Rejoice Anyway
Habakkuk Second Complaint
a. Acknowledge Him & His mighty works: Fear Him—stand in awe of Him
b. Request two things
1) That God revive His Work
2) That God have mercy
a. God—the Holy One—came to Mt. Sinai (Teman)
1) Came in glory & praise
3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
2) Came like the splendor of a sunrise: Rays of light flashed from His presence & hid His power
THE ULTIMATE WAY TO GET ANSWERS TO ALL QUESTIONS: PRAYER, PRAISE, AND TRUST IN THE LORD, 3:1–19
3:1–19) Introduction: a common expression in the church today is that “our God is too small.” The implication is that we fail to realize just how big God really is—how majestic, how powerful, and how involved in our world He truly is. This passage of Holy Scripture, so beautifully inspired, is a sharp reminder that the LORD not only created the earth but also rules it. He is actively involved in the affairs of nations as well as in our personal lives. He is the God of our salvation, and He is guiding history to its ultimate and climactic end. However, until Christ returns to establish God’s kingdom on earth, we may continue to experience doubts. Like Habakkuk, we may wonder how the LORD is working things out for our good and according to His purposes.
The final chapter of Habakkuk assures us that God will indeed work all things out for the good of those who truly love Him. Equally important, the example of the prophet teaches us that we must seek answers to the questions that trouble and burden us directly from the LORD. We must seek Him in prayer and in His written Word. Regardless of the answers we receive, whether we fully understand them or not, we must respond to the LORD with thanksgiving and praise. And we must trust Him to complete His work at its appointed time. In prayer and in songs of praise, we need to acknowledge the glorious work of the LORD, even as we stand in fear and awe of Him. The LORD and His works are truly awesome, majestic, and holy beyond measure. Therefore, He is worthy of our praise and worthy of our trust. This is, The Ultimate Way to Get Answers to All Questions: Prayer, Praise, and Trust in the LORD, 3:1–19.
1. Pray to the LORD (vv.1–2).
2. Praise the LORD for His coming and for His mighty works (vv.3–15).
3. Trust in the LORD, He who is the God of salvation (vv.16–19).
1 (3:1–2) Prayer, of Whom, Habakkuk—Prayer, Lessons of, What to Request—Prayer, Requests of, for Revival; Requests of, for God’s Mercy—Mercy, Requests for, by Habakkuk—Habakkuk, Prayers of, for God’s Mercy—God, Mercy of, Requested in Prayer—God, Work of, Requested in Prayer: prayer is the ultimate way to get answers to questions about God and His work in the world. As previously stated, we must seek our answers directly from the LORD and from His Holy Word. Books, theology, philosophy, science, advanced education, seminaries, Bible colleges, the thoughts and wisdom of others—none of these is a substitute for seeking the face of God Himself. This is the lesson of Habakkuk. We must go to God Himself and to His Word for answers to our questions. But how are we to pray? How are we to respond to the LORD when He reveals Himself and His plans to us? Scripture tells us:
OUTLINE
SCRIPTURE
CHAPTER 3
1. Pray to the LORD
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
a. Acknowledge Him & His mighty works: Fear Him—stand in awe of Him
b. Request two things
1) That God revive His Work
2) That God have mercy
2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
a. We are to respond to God by acknowledging Him and His mighty works and by fearing Him. We must stand in awe of the living God (vv.1–2). This is the highest response to every revelation God gives. Habakkuk had finished asking his questions and the LORD had answered him. God’s answers were astonishing, so much so that Habakkuk could hardly believe them. Yet this did not matter. Now it was time to worship the LORD. It was time to pray that God’s will be done. It was time to praise the LORD for His mighty works. This is exactly what the prophet did, and this should be every person’s response to revelation from the living God.
This concluding chapter of Habakkuk is a hymn of prayer—a prayer that praises the LORD (vv.3–15). The prophet likely composed it with the intention that it be sung in worship services of the day. Thus, it was for the entire body of believers. He speaks from the perspective of “I,” but he has in mind and speaks for God’s people as a whole. This prayer of praise focuses on the splendor and power of God, His majesty and mighty work in the world, and particularly His saving acts in the history of Israel. The unfamiliar word shigionoth (v.1) was likely a musical notation that gave instructions as to how the song should be sung, possibly its tune or melody. The word selah, a pause or musical note, is another example (vv.3, 9, 13), and is commonly found in the Psalms.
Habakkuk had just learned of God’s plan to judge Judah, and he declared he was literally afraid (yārē’). The prophet was in fear and awe of the LORD and His plans. Obviously, he also feared for his people and the great suffering they would endure under the Babylonians. There was only one thing Habakkuk could do: pray.
b. Habakkuk requested two things from the LORD (v.2b). These are the only requests in Habakkuk’s long prayer of praise, but they were significant, being the most urgent needs he and his people had.
1) Habakkuk first asked that God revive His work among His people. The prophet longed for a fresh outpouring of the presence of God and for the LORD to save His people. Centuries before, the LORD had delivered Israel from her bondage in Egypt. God had in fact preserved and redeemed His people through that terrible trial. The prophet desired the same preservation and redemption through the trial that was to come. Habakkuk did not know how God would work all things out in detail, but he knew the LORD could preserve them and see them through the judgment—even judgment at the hands of the ruthless Babylonians. Therefore, the prophet prayed for God to revive His glorious work of salvation and preserve His people through the terrible trial that lay ahead.
2) Equally important was Habakkuk’s second request. He asked the LORD to remember mercy in the midst of His judgment. He knew God had to punish and correct the ways of His rebellious people. Thus, the prophet did not ask God to withhold judgment but rather to be merciful during judgment. No doubt, he asked that the people neither be completely destroyed nor suffer too greatly. He looked forward to that great day when he and all of God’s people would be delivered from their enemies; to the day when Babylon herself would be judged for her crimes.
Thought 1. When confronting life’s trials, whether great or small, we should always take the matter to the Lord in prayer. We must acknowledge the LORD and His power to save and deliver us. Listen to what God’s Holy Word says.
(1) God has the power to save and deliver us.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro. 8:35–39).
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Co. 10:13).
“For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (2 Co. 1:8–10).
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (He. 2:14–15).
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (He. 13:5–6).
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Pe. 2:9).
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn. 5:4–5).
“He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee” (Jb. 5:19).
“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him” (Ps. 28:7).
“Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us” (Ps. 44:5).
“Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence” (Ps. 91:3).
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Is. 41:10).
“Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Is. 43:1–2).