Well, you can turn with me in your Bibles to Habakkuk chapter 3. Habakkuk is actually closer, but I'll just refer to him as the prophet, most likely. So Habakkuk chapter 3, I'll begin reading in verse 1. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigienoth.

The Prophet's Fear Before God

Oh Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. Oh 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, 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, were you 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 lying 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. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the law, the prophets. We thank you for the New Testament and all of scripture that you have given for our prophet. We ask that your Holy Spirit would guide and lead us now. The prophet faced difficult trial, difficult times in his own age.

We see the same sorts of things all around us. So help us to be steady, help us to be stable. We know that doesn't come as a result of reflection upon ourselves upon our ability, but it comes by reflecting upon who the living and the true God is. May we take our cue from this prophet, and may you give us the grace to be still and to know that you are God, to know that you will be exalted among the nations and in the earth.

As well, our Father, help us to see that in the midst of trial, and in distress, and in affliction, and in suffering, we see that the gospel advances. We see that sinners are caught up with the big questions in life. May your church be evangelistic, and may your church be about gospel preaching in this age. And may you be glorified, and may you bless that word and cause it to run swiftly.

As well, our God, we ask now that you would forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness, and just bless us with your word. And we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Introduction: Habakkuk's Context

Well, there are a couple of major sections in the prophet Habakkuk. And in chapter one, the prophet is lamenting and he expresses that lamentation or that distress or that grief by actually questioning God. He questions God in a proper posture with the proper disposition, but there are things that don't make sense to him as he surveys Judah, as he surveys the current situation. In the first question, he basically asks how long, God, until you intervene?

How long until you come to vindicate your people? As he surveys the southern kingdom of Judah, the northern kingdom was gone by this time. It's probably about 609 to 605 that Habakkuk the prophet writes. We know nothing of him other than his name, which is given to us in chapter one, verse one.

But we do know that he had the same sort of distress that you see, say, for instance, in Jeremiah the prophet, and you see in Asaph, the psalmist, you see those psalms ascribed to Asaph. He was a man of great lament, despondency, sorrow. And we see that sort of an emphasis is legitimate to pray back to God. So in chapter one, the prophet says, how long until things are fixed in Judah?

Well, I don't know that Habakkuk was ready for the answer that he got. God says, it's not going to get fixed. I'm going to send the Chaldeans, who were the Babylonians. They're going to come.

They're a bitter and a hasty nation, and they're going to devastate the southern kingdom. Well, then that leads the prophet to his second question. God, you're holy, you're righteous, you're just. Basically, he says that the cure sounds worse than the original problem.

So he gives vent to that, and then he takes his place, according to chapter two, verse one, to wait for the answer from God Most High. And then God Most High answers him very effectively in 2.4. And he underscores the reality that all of God's people have known throughout the ages. The just shall live by faith.

Now that is obviously been appropriated in the New Testament to teach the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Not that we are saved by our works or we're saved by our law keeping, but we're saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus. But as saved by grace through faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ believers, we still stand by faith or trust in the living and true God. So that's what the prophet is told.

You need to live by faith. And we see that exhibited in chapter 3, as the prophet composes a psalm. This was a psalm to be sung by the people of God, as is evidenced in verse 19, to the chief musician with my stringed instruments. So he was not only a prophet of God Most High, but he was a singer of some sort, a composer of psalms, and that's what he does here in chapter 3.

O Palmer Robertson says, with reference to Habakkuk, it's not a weak faith, but a perplexed faith that torments the prophet. He doesn't have weak faith, but he has a perplexed faith. And I think all of God's people can enter into that. I think that's why God's people gravitate toward prophets like him, toward the prophet Jeremiah.

We look at the world around us and it is disconcerting. We look at the trials that are facing us and it is grievous. We look at, in his particular instance, the intrusion of Babylon into the southern kingdom of Judah. That was certainly something that would test a man's faith or perplex a man.

Sermon Overview: Three Movements

So I wanna look at three things in this Psalm. First, the prophet's petition to God in verses one to two. Secondly, the prophet's remembrance of God in verses three to 15. And then finally, the prophet's refuge in God in verses 16 to 19.

The Prophet's Petition to God

But notice in the first place, with reference to his petition, verse one says, a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet on Shigianoth. And then he offers, or he mentions his fear, he gives his petition, and then he provides his argument. Notice in the first place, his fear. Oh Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid.

Again, go back with me to chapter one. Verse 2, O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear? Even cry out to you violence, and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble?

For plundering and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

When he says the law is powerless, he's not making a reflection on the law. He is simply saying that the Judahites, the covenant people of God, aren't keeping the law. They are vile. They are wretched.

They are disobedient. And that's when the Lord responds to him that he's going to send Babylon. He's going to send the Chaldeans. He's going to send Nebuchadnezzar to devastate the southern kingdom.

And then, as I said in verse 12, he asks a second question. Are you 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. And then dropping down, he reflects upon what the Babylonians are going to do. They take up all of them with a hook. They're brutal.

