COVID 19 - A Single Word Changes Everything

Memorial Drive 6/7/20 A SINGLE WORD CHANGES EVERYTHING Habakkuk 2:20 The Prophet's Condition - "... my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones and in my place I tremble, because I must wait quietly for the day of distress ..." (Hab. 3:16) God's Intent - "... the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Hab. 2:14) A Real Possibility - "... no fruit on the vines, through the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls." (3:17) The Prophet's Response - "Yet I WILL EXULT in the Lord. I WILL REJOICE in the God of my salvation." (3:18) The Blessed Outcome - "The Lord is my strength and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and makes me walk on my high places." (3:19) The Turning Point - "But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him." ... "BUT ..." "The contrast is MARKED and the climax is MARVELOUS." That single word is the critical pivot point at which the prophet turns from confusion and grumbling to trusting and rejoicing. The sheer fact that he now remembers that "the Lord is in His holy temple" changes everything for the prophet! And it must change everything for us. ... "BUT THE LORD" The Hebrew word behind "LORD" is YWHW (Jehovah) It wasn't spoken aloud with one exception - by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement It was the NAME God revealed to Moses at the burning bush The name simply means "to exist" ... God is the "always, eternally, existing God ... "BUT THE LORD IS IN ..." Contrast this with the 800 prophets pleading with "gods" who could not answer ... "BUT THE LORD IS IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE" I'm thankful that God is IN His temple and that KEEPING IT is HIS business "Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27) "HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord, 'OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE? 'WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS?' (Acts 7:49-50) "Do you not know that YOU are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells IN YOU? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is HOLY, and THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE." (1 Cor 3:16-17) Our God is not merely WITH us in our circumstances, He is IN us in our most painful moments and IN US in our "high (and difficult) places." All through a most difficult night ... "You alone, O Lord, are worthy of praise." "Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; Sing praises to the Lord, to Him who rides upon the highest heavens which are from ancient times. Behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice. Ascribe strength to God; His majesty is over Israel, and His strength is in the skies. O God, Thou are AWESOME from thy sanctuary. The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God!" (Ps. 68:32-35) As We Come To the Lord's Table, Remember That the Word "But" Changes Everything! "... while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. BUT God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:6-8) "The wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our LORD." (Rom. 6:23) "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.' BUT in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." (Rom 8:35-36)