. Faith provides material for the church's worship. Note verse 1, a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigianoth. As I said, that's a musical term.
The Selahs in here indicate that we're dealing with a literature, a genre, that's psalmody. And then note the final statement in verse 19, to the chief musician with my stringed instruments. Do you know what Habakkuk is saying there? I have composed this psalm for the chief musician to be utilized in the churches, to be sung by God's people, to learn what it is that the just shall live by his faith.
This is the sort of stuff that the people of God sing throughout the ages. The Psalms of David, the inspired hymn book given by God. Some call them the Songs of Zion. The church must take these Psalms seriously and sing them, for they give us the reality that there is suffering, there is devastation, there is hardship, there is woe, but none of those things get rid of God.
You know, there's a big difference between what Habakkuk writes here and what many of the Psalms of David indicate from this one, for instance. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but his smile quickly drives it away. Is that your experience? Because it ain't always mine.
There's sorrow in the Christian life, isn't there? They're seasons, prolonged seasons, such that the psalmist was provoked to write 42 and 43. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope thou in God, he says.
Why would he write that? Because his soul was cast down. He was hurting. He was perplexed.
If Christ Jesus is characterized as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, we ought not to think it an odd thing if we go through our seasons, if we go through our difficulties, if we go through our trials. Now, I'm picking on this hymn. I was listening to a sermon by my favorite preacher, and he cited this particular hymn, and it made me reflect and compare it with what we find here in Habakkuk. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but his smile quickly drives it away, not a doubt or a fear." How does Habakkuk begin his book?
God! Judah's mess! Are you going to do something about it, Lord? Yeah, I'm going to raise up the Babylonians and I'm going to send them in to decimate.
Lord, that seems a bit much. It seems like the answer, the correction, is even more severe than the problem. That's a faith that is somewhat perplexed. Brethren, can you enter in?
Have you ever had a Habakkuk moment? I'm not saying get a pillow and hit it because you're mad and, you know, be mad at God and all that sort of thing. But we learn something from Habakkuk that God even answers his questions prayed in faith. His questions do not mean there's no faith.
These are the questions faith promotes. Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear can abide while we trust and obey, let alone it often puts, or this hymn puts it on us. Haven't you proved and tried God in this, that sometimes He comes to your aid when you haven't really trusted or obeyed like you should have? You ever say, yeah, God, you know, I've trusted and obeyed, you know, a hundred units, so therefore you have to come through.
Isn't it the amazing thing that God sometimes delivers us, sometimes God smiles on us, sometimes God brings blessing upon us that we didn't deserve? Isn't that what grace and mercy definitionally are? In this scheme, as long as I do the formula, then God cannot do such and such. Again, I don't want to pick on this too much, but I think there's a difference here between the inspired songs of Zion and what we find in some of the non-inspired hymns of men.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil he doth richly repay. Now, again, there's some semblance of truth in that. We're going to be richly repaid in heaven. But the idea here is that if we trust and obey now, we're going to get richly repaid.
Well, that's not always the case either. I mean, would you say Paul was richly repaid? Again, he was in heaven in terms of the eschaton. He departs, he's present with the Lord.
But in terms of his life of trusting and obedience, was he richly repaid on this side of heaven? Absolutely not. I mean, he was just not treated well. Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown or a cross, but is blessed if we trust and obey." Again, God does bless our crosses, God does bless our losses, God does bless our frowns, but it seems different than what Habakkuk is indicating in his psalm.
It just seems different from what the Psalms of David record. See, faith doesn't try and explain away difficulty. Faith doesn't just put a spiritual band-aid on difficulty. Faith doesn't just repeat mantras to try and deal with the trials of life.
Faith sees God in the midst of devastation. Faith rejoices in God, even in the midst of devastation. And faith finds stability in God, though the nations around us and even our own crumble. Again, I don't want to pick on it too much.
We just simply need to think about some of the things that we sing. and consider if, in fact, they are comparable to what we find in terms of the inspired hymnody or psalmody in Scripture.
Application and Conclusion
Well, in conclusion, I certainly think we'd all agree, based on what we learned this morning in Hebrews 10, 32 to 39, and what we see here in the prophet Habakkuk, that there are trials in the Christian life. If you haven't figured that out yet, you haven't been a Christian that long. And I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you're going to find out about it. He's the opposite of health, wealth and prosperity.
He sent me home telling me that there's going to be trial. Yeah. You need to understand that. The Christian life isn't just about zippity-doo-dah, singing your way to heaven.
Much of it is singing your way to heaven, praising God in the corporate place, praising God in the private place. All of that is most blessed and most excellent. But as the Apostle said to the Hebrews, you were made a public spectacle. You suffered reproach, you suffered tribulation, you joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods.