They catch them in their net and gather them in their dragnet. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad. Therefore, they sacrifice to their net. and burn incense to their dragnet, because by them their share is sumptuous and their food plentiful. Shall they therefore empty their net and continue to slay nations without pity?" He's saying, God, you're going to send the Babylonians against us.

I just want a little bit of stability in Judah. I just want people to repent. I just want people to get a little bit better. God's saying, no, this is the problem when you break covenant.

And so God is going to dispatch them and decimate the southern kingdom. So that's why in chapter 3 at verse 2, he says, Oh Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. In other words, the fear of God is coming to this prophet when he considers the judgment of God. It's not something that he just sort of doesn't think about.

It's not something that he just relegates off into the cornfield. It's not something that he just disregards, but it affects him at a specific level such that he cries out to the Lord. He says, Oh Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. Lloyd-Jones says, our troubles can nearly all be traced to our persistence in looking at the immediate problems themselves instead of looking at them in the light of God.

That's what Habakkuk's going to do. He doesn't minimize the fact that he's afraid. He doesn't minimize the fact that there are these hardships. He doesn't minimize the fact that they're facing decimation vis-a-vis the Babylonians, but he steadies himself in his faith in God, and he steadies himself by rehearsing the very person or being, rather, of God Most High.

So he has this fear, and then he offers up this petition.

The God-Centred Content of the Petition

And notice the God-centeredness of his petition. Verse 2b, he says, Oh Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make it known. not settle my perplexed soul, not fix everything so our economy is good, but rather revive your work. He identifies it specifically as God's project.

He identifies it specifically as God's kingdom, the expression of God's kingdom on earth. So he says to God Most High, revive your work in the midst of the years. He, like Jesus, teaches us that priority in prayer. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

The prophet steadies himself in prayer to God by praying that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And not only does he pray for revival, but he wants God to make known his ways. Notice, in the midst of the years, make it known. Again, Robertson says, by this petition, the prophet asks that the Lord will make known to the believing the program and plan that he has designed.

Even as Habakkuk had agonized in coming to an understanding of the mysterious ways of God and finally had rested his case in the light of the revelation provided him, so he intercedes on the behalf of others that the Lord will make plain to them the understanding necessary for survival in the midst of calamity. He's not a selfish man. He doesn't just want his own fulfillment. He's not just looking for his own therapy.

He's not just looking for his own comfort and blessedness. He wants the very nation of Judah of which he is part to understand the plan and program of God, to understand and be still and know that God most high is in control of all things. And then thirdly, in terms of the prophet's petition, notice the argument. He's got this fear, he's got this petition, and then he says, in wrath, remember mercy.

This is what the prophet wants with reference to God Most High. In wrath, remember mercy. What do you think he's talking about in wrath? He's talking about Nebuchadnezzar.

He's talking about the Babylonians. He's talking about the fact that they're going to go conquer the southern kingdom. They're going to destroy the city. They're going to raze the temple.

They're going to burn it down. And they're ultimately going to enslave the people of Judah. And yet in this, in the midst of the hardship, in the midst of the affliction, in the midst of the difficulty and suffering, he prays to God to remember mercy. And you see that exhibited when you get to the prophet Jeremiah.

The exiles in Babylon are protected by God. Or rather, Jeremiah is told to write a letter to those exiles in Jeremiah chapter 29. their specific instructions for how they are to conduct themselves while they're exiles in a foreign land. It's that particular chapter where 2911 is found. We're talking about this at lunch.

You've heard the promise. I know the plans that I have for you. I know the blessing that I'm gonna confer upon you. That's not a text for the Christian high school to prepare their 17 year olds that everything's gonna be without any hardship in their current life. or as they embark in their college life.

It is a letter to the exiles that after that exile, they will go back to the land of Judah. They will receive the covenant promises of God. They will not be cut off ultimately, but rather the Lord is chastening, but the Lord will visit them with that blessed promise. So the prophet fears, the prophet petitions, and the prophet lays forth as his argument in wrath, remember mercy.

The Prophet's Remembrance of God

Now notice, secondly, the prophet's remembrance of God, verses 3 to 15. Habakkuk doesn't sit around and say, you know, I'm a great guy, and I dwell amongst a people that are great people, and I'm just going to trust that we're going to figure it out, we're going to sort it out, and we're going to make everything just right and peachy in the southern kingdom. No, that's not where the believer finds his comfort. That's not where the believer finds his strength.

The believer finds his comfort and strength in the knowledge of God Most High. So in verses 3 to 15, the prophet reaches back into redemptive history to remind himself of the mighty works of God Almighty. In this, he's like David in Psalm 68. In this, he's like Deborah in Judges 5.

In this, he's like Moses in the Song of Moses in Exodus chapter 15. Essentially, it's sort of a collage. Remember when you were a kid and you had to make a collage? You cut out all the pictures and you put them on the poster board and there was supposed to be a central theme. that this collage spoke to, perhaps it was food, so you put bananas, and you put meat, and you put all that stuff, because that was the central theme.

