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seven Psalm seven psalm 7 beginning in verse 1 a meditation of David which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of cush a benja might o Lord my God in you I put my trust save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me less they tear me like a lion rending me in pieces while there is none to deliver o Lord my God if I have done this if there is iniquity in my hands if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me or have plundered my enemy without cause let the enemy pursue me and overtake me yes let him trample my life to the earth and lay my honor in the dust say law arise O Lord in your anger lift yourself up because of the rage of my enemies rise up for me to the judgment you have commanded so the congregation of the people's shall surround you for their sakes therefore return on high the Lord shall judge the people's judge me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end but established the just for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds my defense is of God who saves the upright in heart God is a just judge and God is angry with the wicked every day if he does not turn back he will sharpen his sword he bends his bow and makes it ready he also prepares for himself instruments of death he makes his arrows into fiery shafts behold the wicked brings forth iniquity yes he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood he made a pit and dug it out and has fallen into the ditch which he made his trouble shall return upon his own head and his violent dealing shall come down on his crown on his own crown I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High amen well please turn in your Trinity hymnal to number 109 hymn number 109 will stand as we sing together let us pray Lord God most high we come again on this Sabbath day to praise and worship and to glorify you we acknowledge that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are the Great and the Living God you are the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to live in obedience to the father's law to die as a sacrifice and a substitute at Calvary and who was raised the third day and as the Apostle says he was delivered up because of our offenses and raised for our justification and it is because of this that we gather here together this evening it is because of your redemptive work that we come to pray and we come to sing we come to hear the word of the living and true God so we give all praise and honor and thank fullness to you most high for what you have accomplished in our lives and we pray tonight that the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit would be exalted as the psalmist says you are enthroned upon the praises of Israel we are the New Covenant Israel of God and we pray that this would be the case tonight and as well we have that blessed glimpse in the book of Revelation that our Lord Jesus Christ is found in the midst of the lampstands that one who is the ruler over the kings of the earth that one who has absolute authority in the Messianic age that one who reigns and rules over all things for the good of his church is found in the midst of his local churches and in this we greatly rejoice nor God we pray that even now you would rend the heavens and come down and be found among us and encourage our hearts and strengthen us with might and the inner man so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith we ask that you would forgive us for our sins and our iniquities we ask that you would cleanse us in that blood that is most precious and most able to cleanse to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through Christ and we would pray that you would indeed fill us with your spirit and grant us to help to resist temptation and to pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord grant us a genuine love for the law of God we know it's not a means for our salvation but having been freely justified by your grace our beloved Christ sends us back to the law gives us the spirit and calls us to obey we know that whoever commits sin is commits lawlessness for sin is lawlessness so certainly the converse must be true those who practice righteousness those who seek to honor God will indeed love your law we would pray that you would enable us in this for we confess our own inability Jesus set apart from him we can do nothing and we acknowledge this and pray that you would supply that which is lacking and caused the Holy Spirit of God to work in each of our hearts and further conform us onto the image of our beloved Savior we ask that you would bless each and every one in this congregation we thank you for the season a peace and unity that we have enjoyed together as a local body help us not to take such things for granted but we pray that you would preserve that and help us Lord God to to seek to apply those things we've been learning in Hebrews may we consider one another and may we seek and strive to stir one another up to love and good deeds may we intercede for one another and may we encourage one another and we ask God in heaven that you would look with favor on those who suffer in our midst we know there are many with physical trials and difficulties and so we commit them to you we know that you are the Great Physician we know that you care for your children that you watch over them in their in their sufferings and in their trials and in their difficulties sustained support and encourage their hearts in the midst of these hardships and God for all of us we all have our spiritual problems we all have our issues or challenges or difficulties so we would pray that you would just watch over each and every one of us lead us not into temptation deliver us from the evil one continue to keep your hand of mercy upon us and your great grace in our lives we pray as well God that you would bless other churches we thank you that we're not alone we thank you there are other churches in this community and we pray that you would bless and prosper then we pray for the ministers of the gospel that they would boldly proclaim the truth that all the ministers of Christ would contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints that they would indeed preach the word that all of us would be ready in season and out of season convincing rebuking exhorting with all long-suffering and teaching but we know God the time will command is upon us when men will not endure sound doctrine so Paul says they nevertheless need to hear sound doctrine may the truth of God be preached in this city and we would pray as well for the entirety of this nation that you would revive your churches and cause us Lord God to be a prayerful people and to be a faithful people to the Living God and we would ask that you would awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we certainly live in a debauched age we live in a day and age where abortion and sodomy and euthanasia are not only tolerated but they are they are legalized and in many cases subsidized and we would know and we trust that these things are an affront to the Living God and so lord in heaven we pray that you would help us to cry out over the abominations in the land help us to call upon you that in your wrath you would remember mercy that you would send forth your glorious gospel and awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we also pray our Father for our association we thank you for our brow we thank you for the churches that we have fellowship with and we would pray that you would just bless