There's hardship when you take up the cross of Christ. If the captain of our salvation suffered, then certainly his soldiers are going to suffer. As well, the resolution of spiritual difficulty, or trials rather, in the believer's life. The prophet moves from this place of asking questions in a lamentation sort of a way to praise and worship.
He does so by several things. He asks God, in your wrath remember mercy. He does so by remembering God, a consideration of who God is in terms of His being and His attributes, in terms of His works, as a great encouragement to the people of God facing severe trial. Thank God when you go through trouble.
And as well, it is this principle, the just shall live by faith. Prophet learned the practical necessity of this. And notice, a believer is not steadied by his endurance, his works, or anything that is human, but he is steadied by faith in the One who lived and died and rose again for him. The believer needs to be reminded of this to enjoy, to understand, to enter into this state that the Prophet is in.
You can't say, well, that's only a backache. I really have a mess in my life. I don't know what you're facing, but I know we're not facing the Babylonian captivity. I know that.
That's not going to happen. Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians aren't going to show up in Chilliwack tomorrow and take over. So whatever we're facing is probably a whole lot less than what Habakkuk faced, and yet the just shall live by his faith, as evidenced here. Walt Kaiser, in summary, makes this observation.
He says, Habakkuk's faith was not just salvific. It certainly was. The just shall live by faith, in the context of Romans 1 and Galatians 3, is specifically soteriological. Paul is arguing there.
The means by which a sinner is brought into saving union with Christ is faith. But as we studied, or as we looked at this morning, with reference to justifying faith, we learned that it's not, I'm sorry, in chapter 11, faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, that's the Romans 1, Galatians 3, is the alone instrument of justification, yet it is not alone, in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love." So we are justified by faith, but that faith is not alone. It produces perseverance, endurance, stability, joy, those things that the prophet has in his God. So Kaiser says, Habakkuk's faith was not just salvific, redemptive, and personal.
It was that. Don't miss this. But it was practical and mundane in its implications. It could stand the test of total crop failure and the destruction of everything one held dear.
It did not depend on God's promise that he would always supply health, wealth, and prosperity in order to earn Habakkuk's trust, belief, and respect. He could still be loved and worshipped in the midst of tragedy. When the lid blew off everything, He was still the sole object of praise and adoration. The reason was simple.
He was Lord. He was in charge. He would remain true to His Word even at the end of the historic process when all else had come and gone. Thus, in the face of all extremities of life, we can go on because He goes on.
Justified people really live, and they live by faith. So this is the application of the 2-4 principle in the Psalm of Habakkuk. As we saw this morning, this is the Apostle's sort of foundational principle for those Hebrew believers. that they endure, that they persevere, that they run with endurance the race that is set before them, but never forgetting the fundamental principle is faith, faith in Christ, faith in the power of God, faith in the one who has displayed himself in the exodus, faith in the one who has displayed himself in the victories and judges, faith in the one who has displayed himself victorious in the wars of David, faith in the One who has brought us out of darkness into marvelous light through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, the just shall live by faith.
And if you are not a believer here this evening, that's absolutely crucial as well. It's not works, it's not your good deeds, it's not your law-keeping that commends you to God, because the best that you do is tainted with sin. We think of that particular statement of the prophet Isaiah, all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags in your sight, the best that Israel had to offer to God. The prophet says they're like a menstrual rag, they do not commend us to God, they are vile, they are wretched, they are unclean things.
And that is precisely the sinner today, when he tries to bring the good works to God, when he tries to argue with God, well, I've never killed anyone, I've never committed adultery, I'm a pretty good guy, I'm a member of this particular social club, my family seems to like me, I'm a productive member of society. That's not going to cut it. What God demands in the Word is specific. You are to obey God's law perfectly. exactly, entirely, perpetually, and personally, if you choose to go that route.
So you see, there's no way you can ever find favor with God through the works of the law. This is Paul's point in Romans 1. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation, for everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, that just as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
In other words, it's not the works of the law that the sinner brings to God, it is looking to Christ in faith. It is to look upon Him and live. It is to look upon Him and receive the forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Christ that is received by faith alone. It is the grand instrument, under the gracious hand of God, to bring a sinful soul into vital union, saving union, with our Lord Jesus Christ.
So the just shall live by faith. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You very much for Your Word. We thank You for the practical implications. Yes, the soteriological, this is the means by which we are brought to Christ, but as well the practical. Help us to never forget that each and every day we are to believe in God, His Word, His promises, His excellence, and as well trusting always in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him above all things.
I ask that You would go with us now, that You would watch over us, that You would bless and strengthen us, so that we may honor and adore you. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.