The central theme here is the faithfulness of God. And so he takes redemptive history, he builds himself a collage so that he can reflect upon the power, the perfections, the goodness, and the glory of God Almighty. And brethren, we need to learn from the prophet in this. I mentioned Asaph previously.

Some of the Psalms are ascribed to Asaph. Asaph was a sorrowful dude. Asaph was a melancholic spirit. Asaph is the man of Psalm 73 who lamented.

He said, as for me, my foot nearly slipped. I would ponder the distress and the affliction of the people of God. I would see them suffering. I would see them undergo hardship.

And then I'd look over and I'd see the rich. And they had no beef. They had no problem. Everything seemed to go well for them.

You see, he describes what he saw, he describes how it affected him, and he describes how he got out of that rut. It wasn't until he went into the sanctuary of the Lord that he realized that thou hast set them in slippery places. In other words, the rich may be benefited now, but there's a day coming, the Day of Judgment specifically, wherein they will not succeed. Whereas the righteous, who have suffered and have known great affliction, on that Day of Judgment are going to hear, well done, good and faithful servant.

But then you get into like Psalm 74, Psalm 77, and the psalmist is crying out to God. Essentially what is happening is that the heathen have trampled the temple. The heathen are in the sanctuary of God. It's Psalm 74, 11, that Asaph actually has the gall to say to God, remove your hand from your bosom and destroy them.

In other words, it grieved Asaph to see what was happening to the true religion from the heathen surrounding them. So when there wasn't the obvious presence of God destroying them, he petitions God to do that. But do you know how he encourages his heart? He does it the way the prophet Habakkuk does.

He looks back to redemptive history. He looks back to the Exodus. He understands the powerful deliverance of God that was on display then is available to the people of God today. And that is the way that we are to undergird our hearts so that we don't lose our minds, so that we don't come unglued, so that we don't succumb to the distress and the pressure and say, forget it, I'm just gonna lay on my couch until the day I die so I don't have to deal with it.

Sort of like Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. I'll think about that tomorrow. That is not an option for the believer. We're supposed to persevere.

We're supposed to fight. We're supposed to pray. We're supposed to watch. We're supposed to be active.

Now, brethren, God is good. He tells Elijah when Elijah is distressed and under the broom tree and despondent to the point where he wants to die. Elijah's not suicidal. Elijah says, if you want to take me though, Lord, go right ahead.

I won't object to that. So he's despondent, he's sorrowful, not for the reasons why a lot of people think. The reasons why is because Israel was a mess. Israel was supposed to be faithful to Yahweh, but Israel is bowing the knee to Baal.

Remember, he had just seen that victory on Mount Carmel. But Jezebel and Ahab weren't vanquished. There was still an Ahab and a Jezebel. And so his lamentation, his sorrow, his grief is not so much because he needs therapy, but rather it's so much because he sees the unfaithfulness of Israel at that particular time.

So how does God respond to him? Basically, you go lay on the couch for a bit. So I want to make sure we know that. It's legit for the people of God, at times, to take their rest, right?

Jesus, in the gospel narrative, come apart and rest a while. But Jesus, they're sinners to be saved. Yeah, and you're not going to do it, and you're not going to be useful in it unless you get some rest. We are not disembodied spirits.

God's response to Elijah is to lie down, get some sleep and take some food. What a blessed, glorious God. But back to Habakkuk, notice the way that he encourages his heart is with this collage.

Rehearsing God's Glory in Creation

What he does is, first of all, rehearse the glory of God, and then he reviews the power of God. And the rehearsal of the glory of God is in verses 3 and 4. Teman is generally identified as a site in Edom, or Seir's territory. Perun is identified with Sinai.

So the hymn traces the steps over which God led Israel as she journeyed to take possession of the promised land. So verse 3, God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise.

Now notice, in his review of God's power, he looks at the created order, he looks at God's intervention with reference to His people, and he looks at God's destruction of His enemies. So again, when you find yourself in distress, when you find yourself sorrowful, when you find yourself perplexed, the way through it, the way out of it, is not typically by self-reflection. Self-reflection may cast you further into that hole than you ever even bargained for. You know the old proverb, when you're in a hole, stop digging?

Well, when you're in a hole, stop thinking about you. You're not going to fetch yourself out of that hole. God is in the business of pulling us out of the hole. And the way that that occurs is through reflection upon who He is and what He does.

And that is precisely where the prophet directs his attention. So notice he refers to God's glory in creation. Verse four, his brightness was like the light. He had rays flashing from his hand and there his power was hidden.

He reflects then upon the plagues in Egypt. In verse five, before him went pestilence and fever followed at his feet. How did God vindicate Israel in the days of Pharaoh's bondage? How did God break his people free at that time of great oppression?