the the member churches and strengthen each and every one we think specifically of those churches just to the south of us we pray for the Lin bloods in kirkland we pray for tomm lion and tacoma we pray also father for the church in lewiston idaho and we thank you for these brethren we pray that you would just bless them and grant grace to them to minister the truth of the gospel in their particular communities we would also ask that you would undertake on behalf of the missionaries that we know and we love and we support we pray that you'd watch over those in China that you would just cause them to be faithful with the truth of the gospel of Christ we pray for that nation as a whole that more and more people would come out of darkness into marvelous light we pray for the church in Islamabad and we thank you for that strategically located body of Christ and we pray that you would just bless them with continued protection and continued usefulness as they seek to propagate the truth in a in a densely populated area with Muslims we pray for the suffering church the persecuted Church we read several instances this morning as they continually pour in God we know that the people of God in other countries do not enjoy the liberties that we so often take for granted so we pray that you would surround your church that you would surround your people that you would grant grace to them in the midst of these trials to bear up under them even as the exhortation in the book of Hebrews calls the people of God to to press on to endure to hold fast and to keep confidence in the truth of the Living God we just thank you for this opportunity to gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus and we come to you by the power of the Holy Spirit through our great High Priest even Jesus Christ our Lord and it's in his Most Blessed name that we pray amen well please turn with me again in your Trinity hymnals to number 413 413 will stand as we sing together you we could turn in your Bibles to the prophet Ezekiel chapter 22 for our scripture reading Ezekiel chapter 22 beginning in verse 1 moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying now son of man will you judge will you judge the bloody City yes show her all her abominations then say thus says the Lord God the city sheds blood in her own midst that her time may come and she makes idols within herself to defile herself you have become guilty by the blood which you have shed and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made you have caused your days to draw near and have come to the end of your years therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all countries those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult look the princes of Israel each one has used his power to shed blood in you in you they have made light a father and mother in your midst they have oppressed the stranger in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow you have despised my holy things and profane my Sabbath's in you our men who slander to cause bloodshed in you are those who eat on the mountains in your midst they commit a commit lewdness in you men uncover their fathers nakedness in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity one commits abomination with his neighbor's wife another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law and another in you violates his sister his father's daughter in you they take bribes to shed blood you take usury and increase you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion and have forgotten me says the Lord God behold therefore I beat my fists at the dishonest profit which you have made and at the bloodshed which has been in your inst in your heart and door or can your hands remain strong in the days when I shall deal with you I the LORD have spoken and will do it I will scatter you among the nations disperse you throughout the countries and remove your filthiness completely from you you shall defile yourself in the sight of the nation's then you shall know that I am the Lord the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man the house of Israel has become dross to me they are all bronze tin iron and lead in the midst of a furnace they have become dross from silver therefore thus says the Lord God because you have all become dross therefore behold I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem as men gather silver bronze iron lead and tin into the midst of a furnace to blow fire on it to melt it so I will gather you and my anger and in my fury and I will leave you there and melt you yes I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath and you shall be melted in its midst as silver is melted in the midst of a furnace so shall you be melted in its midst then you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury on you and the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man say to her you are a land that has not cleansed arraigned on in the day of indignation the conspiracy of her profits in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey they have devoured people they have taken treasure and precious things they have made many widows in our midst her priests have violated my law and profane my holy things they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean and they have hid in their eyes from my Sabbath's so that I am profaned among them her Prince's in her mid store like wolves tearing the prey to shed blood to destroy people to get dishonest gain her profits plastered them with untempered mortar seeing false visions and divining lies for them saying thus says the Lord God when the Lord had not spoken the people of the land of used oppressions committed a robbery and mistreated the poor and needy and they wrongfully oppress the stranger so I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy it but I found no one therefore I have poured out my indignation on them I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath and I have recompense their deeds on their own heads says the Lord God amen well we have seen that the prophet our God through the Prophet gives many reasons to the nation as to why they are going to be judged and certainly the violation of God's holy law is conspicuous in this particular chapter idolatry bloodshed oppression robbery all manner of wickedness in society in the Society of Jerusalem itself but as well among the leadership the priests the prophets no one is consistent no one is faithful to the truth of God's Holy Word and it is a nun a grievous thing that in this sort of a situation as we read in verse 30 there was no one that would indeed stand in the gap before God on behalf of the land there was none that would intercede on behalf of the nation there was none who would cry out to the Lord most high that he would grant repentance and grant faith to the nation of Israel may we take the lesson of this particular chapter and may we cry out may we cry out against the abominations done in our land those things that are done in consisting consistently in the church in our own church may we be faithful intercessors at the throne of grace the seating God most high on behalf of the Church of Christ on behalf of the people of God on behalf of the nation that we find ourselves in I have found by personal experience it's easier to complain about political leaders than to intercede on their behalf and this is specifically the instruction that the Apostle gives us in first Timothy chapter 2 he tells us to pray to intercede to give thanks on behalf of all men and then he says we're kings