Bold Lament

The Complaint

How LONG?!

English Standard Version Chapter 1

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

As if to say: I am growing impatient. LORD! Anytime now… Hello? Can you hear me now.

Many have said the issue with our culture is the ever present angst for instant gratification.

But here the Prophet as identified in vs. 1, an official position is appealing to his master.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

The Words of the prophet echo that of King David in Psalm 13

English Standard Version Psalm 13

13 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

Both men earnestly sought God’s intervention.

Habbakkuk:

Cries for help vs.2

Levies the charge of violence vs.2

Decries being subjected to witness wickedness vs.3

Shines light on destruction, violence, strife and contention vs. 3

The result is the LAW appears paralyzed. Its not WORKING!!!

Justice NEVER shows up and when it does it is no longer justice.

Justice is now being used to lay seige to those who keep it.

Justice afflicts and oppresses the obedient.

Justice mocks the faithful.

We sit in our congregations and sing it is well, but brothers and sisters not all is well.

It is well with that our salvation is secured by the blood and resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, but until our Savior returns we groan.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

3 Why do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Notice the questions here!

You make me see, notice, pay attention to this horror, but you passively glance at it.

Habakkuk is probably not the best model when we think of prayer.

Then he goes futher!!!!

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

Since I have looked closely at this iniquity, let me explain how dire it is!

Habakkuk seems to have some moxie.

3 applications

As the covenant people of God, we like Habakkuk have the divine responsibility to plead the case of the oppressed. Many peoples are included here, widows, orphans, and refugees. Here in the South we must be mindful and intentional when it comes to the growing topic of racial reconciliation.

MLK 50 conference

Woke theology

“Quiet separation” between black and white evangelicals

“I had hoped that the white moderate would see this. Maybe I was too optimistic. Maybe I expected too much. I guess I should have realized that few members of a race that has oppressed another race can understand or appreciate the deep groans and passionate yearnings of those that have been oppressed, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent, and determined action.”

2. We must remember our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world.

a. Andrew Brunson - Turkey has accused the evangelical minister—who lived in the Muslim-majority country for 23 years before his arrest following an attempted coup in 2016—of fueling unrest in the country through alleged involvement with exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an insurgent group. Both movements are seen as enemies and threats to the Turkish government.

b. Is it the government that we believe in or the God of the Scriptures we rely on.

c. We must pray, support, pray, send, pray, weep and pray.

www.persecution.com

3. We need to repent and pursue the proclamation of the Gospel

a. The Gospel is not a pragmatic.

dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

b. The Gospel is not a program.

Processes will never produce life in an unbeliever.

It can not make one holy, blameless, or whole.

c. The Gospel must not be perverted.