He did it by plaguing them. He did it by judging them. He did it by covering them with flies and with boils and with frogs. I mean, the means by which God frustrated and confounded and ultimately defeated Egypt is masterful.

And so the prophet sees that. Again, in the absence of such things, remember, right? We're not seeing God plague his enemies right now with frogs. I haven't read of, you know, any political leader waking up covered in boils.

You know, so in the absence of that, we think back to what God has done in the past. Not necessarily to duplicate that, unless, of course, he is so inclined to do so, but we remember that God has his ways, and he has his means, and he has his power and ability to confound the enemies of his church. Notice as well, he refers to creation again. 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. Notice the vindication of God's people in verse 7.

See, remember, in the absence of that demonstration, so 609, 605, the destruction of Judah would come around 586 or 587. So he's on the eve of that invasion by Babylon against the Southern kingdom. So in the absence of an immediate victorious response from God to vindicate us from our troubles, he goes back to the book of Judges. Notice in verse 7, I saw the tents of Cushon in affliction.

That's Judges chapter 3. They gained victory by the Savior, by the judgeship of Ophniel. For those who haven't read the book of Judges, because they think it's kind of gory, you know, Sisera driving tent pegs into the, or Jael driving a tent peg into the head of Sisera. I know that doesn't really thrill a lot of believers in this new covenant setting.

Judges is about Jesus. Judges is all about Jesus. What is Othniel? What is Japheth?

What is Samson? What is Ehud? Yeah, Ehud. What is Barrett?

They are typical. They are Savior figures. They are judges that bring deliverance to the nation of Israel. And so he reflects upon Othniel and the vindication of God's people.

And then notice in 7b, the curtains of the land of Midian trembled. That's Judges 7 at the time of Gideon, who was the judge, who was the savior, who was the one that vindicated his people at that particular time. Now notice in verse eight, he says, Oh Lord, were you displeased with the rivers? Was your wrath or 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, say law. 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.

That's Joshua. Chapter 10, at the light of your arrows they went, at the shining of your glittering spear. So again, a rehearsal of the power and the omnipotence of God Most High is to steady, to comfort, and to encourage a perplexed faith in the midst of distress. And then notice specifically at verse 12.

He says, 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. This is the point that I tried to make this morning, that salvation and damnation are inextricably connected. As God is saving Israel, God is judging the enemies. As God is delivering Israel, He is closing down the tyrant Pharaoh.

As God is vindicating His bride, He is bringing judgment to bear upon Midian. When God saves, there is typically a reflex in terms of God's judgment upon the enemies of Yahweh. And again, for the prophet, he doesn't say, oh, those are themes I shouldn't consider. I should just be about love and compassion and kindness.

Do you know that a Christian can be about love and compassion and kindness and love justice and righteousness and long for the vindication of Christ's bride? Those saints, those men, those souls of just men made perfect in Revelation 6. We looked at that this morning. How long, O Lord, until you avenge our blood?

So the prophet encourages his heart. Not only with the salvation of Israel in the past, but with the damnation of the enemies of Israel in the past as well. Look at the text. Verse 12.

This is obviously spoken in the manner of men. You marched through the land in indignation. You trampled the nations in anger. You went forth.

Why? for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your anointed. I'm gonna give you a little thought here. Whenever you see a passage like we read next, you struck the head from the house of the wicked by laying bare from foundation to neck. Think Genesis 3.15.

Think of the skull crushing seed of the woman actually eliminating the enemies of Yahweh. That's why there's so many headshots in the prophets. That's why David cuts off Goliath's head. That's why the various prophets use that imagery of God smashing heads, because it's Genesis 3.15.

The champion, the Messiah, the deliverer will smash the head of the devil. So there are typological down payments until the vindication ultimately on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he is not averse to encouraging his heart with the judgment of God most high.

God's Judgment as Mercy: Psalm 136

Turn to Psalm 136. Psalm 136, we reflected on this a couple of times as we moved through the plagues on Egypt in our studies in Exodus. But something we need to appreciate here, we need to observe in this context. Psalm 136.

Let's just pick up in verse four. To him who alone does great wonders, for his mercy endures forever. To him who by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endures forever. To him who laid out the earth above the waters, for his mercy endures forever.

To him who made great lights, for his mercy endures forever. The sun to rule by day, for his mercy endures forever. The moon and stars to rule by night, for his mercy endures forever. And then we see that refrain, don't we?

That's constant in the song. Something good God does for His mercy endures forever. Now notice verses 10 and following are good that God does for His mercy endures forever. Now, we don't typically think this way.

We think of, you know, he saved this person for his mercy endures forever. We typically don't think he removed this person for his mercy endures forever. We typically don't think that person choked to death on his soup for his mercy endures forever. And I'm not trying to be grim, I'm not trying to be a downer, but I am trying to show you that the judgment of God has never made the people of God squeamish.