and all who are in authority so brethren let us see by example that in the days of the prophet Ezekiel there was no one who would stand in the gap there was no one who would cry out to God that God would indeed send mercy that God would indeed send salvation so let us not fall prey to that but let us go to the throne of grace on behalf of the needs in our own generation let us pray our Father we see conspicuously the violation of your holy law as a result they would reap the curses of the Covenant from Deuteronomy 28 we know and we have considered often at the church of jesus christ in Revelation 2 and 3 find themselves in somewhat of a similar situation those churches that are faithless those churches that embrace heresy those churches that that pursue godlessness those churches Christ says he will remove their land stand we would pray our Father that we would learn the lessons of the word of God that we would apply these things in our own lives and in our church does well we would cry aloud on behalf of the church on behalf of those in a political office and those in our own nation that you would indeed have mercy through the preaching of the gospel send forth your Holy Spirit and save a great multitude in this land and we would pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well you may turn for our final hem to Trinity hymnal number 690 690 again we'll stand as we sing together 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 by faith they persevere it is faith the foundational principle from which those graces of endurance and perseverance flow the Apostle quotes Ibaka 24 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 saw the Prophet on shiggy and off oh 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 say law his glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise his brightness was like the light he had raised flashing from his hand and their 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 and 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 Rivers was your wrath against the see that you wrote on your horses your chariots of salvation your bow was made quite ready ohs were sworn over your arrows say law you divided the earth with rivers the mountain saw you and tremble 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 and ended in indignation you trample the nations and 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 say law you thrust through with his own arrows the head of his villages they came out like a whirlwind to scatter me they're rejoicing was like feasting on the poor and 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 noir fruit beyond the vines though the labor of the olive may fail in the fields yield no food though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no heard 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 deers feet and he will make me walk on my high hills to the chief musician with my strained instruments amen let us pray father thank you for the word of God and thank you for these prophets that we learned so much from and we would pray that tonight as we consider this particular psalm of aback 'ok 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 well the book of a backache we can't just jump into chapter 3 without giving some background concerning the book as a whole it's broken down it breaks down into three primary sections in the first place chapter 1 verse 22 chapter 2 verse 4 is a dialogue between Habakkuk and God dr. are two specific questions that a backache asks of God in chapter 1 the Lord then answers those particular questions secondly there are was 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 hyb a cake 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 and 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 contact in which he lived impending judgment is coming and so chapter two verse for that 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 14 just a moment hyb a kick cries out to God he engages in lamentation there's an ethical issue that perplexes him and in verses 22 for 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 that is the 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 of work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you for indeed I am raising up the chaldean it's 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 prophets question by saying i am going to deal with the ethical transgression of of israel by sending judgment via babylon and Nebuchadnezzar this leads into the prophets 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 Oh Rock you have marked them for correction you are a 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 or boils all these horrific things and you kind of reason to yourself it might we 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 nay to deal with the southern tribes of Judah this perplexed the Prophet God's response in chapter 2 specifically beginning in verse two then you alway 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 terry's wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry in other words God's not going to relax in deed filled up the measure of her guilt she has violated the covenant with God visa V 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 for 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 a backache 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 to the three parts first the prophets petition to God in verses 1 and 2 secondly the prophets remembrance of God in verses 32 15 and then the prophets refuge in God in verses 16 to 19 but note his petition in verses 1 and 2 says a prayer of a packet the profit on shiggy and off now that word shiggy an auth is in the margin at psalm 7 the superscription calls it a meditation if you look at the margin it says shiggy on and it's probably a musical term it's probably a musical erection much like the say laws are the same laws are in Scripture ated these super scriptions in the Psalms are in Scripture ated they are to be received as the Word of God say law was probably a musical pause and this whole idea of shiggy and othe was most likely something that indicate how the psalm was to be chanted or song 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 is 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 to be 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 do 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 and bides 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 may this particular plea he says in Wrath remember mercy there will be wrath in fact if you serve a chapter one as you see God described the Chaldeans and as you see the Prophet described the Chaldeans this is going to be an expression of God's wrath similar what we find in Ezekiel Ezekiel's just a further a few further years down the pipe Ezekiel is right in the thick of it at the time that he prophesized Habakkuk is still right before it a few years before it and he praised 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 notice secondly the prophets remembrance of dog 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 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 are in a back at three but it's in the song of Moses in Exodus 15 the song of Deborah and judges 5 and then David the victory chant in Psalm 68 it's pieces of a of a collection of who God is and what he has done and it's put on to this one frame so that we can gaze out it and view it and that is what the prophet is doing here you see he petitions God and then he remember Scott 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 