“When I heard, my belly 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 upon the people, he will invade them with his troops. 17. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive tree shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds (deer) feet, and He will make me to walk upon high places…”
The prophet Habakkuk was written in approximately 620-612 BC during the latter part of Josiah’s reign. (The Revell Bible Dictionary) In his first prayer the prophet questioned why God wasn’t taking action against Judah because of their idolatry and all of the immorality that this entailed. God’s answer to Habakkuk was that Judah would be destroyed by Babylon in the years to come. (It happened in 586-587 BC.) The second prayer of the prophet was why God would use a godless people like the Babylonians to destroy Judah. God assured Habakkuk that He would destroy the Babylonian Empire as well. Habakkuk realized that destruction was coming upon his people. He accepted that God’s judgment was inevitable that there was nothing that could be done to stop it. This is a good reminder to us as well, as we go about our merry way doing whatever we want to do. “God’s wheels grind slowly but they grind surely.” The thing that we need to see is Habakkuk’s reaction to this news. When He accepted that God is God and that He will do what He will, Habakkuk reacted by the faith that he mentioned in 2:4b: “The just shall live by faith." Our text is the prophet’s reaction and we should take it to heart. In verse 17, Habakkuk wrote that if everything was destroyed he would believe in God and serve Him. (Read it in the text printed above.) In verse 18, he wrote, “Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” We need to learn what the great prophet learned, i.e., that our rejoicing should not depend on our outward circumstances, but in the joy of the Lord. The fact that God is real and present and loving us transcends all earthly concerns. This is exactly the same reason that Paul was enabled to declare what he did in Philippians 4:11: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” It is difficult for us to realize, but the Lord is enough. We will understand this fully when we see Him in glory. Meanwhile, no matter what is going on around us, let us glory in the Lord. This doesn’t mean that we will not take a stand. What it means is that we are not going to give in to despair and depression because of what is happening in the word. Verse 19 gives us the reason why Habakkuk would rejoice in the God of his salvation: “The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me to walk upon my high places.” The prophet drew His strength from the Lord instead of worldly circumstances. Because of God’s strength, Habakkuk could be like a deer on the mountain, he could walk sure-footed in the world and be above the circumstances. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit in our lives, our hearts, to strengthen and guide us day by day. We literally have the strength of the Lord living in us. For that reason, we can walk like a deer on the mountain and maintain our joy, knowing that we are secure in the Lord. We can say with Paul in Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Let’s catch the spirit of Habakkuk in the darkness of the hour. God is alive and at work – Rejoice! Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Bro Beau Cooksey
8/17/2015 01:50:07 pm
Another great word Doc.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|