The judgment of God is something that the people of God rejoice in. Verse 10, to him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, for his mercy endures forever. Obviously a matter of perspective. If you're an Egyptian burying your firstborn whom Yahweh had killed, you wouldn't celebrate, for his mercy endures forever, would you?

As you're digging that hole for your beloved, as you're putting that body into that grave, you're not thinking that Yahweh is merciful. But as I mentioned, the salvation of God is typically inextricably connected to the damnation of the reprobate. So when he struck Egypt, it was an expression of his mercy. Verse 11, and brought out Israel from among them, for his mercy endures forever.

With a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, for his mercy endures forever. To him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his mercy endures forever. And made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his mercy endures forever. It's just here that the church of today says, yeah, mercy.

God delivered Israel. God opened up the Red Sea so that these people could walk through without even getting their feet wet. But the psalm continues. The psalmist holds out the judgment of God as being an expression of his mercy.

And why the church today has backed off from calling upon Yahweh to vindicate His bride in the execution of justice is beyond me, except from the quote that I read this morning. We've been emasculated and we're effeminate in the church today. Notice in verse 15, but he overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his mercy endured forever. Notice in verse 18, he slew famous kings for his mercy endures forever.

Sihon, king of the Amorites. for his mercy endures forever. Og, king of Bashan. Again, if you're Mrs. Og, if you're Mrs.

Sihon, you're not rejoicing in God's mercy. You're not delighting in the God of Israel. You're thinking quite the opposite most likely, but for the children of God, for the covenant people of God, for the church of God, when God flexes his mighty right arm before the nations, And when God brings judgment to bear upon his enemies, the church rejoices. There was another passage in Revelation, we just ran out of time, that I wanted to look at this morning, Revelation chapter 19.

After the great whore is judged, after the false prophet is judged, after they're cast into the lake of fire, do you know what heaven responds with? Oh, that was a bit harsh, God. Oh, that was a bit over the top, God. Oh, we wouldn't have done it that way if we were God, no.

Alleluia, alleluia. A fourfold alleluia of praise to God because he dealt with the whore and he dealt with the false prophet. Again, how we got into this place where we shy away from God's actual judgment of the wicked is beyond me. Again, we're not supposed to be vindictive.

We're not supposed to be in a traffic situation and pray God's curses down upon somebody that's going a bit too slow. That's just not the right way to function or live. But when God exercises His power and He vindicates His bride, the church should respond with praise, with adoration, and not embarrassment. I used to teach at the Cascade Bible study every other Wednesday until the COVID came, and now, you know, that's done.

You can't actually go encourage old people anymore. You can't teach the Bible. But whenever I would go there, well, there was an old doll, and whenever I'd call out an Old Testament text, her eyes would roll. Oh, boy, here we go again.

You know, as far as she was concerned, the Old Testament was blood and guts and destruction and mayhem and woe. Well, I would say there's a lot more to it than that, but those elements are present. And when the godly witness the infliction of those things by Yahweh upon His enemies, they rejoice. They cry out, for His mercy endures forever.

Paul says it is right with God. It is just with God to repay with trouble those who have troubled you. So the psalmist rehearses who God is. The psalmist encourages his heart with what God has done.

Verses 14 and 15, 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 and secret. You walked through the sea with your horses through the heap of great waters.

So he petitions God. He then remembers God, and now

The Prophet's Refuge in God

notice thirdly, his refuge is in God. So after concerning himself with who God is, the glory that he has manifested, and the power that he has displayed in terms of the salvation of his people, and in terms of the judgment of his enemies, now he shows or demonstrates the refuge that he has in God. There's four things here we need to take.

Rest in the Day of Trouble

First, the Lord provides rest in the day of trouble. The Lord provides rest in the day of trouble. Notice in verse 16, Notice that I might rest in the day of trouble. In other words, as I reflect upon the coming judgment of God, as I reflect upon the announced by prophets judgment of God, Habakkuk isn't operating in some sort of a vacuum.

He's not just thinking that perhaps God's going to send the Babylonians. Remember, you had a whole host of prophets in Old Covenant Israel, and several of them had prophesied not only the fall of the Northern Kingdom, but the fall of the Southern Kingdom. He knows this is a certainty. He knows that wrath is coming.

He knows that this is an occasion and a cause for fear and for trembling. And yet that fear and trembling doesn't drive him away from God and doesn't further exacerbate his distress, but it's that fear and trembling that drives him close to God and gives him confidence and blessedness. Look at what he says, that I may rest in the day of trouble. When he comes up to the people, he will invade them with his troops.

I, in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of trial, in the midst of perplexity, will still be able to find rest because of who God is. And interestingly, after the sermon this morning, we talked, a couple of brothers were talking about hell. That came up in the sermon this morning. Hell's a tough topic, brethren.

Theologically, biblically, philosophically, it is what it is, as the Bible sets it forth. It is a true doctrine. Psychologically, for us as creatures, as finite beings, it's a bit tough to wrap one's mind around. Especially if you've been, you know, had beloved family members that have departed and they weren't in Christ.