teman is generally identified as a site in Edom or sears 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 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 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 saamne t 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 act and that's where the psalmist we are 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 raised flashing from his hand and their his power was hidden probably a description of God on cyanide 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 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 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 his 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 is 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 bow 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 kushan risha thames under the judgeship of auth niall we see as well the victory over the Midian Midianites under the judgeship of gideon you see these things are to encourage us and not just the prophet in in 608 to 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 over kousha kushan remain ERISA Thames under under the judgeship of Athiya we have the victory over the midea Midianites over the judgeship are 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 and bought of hers house we see Joe 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 Possible's 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 study 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 he poses this question in verses 8 will at eight to 11 essentially he says were you upset with the rivers we upset with the created order we upset with the mountains and the answer comes in verses 12 to 15 no God did these things because he was angry with the nation was angry with sinners she 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 prophets refuge in God the prophets refuge in God verses 16 to 19 and I just want to bring out for 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 are 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 neisha 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 a backup to for the Josh shall live by his faith so let's look at these four things that faith provides in these tumultuous times in the first place faith provides rest in the day of trouble notice at verse 16 when I heard my body trembled 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 the contrite spirit those who tremble at his word and soha baka care joins the chorus of men who understand the Word of the Living God and he says when I heard my body tremble 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 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 babylonian 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 the odds 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 in this in this 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 inappropriate 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 32 239 remember when you were illuminated remember when you have been in ad been enlightened remember that you suffered reproach and difficulty in our chip the Apostle uses that as an argument to study 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 plunder 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 write 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 an exile in Babylon that can 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 less well they'll never get it well imagine seven 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 thought but but what I will rest in the day of trouble because I know whatever my god ordains is right Trinity hymnal number 94 what era 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 notice secondly that faith provides joy and 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 noir fruit beyond the vines though the labor of the olive may fail in the fields yield no food though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no heard in the stalls what's he saying when Babylon calms they're going to ruin our country when Babylon cons 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 provides provided sustenance to us in short the absence of crops the absence of flocks the absence of EDS 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 and produce and and her a food from animals none of that they're going to devastate they're going to slay 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 come to rely on to notice there is this loss acknowledged let's just read it again for a fact though the fig tree may not blossom it's beautiful language as well the litter literary merit of all this is just just just glorious though the labor of the olive may fail and they filled yield no food though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no heard 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 costco's and plant Walmart's based on population sort of centers and if there's that many people with good perhaps people live that way well I don't want to live there if there's not a Costco I don't live there if there's not a Walmart I can't live whether there's no super so I got to have a Canadian tie eyes and 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 so worked in our heart that it provides joy and God in the midst of devastation would we complain when we cry would we whine would we murmur would we grumble would we just just fall apart let me 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 a backache is standing on the brain 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 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 triumph because they preach the gospel and depended upon the holy spirit this man is facing devastation and he says yet i will rejoice in your way i will joy in the god of my salvation I've always loved that sort of convention there I will joy in the cut of my salvation I'm just going to joy in you God we don't talk that way doing 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 16 I am confident of this very thing he who began a good work in you will do what he'll complete it on the day of Christ provided there's a costco or 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 are on milk or on wall 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 and 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 you know robe on and go dance at the airport like the Hari Krishna's 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 across the gospel the doing in the dying and the rising of Jesus our joy is is is 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 we're no longer prosperous what happens to our joy its dried up but when our joy is locked into the triune God heaven and earth when Father Son and Holy Spirit is the very source of our joy in our 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 evil 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 you know hooks in our noses and lead us back to their country to can't take our salvation macquarie asst 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 you know a 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 do you do with a guy like that he's sitting in his prison cell you come to him and you're the garter you're the ward and you say okay we're gonna let you live I got Christ we're gonna 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 123 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 useful mass 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 so they faith provides joy in the midst of devastation 