Sing A Prayer of Faith and Praise
Notes
Transcript
Intro; This morning we come to the final chapter of this short but relevant Book of Habakkuk. As we saw how Habakkuk cried out to God concerning the sin among Israel and how God said He was going to judge them through a ruthless wicked people, we realize that God has not changed in His ways. You could very easily compare what was taking place then to what is happening now in our culture. God punishes all sin, starting in His own house!
But as we moved through chapter 2, we saw where God not only punishes all sin, but He also gives hope to those who love Him and are called by His name.
14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.
20 “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
With that being understood by Habakkuk, we come now to “A Prayer of Faith and Praise” sung by Habakkuk. In this psalm, Habakkuk embraces the joy found only in God!
Text; Habakkuk 3:1-19
Habakkuk 3:1–19 (NLT)
1 This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:
2 I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.
3 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. Selah
4 His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands, where his awesome power is hidden.
5 Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind.
6 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!
7 I see the people of Cushan in distress, and the nation of Midian trembling in terror.
8 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!
9 You brandished your bow and your quiver of arrows. You split open the earth with flowing rivers. Selah
10 The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands in submission.
11 The sun and moon stood still in the sky as your brilliant arrows flew and your glittering spear flashed.
12 You marched across the land in anger and trampled the nations in your fury.
13 You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and stripped their bones from head to toe. Selah
14 With his own weapons, you destroyed the chief of those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters piled high.
16 I trembled inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
(For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)
In this prayer there are a few things I want to call your attention to that we will look at in the coming weeks;
Shigionoth may mean the musical setting of the prayer
Selah means a pause, interlude for meditation or to exalt
The prayer is to be sung with a stringed instrument [Lyre, psaltry, guitar]
The main part of the prayer is a reflection upon what God has done in the past on behalf of His children according to His covenant with them
This morning I want to look at verse 2 and consider three things; Revive, Reveal, and Remember!
1. O Lord Revive; 2a
1. O Lord Revive; 2a
Habakkuk first announces at the outset of this prayer that hearing God’s answer to Israels sin, he was afraid! What was he afraid of?
I’m sure he had a fear of the coming judgment of God upon Israel, being carried away captive to a foreign land.
I’m sure he had a fear of how many people would lose their lives in this judgment because of the wickedness of the people God was using to judge them
But I believe the greatest fear Habakkuk had was the fear that people would forget God during this judgment instead of turning to Him in repentance!
“Revive Your work in the midst of our years”
God, while we are in captivity, remind us what got us here and revive Your work [covenant] in our lives!
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—
2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,
5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.
We are in moral decay, economic decline, and a spiritual drought in America because we have forsaken the Covenant of God in Jesus Christ!
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
2. Reveal Your Ways; 2b
2. Reveal Your Ways; 2b
God, while we are in captivity, reveal Yourself to your people. Reveal Your ways to your people. Let us know You have not forgotten us and that you still have plans for us!
Remember the Parable of the Prodigal Son. He had taken advantage of his fathers grace and then moved away. Then hard times fell on him and he went down in the muck and mire of the pig pens of the world.
Luke 15:17–24 (NKJV)
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
I believe that America is going to have to be brought low, real low, before God will be able to reveal Himself for people to truly see Him!
3. Remember Mercy in Wrath; 3c
3. Remember Mercy in Wrath; 3c
Habakkuk realized that nothing could be done about the coming judgment of God towards Israel’s sin. He knew God had to punish and correct the ways of His rebellious people.
So Habakkuk asked God to remember mercy in His wrath!
If God did not discipline in mercy, God’s people would be destroyed.
There has never been a king in Israel like David, a man after God’s heart. Yet David was moved by God at one point to number Israel because of God’s anger against the people. In doing this it brought God’s wrath upon the people and David was given a choice of judgment.
10 And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ”
13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
David cried out for mercy in the midst of God’s wrath. He simply said, “God, Your will be done, not mine”!
Without mercy, there would be no opportunity for sinners to receive grace. Mercy tempers justice.
19 Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.
Luke 18:13 (NKJV)
13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
Close;
Between chapters 1 and 3, God gave Habakkuk a better perspective of the situation, God’s point of view. In doing this, Habakkuk understood and prayed for God to revive, reveal and remember His people in judgment that they might persevere and have confidence that God would deliver them!
We need to pray the same manner today, knowing that God will deliver us in these trying times.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Sing a Prayer of Faith and Praise!