The thought of them consciously suffering in hell forever and ever and ever, world without end, amen? That can be a psychological challenge for the people of God. But that psychological challenge never trumps the biblical and the theological and, dare I say, philosophical truth of that particular doctrine. But notice Habakkuk.

I hear these things, I know these things, I see these things, and I am given over to fear. There's trembling. Turn to the prophet Daniel, just back to Daniel in chapter 7. Look at how he responds when he receives the revelations from God.

Daniel chapter seven, verse 28. This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me and my countenance changed, but I kept the matter in my heart. Brethren, we're not infinite beings.

We're not impassable beings. We're not unchangeable beings. Things affect us and at times produce perplexity, confusion, distress, heartache, hardship. The Bible doesn't shrink back from that.

The Bible doesn't say, how dare you Habakkuk ever question me? Notice that the prophet asked two hard questions of God. Two difficult questions from God. God not only doesn't rebuke him for ever daring to ask him a question, but he actually answers the question.

It's kind of like that prayer of Samson after he kills the thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. And he's really thirsty, and he basically says to God, Lord, you gave me this victory over the Philistines. You're going to let me die of thirst? People think he's a bit cheeky there.

He's a bit arrogant. He's got a bit of chutzpah. Why is he talking to God like that? God doesn't think that at all.

God provides water for him to drink. See, the Bible doesn't shrink back from biblical manhood and womanhood. The Bible doesn't shrink back from the prophet Habakkuk asking God, why is Israel in such a condition? Why is Israel such a mess?

God says, well, I'm gonna send Babylon to correct that. And then of course Habakkuk says, but then the solution is worse than the original problem. The just shall live by faith is what God tells Habakkuk. You need to trust.

Faith appropriates the various lessons that God has for his people. Notice in Daniel 8, verse 27, same sort of, Sort of a thing. And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days. Afterward, I arose and went about the king's business.

I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it. He wasn't a stoic. He wasn't an austere man. 10-8. Notice in 10-8.

Therefore, I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me, for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. And then turn back to Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is a wonderful celebration, not only of God's word, but also the emotional response of God's people in the various tumults of life. I mentioned it this morning.

The Psalmist says three different ways that it responds to the wicked who do not keep God's law. In verse 136, rivers of water run down from my eyes because men don't keep your law. But that doesn't negate verse 53, indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Or 158, sometimes it's complex to be a Christian.

Sometimes it's difficult. I think there's many times that we get it wrong, but we need to understand there's not one pat answer. Well, you always just need to cry over the wickedness. Well, that's what the prophet, the psalmist does, but he's also indignant at the thought of the wicked.

And then notice in 158, I see the treacherous and am disgusted because they do not keep your word. You see, if we go into that mindset of the super sanctimonious and say, well, it's so unchristian, it's so ungodly, it's so unloving for you to get upset about the lawlessness and the rebellion and the viciousness that obtains out there, that's not reflecting upon scripture. There are times to cry over wickedness. There are times to be angry over wickedness.

It is to image God. God is angry with the wicked every day, Psalm 711. But the bigger point is verse 120. Notice what he says.

Psalm 119, 120, my flesh trembles for fear of you and I am afraid of your judgments. I have preached on the fear of God on many occasions or at least alluded to it. I've described the filial fear and then the slavish fear. The slavish fear is you run and you hide under the piano.

The filial fear is reverence, respect, honor given to our blessed God. I actually think it's a combination. Not only do we have the honor, the respect, and the reverence for God, but there is that tendency to want to run and hide under the piano, because He is a great God. He is the most high God, and it is legit, and it is consistent.

When the creature comes into His presence to fear and tremble like the psalmist does. So back to the prophet Habakkuk, he rests or rather underscores the reality that God provides rest in the day of trouble.

Joy in the Midst of Devastation

Secondly, the Lord provides joy in the midst of devastation. Look at verses 17 and 18. He acknowledges the reality that they're going to lose everything. They're going to be deprived of everything.

Verse 17, 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. You know what he's saying? Though Costco gets closed down, though Superstore has empty shelves, though the power grid fails, though we lose those added pounds that we garnered over the pandemic, though all of that happens, he says, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh.

I will joy in the God of my salvation. You see, in the midst of deprivation, in the midst of hardship, in the midst wherein we have no access to those goods, we still have God. We still have Yahweh. We still have the Lord.

Reminds me of J. Gresham Machen. He makes this observation, and I think it's beautiful. He says, if we value God solely for the things He can do, we make of Him a mere means to an ulterior end, and God refuses to be treated so.

Such a religion always fails in the hour of need. If we have regarded religion merely as a means of getting things, even lofty and unselfish things, then when the things that have been gotten are destroyed, our faith will fail. When loved ones are taken away, when disappointment comes and failure, when noble ambitions are set at naught, then we turn away from God. We have tried religion, we say.