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 unstable izing I guess is the correct gramatik grammatical form there what's more unstable izing than the thought of the Babylonians coming and destroying your nation that's a really unstable izing 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 you know where the costcos are and what our stuff is that can throw us off our game should see he's not looking for that stability in his outward prosperity he sees that stability in his God notice verse 4 of 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 deers feet now deer are pretty incredible when it comes to running and leaping little him from the kids running and leaping and praising God I don't know I guess deers are doing that they're doing what God made deers to do I was just you know thinking about this particular image so I did what every pastor and the 21st century does I googled it of course there's all these you know Christian sites on you know it's actually from the Psalms it's actually from Psalm 18 33 which comes from Psalm second Samuel 22 so David composed this he uses this particular image he will make my feet like deers feet but I went to a hunting side I know if there's a hunting site but it's something about deer they can leave 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 drownded they've got the ability to scanned fast on in uncertain circumstances and this is what the psalmist says or what the prophet says concerning god he is my strength he will make my feet like deers 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 contacts 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 material for the church's worship faith provides material for the church's worship note verse 1 a prayer of a packet the profit on shi jian off as i said that's a musical term the SE laws in here indicate that we're dealing with the literature genre that's psalmody and then note the final statement in verse 19 to the chief musician with my stringed instruments you know what a backache is saying there I have composed this song for the chief musician to be utilized in the churches to be sung by God's people to learn what it is that the jaw shall live by his faith this is the sort of stuff that the people of God see throughout the ages the Psalms of David the inspired him book given by God some call them the songs of Zion the church must take the song seriously and sing them for they give us the reality that there is suffering there is devastation there is hardship there is whoa but none of those stays get rid of God you know there's a big difference between what Habakkuk rights 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 mind their sorrow in the Christian life isn't there their seasons prolonged season such that the psalmist was provoked to write 42 and 43 why are you who 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 at an odd thing if we go through our seasons if we go through our difficulties if we go through our trials not picking on this him I was listening to a sermon by my favorite preacher and he cited this particular ham and it made me reflect and compare it with what we find here in a backache 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 have a cake beginners book God Judas a 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 my man to decimate Lord that seems a bit much 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 tobacco meant how about 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 the 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 doubter of fear not a sigh or a tier can abide while we trust and obey let alone it often puts or this him 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 is it the amazing thing that God sometimes delivers us some God time God smiles on us sometimes God brings blessing upon us that we didn't does earth 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 his blast 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 Ibaka is indicating in his song 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 bandaid on difficulty faith doesn't just you know repeat mantras to try and deal with the 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 and God though the nations around us and even our own crumble again I 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 saw a samedi in Scripture well in conclusion I certainly think we'd all agree based on what we learned this morning in Hebrews 10 32 239 and what we see here in the prophet of a cake 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 oh he you know he this 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 you know Zippity doo-dah singing your way to heaven much of it is in your way to heaven praising gone the corporate plays praising God in the private place all of that is most blessing and most excellent but as the Apostle said to the Hebrews you were made a public spectacle he 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 and certainly his lower her his soldiers are going to suffer as well the resolution of spiritual difficult year trials rather in the believers life the Prophet moves from this place of asking questions in a lament 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 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 profit learned the practical necessity of this and notice the believer is not steadied by his endurance his works or anything that is human but he is studied 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 you know 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 take over so whatever we're facing is probably a whole lot less than what a backing faced and yet to justified or the just shall live by his faith is evidenced here Walt Kaiser in summary makes this observation he says hi back Excel Vivek it certainly was the just shall live by faith in the context of Romans wanting Galatians 3 is specifically soteriological Paul is arguing there the means by which a center 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 learn 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 produces perseverance endurance stability joy those things that the prophet has in his God so Kaiser says Habakkuk faith was not just salvific redemptive and personal it was that don't miss this but it was practical and mundane and 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 struss belief in 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 we can go on because he goes on justified people really live and they live by faith so this is the application of the 24 principle in the psalm of Ibaka as we saw this morning this is the Apostle sort of found national principal 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 and the victories and judges faith in the one who has displayed himself victorious and the in the 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 righteousness s 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 command us to god they are vile their wretched their 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 and Romans want for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who what 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 center 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 save a sinful soul into vile Union saving union with our Lord Jesus Christ so the just shall live by faith let us pray 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 be Li believing God be believing God his word is promises as 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 I'm close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you