Who answers the why... (6)

Who is like the LORD Almighty?

Anybody who experiences God, knows the answer to this.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah saw a vision of the LORD and proclaimed,

Isaiah 6:5 NIV

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

When we experience the holiness of God, and realize our unholiness, and that we are made holy only on the basis of God’s mercy that sent Jesus to the cross, what can we do but bow down and cry holy?

Lamentations 3:22–23 NIV

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

As we look at today’s Scripture, we see a glimpse of God’s great power. There is no one like the Lord. Habakkuk realized it, and at the close of verse 2 said,

Habakkuk 3:2 NIV

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

It’s like he was saying to the LORD, we don’t deserve for you to move among us. We don’t deserve for you to pour out your Spirit upon us, but in Your anger, in Your wrath, please remember to show us mercy.

For sake of time, we’ll read the Scripture as we work through it.

Habakkuk 3:3–7 NLT

I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise. His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands, where his awesome power is hidden. Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. He is the Eternal One! I see the people of Cushan in distress, and the nation of Midian trembling in terror.

His brilliant splendor fills the heavens

and the earth is filled with His praise

Psalm 19:1 NIV

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

The more that we learn about how vast our universe is, we learn a little bit more about the glory and the majesty of our God.

God’s power would still be enough if the universe were only our Solar system, but we are just a small part of what is called the Milky Way galaxy, and the Milky Way is only one of how many galaxies that make up our universe. 20+ years ago, it was believed that there were about 125 billion galaxies in the observable universe, but that number has jumped to somewhere north of 2 trillion. (NASA.gov)

This is just what’s observable, only God knows how many galaxies there are.

I can’t even begin to try to describe how great our God is...

Genesis 1:1–5 NIV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Genesis 1:14–19 NIV

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

I don’t think Moses had any clue of the immensity of creation when he spoke of God creating the stars also.

We have learned so much over the last hundred years and I don’t believe that we have even begun to scratch the surface of God’s creation.

There’s enough evidence in what God has made that leaves us without excuse as to whether or not God exists and is Who He says He is.

His brilliant splendor fills the heavens...

Habakkuk 3:3 (NIV)

...His glory covered the heavens...

I’m not sure that we can even understand what omnipresence means.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary,

Omnipresent means: To be present in all places at all times

His glory fills the heavens...

Scientists don’t know how big the universe really is, and God’s glory fills the universe.

Psalm 8:1–9 NIV

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

The earth is filled with His praise...

This praise that fills the earth is not limited to humans…It’s all creation.

Psalm 148:1–14 NLT

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven! Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked. Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children. Let them all praise the name of the Lord. For his name is very great; his glory towers over the earth and heaven! He has made his people strong, honoring his faithful ones— the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!

His Coming or His splendor is as radiant as the sunrise...

Rays of light flash from His hand.

Just as the sun, we can experience God’s radiance. The sun is 150,000,000 kilometers away. If we experienced the sun in all of its power we would be consumed.

Here Habakkuk declares, “Where His awesome power is hidden.”

One day we will see God in all His splendor and power, but if we were to see God in all of His majesty, all of His omnipotence, we would be consumed.

John 1:18 NIV

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

How does the earth react to His power?

Habakkuk 3:5–6 NLT

Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. He is the Eternal One!

His enemies tremble. The earth shakes. The mountains crumble.

Who is like the LORD Almighty?

Habakkuk switches his attention from a description of God to

God’s Actions on earth

Habakkuk 3:8–11 NLT

Was it in anger, Lord, that you struck the rivers and parted the sea? Were you displeased with them? No, you were sending your chariots of salvation! You brandished your bow and your quiver of arrows. You split open the earth with flowing rivers. The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands in submission. The sun and moon stood still in the sky as your brilliant arrows flew and your glittering spear flashed.

Was God angry at the earth when He parted the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army?

Not at all!

He brought salvation to His people.

As the children of Israel approached the Red Sea, the Egyptian army pursued them.

This is what

Exodus 14:10–14 NIV

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

God used nature to destroy His enemies.

Isaiah 54:17 NKJV

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

Isaiah 59:15–19 NLT

Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked. The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion. He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds. His fury will fall on his foes. He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth. In the west, people will respect the name of the Lord; in the east, they will glorify him. For he will come like a raging flood tide driven by the breath of the Lord.

When we look at Israel and Judah, their captivity, the many hardships that they faced, when they turned to the LORD, He came to their aid.

I believe that as we look at these Old Testament verses, we can see end times judgment waiting those who would dare to shake their fist at God and try to drive His children, Israel, into the Mediterranean Sea.

It really doesn’t take long to see how small humans are in comparison to natural disasters: floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, forest fires, tsunamis, and the list could go on and on.

We can’t make it rain, and we can’t stop it from raining. In reality, the biggest thing that we can do is to cry out to God. “In wrath, remember mercy.”

Let’s look at

God’s actions among the nations...

Habakkuk 3:12–15 NIV

In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.

God’s heart is not towards destruction. He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, but even with God there is a limit.

God doesn’t want any to perish, but He wants all to come to repentance. He wants us all to change our minds about sin.

If we look back to the flood during the time of Noah, because of the evil in the human heart, God was sorry that He had made humans.

In the last days, when the armies come against God, Jesus will slay the wicked with the sword that comes from His mouth.

The Babylonians were ruthless. They were powerful, and yet it took nothing for God to destroy them. Many armies rise and fall, but God will never end.

As we close today, let’s remember that God is for you. He is not against you. He sent Jesus do take His wrath so that we could receive His grace and mercy.

Isaiah 64:4 NLT

For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!

Let’s not wait for the rocks to cry out in praise to the LORD, Let’s praise Him because He is worthy.

Let’s praise Him for all He has done. Let’s praise Him because of Who He is.

When we praise Him, it takes our eyes off of us and our circumstances and gives God His proper place in our lives, and it builds confidence that He is able. (Guzik)

Let’s praise the LORD!