We have tried prayer, and it has failed. Of course it has failed. God is not content to be an instrument in our hand or a servant at our back and call. He is not content to minister to the worldly needs of those who care not a bit for him.

Has it ever dawned on us that God is valuable for his own sake? It did with Habakkuk. Though Costco is shut, though Superstore is gone, though the grid fails, though the internet doesn't work, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. He says, has it ever dawned on us that God is valuable for his own sake, that just as personal communion is the highest thing that we know on earth, so personal communion with God is the sublimest height of all?

If we value God for his own sake, then the loss of other things will draw us closer to him. We shall then have recourse to him in time of trouble as to the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. That's what Habakkuk is saying in Machenese, in a wonderful piece of prose. 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, yet, I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will joy in the God of my salvation. And I love that. Joy is a noun, and he uses it like a verb. I will joy in him.

Not I will rejoice in him. He just says, I will joy in him. No matter what happens, no matter the deprivation, no matter the loss, no matter what this bitter and hasty nation called Babylon does to us, they cannot take from the remnant the God of heaven and earth. They cannot separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

You see why Paul writes Romans 8 or what frame of reference he has? He's got the law, he's got the prophets, he's got the knowledge of God in order to guide him as he composes that chapter with reference to our position in Christ.

Stability Through the Word of God

Thirdly, notice the Lord provides stability. Not only will I joy in the God of my salvation, but notice in verse 19, 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. Think about that.

Brethren, it's easy to say that when Costco's open. It's easy to say that when you have access to the internet. It's easy to see the stability when the blessings are profuse around you. When we are enjoying the temporal benefits of God, oh yeah, it's great to serve Him.

But in the midst of loss and in the midst of deprivation, are we still able to joy in Him? Are we still able to see our stability in Him? He reaches to the Psalter. He reaches to 2 Samuel 22.

This is David's language, Psalm 18, 33, which comes from 2 Samuel 22 and verse 33. 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. See that, how important the word of God is?

How does the prophet encourage his heart? It's with God's word. How does the prophet encourage his soul? By verses three to 15, reflecting on what God did in the Exodus, what God's done in creation, what God did at the time of the judges, what God does in terms of his trampling the nations in order to vindicate and save his people.

He knows his Bible, so that steadies him. He knows his Bible, so that secures him. He knows his Bible, so he finds refuge in that. And interestingly, Palmer Robertson makes this observation.

Go back to Habakkuk 1 and verse 1. Well, yeah, verse 1. Notice the burden or the oracle or the prophecy. But burden is a good translation, right?

This was a burden for Habakkuk. This is tough. So he goes from, oh Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear, even cry out to you violence and you will not save. He goes from that to the Lord, God is my strength.

He will make my feet like deer's feet. He will make me walk on my high hills. Robertson says, so a book beginning with complaint and distress ends in joy. Faith triumphs in life despite many calamities.

Songs in the night anticipate the glad arrival of the eternal dawn in which the faithful shall receive their ultimate vindication. So the just shall live by faith was the appropriate response from God to Habakkuk. And it was that faith by which he encourages his heart, that understanding of who God is and that understanding of what God provides. And then the final thing,

Content for the Church's Worship

the Lord provides content for the church's worship. That's verse 19b, to the chief musician with my stringed instruments. This was to be sung or chanted by the faithful. This is to be rehearsed by the faithful.

This is to be pondered by the faithful. We're to reflect upon it so that we find encouragement in our hearts when we find ourselves in like circumstances. And brethren, I'm not convinced that what we're facing presently is like circumstances. Of course, I wasn't convinced two years ago we'd end up in this state.

So we shall see, but whatever happens in the coming days and in the coming months and years, God Most High is sovereign. God Most High is in control and God Most High is working out His purposes. For good, for those who love him, and for those who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8.28 is not a promise to us in the midst of blessing.

There would be no reason for Paul to have to remind people or encourage people that job promotions work for good, or that finding bags of money work for good, or that, you know, your kids professing faith in Christ works for good. Of course we know that. When he's talking about all things work for good, he must mean all bad things work for good. In the hand of God Most High, he's able to take crooked things and make them straight.

In the hand of God Most High, he's able to take perplexities and make them an occasion for growth in grace for his people. So the prophet rehearses, the prophet reviews, the prophet then composes for the benefit of the church.

Application and Conclusion

In conclusion, Habakkuk teaches us that there is the presence of trial and difficulty in the believer's life, in case you didn't know that. I've often said that, you know, to younger believers. If you haven't really faced any trials, just kind of hold on. It's gonna happen.

You know, you first get saved and everything's great and wonderful. You know, God hears every prayer. He answers everything. Every time you come to your Bible, your heart's warm, and then some sort of a trial or a difficulty hits, you think, wait a minute, is this normal?

Yeah, it's normal. Ask any of the older brethren, ask anybody that's been in the way for some time, Yeah, trials and difficulties and hardships are part and parcel. It's God's way. Grace grows best in winter.

