Habakkuk - Chapter 3
HABAKKUK - WHEN GOD SEEMS UNFAIR
“Experiencing True Worship”
It is one thing to offer worship to God when “the wind is in our sails” - when everything is going well. It is entirely another thing when we are struggling whether it is physical, emotional, financial, or spiritual. But during our “down” times is when we really need to worship more than ever for in true worship is when we have the closest, most intimate relationship with the Lord. I am forever amazed at the reaction of that great man Job and how he responded when he had learned that not only all his wealth had been destroyed, everything that he owned, but also that his sons and daughters had also died on that fateful day.
Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Habakkuk has been given the task of announcing to the people of Judah that because of their grievous sin God was sending judgment. However that judgment would be meted out by the extremely wicked and vile Babylonians. That didn’t make sense to Habakkuk and in chapter one we find him wrestling with God (as we often do). In chapter two, although he does not understand why God is doing the things He is doing, Habakkuk embraces faith and waits for God’s promises. Chapter three has a different tone. Here we find Habakkuk clinging to God in worship and pleading for His mercy. The chapter begins with these words:
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on Shigionoth. Verse 1
What “shigionoth” means is not certain. We do know it is connected with singing in some way. The musical notation at the end of the chapter states, “To the chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.” With all the bad news Habakkuk received, he ends up writing a song of praise and worship.
You have a choice to make when it seems your world is falling down around you. You can complain and grumble about your situation and become even more miserable, or you can turn to God, even though you may not understand why things are happening like they are, and cling to Him in worship. It is when we cry out to Him that we will find the strength to endure the trial.
In chapter three Habakkuk reveals how to experience true worship when it seems God is unfair.
1. REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE
O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory coved the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. Verses 2-3
Habakkuk begins a memory journey recounting the great things God had done for Israel in the past. The words Teman and Mount Paran describe places on the Sinai Peninsula, the location of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. This journey began of course with God’s miraculous judgments on Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea - an event so tremendous that forty years later the inhabitants of Canaan were still “scared to death” of the power of Israel’s God.
His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, and there His power was hidden. Before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His feet. He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting. Verses 4-6
In these verses and the verses following up to verse 15 we see a display of God’s mighty power when He established Israel as a nation. Think of some of the mighty works that God did in Israel during that time. He led a nations of slaves out of the hand of the mightiest nation on the earth at that time. When the Egyptians pursued them, God opened the Red Sea allowing Israel to cross over on dry ground and then drowning the army of Pharaoh. As they traveled through the desolate Sinai Peninsula, God provided water, food (manna) and protection from the enemies. When they reached the Promised Land, God once again parted the waters (this time of the Jordan River) and then made the walls of mighty Jericho crumble. It was soon after this that Joshua prayed His famous prayer and asked God to stop the sun and moon so Israel could finish the battle. That is exactly what God did!
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation… verse 11
What great things the Lord has done! Remember what God has done! What great things has the Lord done for you? How many “impossible prayers” has He answered?
2. ACCEPT WHAT GOD IS DOING
When I heard, my body trembled; my lips quivered at the voice; rottenness entered my bones; and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble, when he comes up to the people, He will invade them with his troops. Verses 16-17
Habakkuk had cried out to God in chapter one asking Him to deal with the violence and sin of the land. God had answered him and although Habakkuk did not like the answer, he accepted God’s will. In fact the thought of the Babylonian invasion of Judah left him physically exhausted, Habakkuk was willing to accept what God was doing.
This is not denial or a lack of faith. When we have needs, whatever they may be, we have a right, no we have a command to pray.
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16
While we are to take everything to God in prayer, the Scripture does not promise that He will always answer in the way we may want. Sometimes God brings healing that the doctors cannot explain (they just mumble something about the x-rays being wrong the first time). However, sometimes God allows His children to go through suffering and not experience physical healing. You are no less loved by God. His promise is that we will obtain mercy and grace.
Accepting what God is doing is not always easy. It requires perhaps an even deeper faith than asking God to remove the problem, but sometimes it is the only way we can really know God’s fullness.
3. TRUST WHAT GOD IS GOING TO DO
Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Verses 17-18
That is true worship! To still praise God even though our heart may be breaking in two and our eyes are heavy with tears is an evidence that we trust Him. God is glorified when we praise Him at all times, but especially in times of trouble. It is then that we receive that awesome strength that can come only from God.
The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. Verse 19
You can trust what God is going to do.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
