Faith Wavering

Habakkuk  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Introduction
Some of my earliest recollections of the Book of Habakkuk were not found in the Bible, but in an allegorical novel published by Hannah Hurnard. It first came out in 1955 and I remember reading it in college. It is a story of a young woman named Much Afraid, and her journey from her Fearing family in the the High Places of the Shepherd. She is guided by her two companions Sorrow and Suffering. It is an allegory of a Christian devotional life from salvation to maturity. It shows the journey of a Christian and how one is transformed from unbeliever to immature believer to mature believer. That tract as you can imagine is very steep, slippery and zig-zagged. It is one that only grace can keep the traveler safe as she journeys along. The name of the book is HIND’S FEET on HIGH PLACES. The title comes from the last verse in the Book of Habakkuk in the King James Version.
Habakkuk 3:19 KJV 1900
19 The Lord God is my strength, And he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, And he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
Habakkuk 3:19 NIV84
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
We are going to work our way to that verse over the next few weeks as we study this powerful three chapter book. We will look at faith wavering in chapter 1, faith watching in chapter 2, and faith waiting in chapter 3. First, let’s look at faith wavering in chapter 1.
Habakkuk 1:1–17 NIV84
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. 2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. 5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; 9 they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. 10 They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. 11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty men, whose own strength is their god.” 12 O Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O Lord, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish. 13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? 14 You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. 15 The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. 17 Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?
Who was this man Habakkuk? He is known as a Minor prophet and lived about the same time as Zephaniah and Jeremiah which was around the 7th century B.C. The people of Judah were experiencing great injustice and violence. This book is relevant to us today because we see the same thing. Injustice and violence prevail in our land today. We see in our community. Bad things happen to good people. The prophet Habakkuk stands between God and His people to ask why in this first chapter. In the first three verses, there is a call of concern.

The Call of Concern (vs. 1-3)

The Question
The question pops up, “How long, O Lord?” Have you ever asked that question? How long O Lord will I have to struggle? How long O Lord will this disease weaken me? How long O Lord will my family treat me like this? This reminds me that it is ok to be honest with God about your feelings and what you are experiencing. We often cry out like this but we hear crickets, silence, the quiet.
The Quiet
Sometimes we get frustrated like Habakkuk when we do not get an immediate answer. The quiet overtakes us. The quiet leads to the qualm.
The Qualm
Qualm is an uneasy feeling. It is an uneasy feeling of apprehensive uneasiness. It is usually coincides with a feeling of nausea or faintness. We all have experienced this in one way or another.
This is not a fun place to be. It leads to a crisis of carelessness.

The Crisis of Carelessness (vs. 4)

“The law is paralyzed and justice never prevails.”
The Injustice
When the law is paralyzed, there is no law and injustice prevails. We can compare today’s world to the fact that our nation has gone away from the law of God. In doing so, we can turn on the local news and hear of injustice prevailing in our community. Those that think they are capable of this lawlessness find themselves superior to others.
The Inequity
The inequity enters in. There is a state of being unequal with the lawless having a better than you attitude. Selfishness occurs and begins to eat away at our souls like a cancer.
The Infringement
Then the infringement takes place. The law is violated.
Our God is a loving and caring God but He cannot allow His people to live this way. So we see here in this conversation with His prophet Habakkuk that He will not stand for this kind of behavior. Notice the Creator’s correction.

The Creator’s Correction (vs. 5-11)

In verses 5-11, the Lord gives an answer to Habakkuk’s questions.
The Unusual Method
He first describes an unusual method. Habakkuk 1:5
Habakkuk 1:5 NIV84
5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
Out of context, one might think this is a glorious verse. However, in the context of this whole chapter, God’s judgement is coming forth! I have read enough of scripture to know I do not want to experience the judgement of God. I am not an hellfire, damnation kind of guy, but I can tell you that hell is real and it will be real hot. I can tell you that without Jesus Christ as your personal Savior you will end up there. Not just for a weekend visit be for eternity! The Creator is going to correct His people using an unusual method. He will use the meanest people around to do His correcting. Babylon in the Bible was the symbol for sin and rebellion. Babylon had many names: the Land of the Chaldeans, the Land of Shinar; the Desert of the Sea, the Lady of the Kingdoms, the Land of Merathaim, and Sheshach. Whatever name they are known by, they were a people that rejected God. Their earliest act of defiance was the building of the tower of Babel.
The Unusual Modification
This unusual modification was to come at the hands of a dreadful people. Verse 6 calls them ruthless and impetuous. They were to sweep across the earth and seize dwelling places not their own. You might wonder, how can you clean up something with that which is dirty? God was going to use this unusual modification to bring about an unusual message.
The Unusual Message
The unusual message was that God had told the people to follow Him, yet they did everything but follow. God is going to allow the ones who make their own law become the law of the people of God. This had to be an unusual message for Habakkuk to relay to the people. As a pastor, it pains me greatly to tell you that if you do not have Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you will not spend eternity with Him in heaven. Habakkuk must have remembered God’s great love even though he had heard the great judgement God had pronounced. In verses, 12-17, he remembers the cost of the covenant.

The Cost of the Covenant (vs. 12-17)

As soon as Habakkuk hears of the coming judgement of God, he remembers some things about God’s ways.
God’s Ways are Prominent
First, we see he remembers that God’s ways are prominent. Habakkuk says, “O Lord, are you not from everlasting?” Only One that has always been and always will be can be prominent. Only One that is the Author, Creator and Sustainer can be prominent. Habakkuk realized this! I should realize it too! If God chooses to use the Babylonians in my life to get me on the right track, I should trust Him because His ways are prominent. We deserve to have some outsiders come in and clean our dirty houses! We claim to be “one nation under God,” yet we are the most divided country in all the world. It is time to recognize that God’s ways, not some man made ways, are prominent!
God’s Ways are Personal
God’s ways are also personal. Habakkuk calls God, “My God.” Habakkuk was not saying that because he owned God. It is not about ownership, but it is everything about honor-ship! God is so worthy and to think that He calls us His own. Yet, He is so personal with us, we can call Him our own out of respect and honor.
God’s Ways are Praiseworthy
Habakkuk also shows me that God’s ways are praiseworthy. He says, “My God, my Holy One.” Holy is set apart. No one is more praiseworthy than our God! God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil. We must stay away from unholy things. That is God’s desire. Yet, He will never force us to be that way. In verses 14-17, Habakkuk describes the free will of mankind. We all have choices to make and God designed us that way. The greatest choice we can make, is to choose His ways over our own ways.
You know, as I have read and studied this book of Habakkuk, I have said out loud, “Thank you God for Jesus!” I deserve the punishment that God described would come to the people of Judah. You do too! But thanks be to God, the ultimate punishment for my sins and your sins was Jesus dying on the cross and the power of God raising Him from the dead! He lives within me and within you if you call Him Lord of your life! Thanks be to God for Jesus! Is your faith wavering? Spend some time reading this passage again and talk to God about it in the Name of Jesus. He is waiting!
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