We have to understand that. It is the storm that tests the metal of the sailor. It's not the calm. There is the distress of life so that we will be further conformed onto the image of our blessed Savior.

Christ, according to Hebrews 5, verse 8, learned obedience through suffering. How do you think you and I are going to learn obedience? Just by reading a book by A.W. Pink?

Now I'm the most obedient fellow on the face of the earth? No, it's going to be through suffering. It's going to be through hardship. It's going to be as we follow the man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief.

There is going to be trial in your life. Secondly, the resolution of spiritual difficulty in the believer's life. The prophet pours out his heart in lament. That is a proper vehicle of prayer.

Just like today, people are saying, and that's why I hit on imprecatory praying this morning, because there's people right now telling us you're not supposed to do that. Wagging their sanctimonious fingers at us, telling us we're not supposed to pray the Psalms of David. We're not supposed to imitate the Savior. If the Psalms of David are the prayers of Christ, shouldn't we pray the prayers of Christ?

Shouldn't we pray with Christ, God, our Father, forgive them for they know not what they do? Well, of course you should pray that. Well, we can't pray that the Lord God dashes down his enemies and that the righteous will dance in their blood. Oh no, you can't do that.

What do you mean? If Christ could pray that and not betray sinfulness, then why can't we? We follow the Savior. So imprecatory Psalms or imprecations, that's the word I've been searching for.

That is a legitimate biblical category. But so is lament. So is crying out to God. So is pouring out your distress to him.

Turn back to the Psalms. I don't wanna keep us late, I'm about done. But turn back to Psalm, I think it's 116. Psalm 116.

And it's not. It's one of those ones that's gonna jump out of my head when I, oh yeah, 102, sorry. It's the subscription or superscription, I never know which is which. The little words that are verse one.

So the English Bible here, it has under Psalm 102, the Lord's eternal love, that's italicized. That's supplied by the translators, so that gives you a bit of a title to what the Psalm is. But then notice the smaller words. That is verse one in the Hebrew Bible.

That's inspired, that's given by inspiration of God. So are the Selahs, that's why we read the Selahs. That's given by God. God wanted the Psalter in such a way that there were Selahs sort of littered about.

But here, notice the subscription or superscription. It says, a prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord. What is the remedy in times of perplexity? It's to pour out the heart to God.

Doesn't Jesus teach this in Luke chapter 18? He taught this parable to men who were anxious or perplexed, that they ought not to have anxiety, but rather pray to God most high. So Psalm 102, a prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Lament is a legitimate prayer category.

But then the prophet comforts his heart in reflection on who God is and on what God does. And then the prophet theologizes his heart into stability, understanding the provision of God in terms of stability, in terms of joy, and in terms of God's being with him even in the midst of trouble. And then finally, the emphasis of chapter 2, verse 4. We're saved by grace through faith, but that does not mean that's it for faith.

Our confession says that faith that justifies is alone, but it's always accompanied by all other saving graces. so that those justified have that confident trust in their God such that it stabilizes them for their journey in life. Walter Kaiser says Habakkuk's faith was not just salvific or saving, redemptive and personal. 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 the extremities of life, we can go on because he goes on.

Justified people really live and they live by faith. That's the message of the prophet Habakkuk. There will be problems, there will be hardships. It may even take the form of a nebuchadnezzar.

I mean, God himself describes the Babylonians as a bitter and hasty nation. He says, I'm not sending you some chumps. I am sending you persons that are going to devastate you. But you need to learn there are consequences associated with covenant breaking.

And you need to learn that God is faithful, that you'll go into captivity for 70 years, but then I will vindicate you and bring you back to Judah, and then Messiah shall come and bring his people out of the bondage of sin and wretchedness and depravity. Bless God Almighty that He has spoken to us through the prophets to encourage us in our tumultuous age. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for what the prophet expresses in his psalm. And I pray that we would internalize this, that it would be a balm to our soul, that it would be that balm of Gilead that would bring great comfort to us. We ask God in heaven again that you would be merciful to this land, be merciful in terms of Ottawa and the politicians and the protesters all the various parts that are involved, we ask that you would indeed cause there to be revival among your people, awakening among those who are dead in their trespasses and sins, and the constant and continual progress of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, even here on earth. We know that he shall have dominion from sea to sea.

We know that the knowledge of Yahweh will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. So grant us grace, grant us that faith to hold onto these truths and help us to persevere. And we pray in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 3:15
• Exodus 15
• Joshua 10
• Judges 3; 5; 7
• 2 Samuel 22:33
• Psalms 7:11; 18:33; 68; 73; 74:11; 77; 102; 119:53; 119:120; 119:136; 119:158; 136:4; 136:10-11; 136:15; 136:18
• Daniel 7:28; 8:27; 10:8
• Jeremiah 29:11
• Habakkuk 1:1; 1:2; 1:12; 2:1; 2:4; 3:1-19
• Luke 18
• Romans 8:28
• Hebrews 5:8
• Revelation 6; 19