Going from sob to song……..

Going from SOB….. to SONG — is it even possible?

Habakkuk 3:17  Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,

v.18  yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

v.19  God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places.

Ahh, ya gotta love Habakkuk…… he seems so strong and resolute there in verses 17-19.  How did he get that way?  What road did he travel?  Are we kindred spirits?  Do we want to be?   Let me tell you his story — which interestingly enough we have little background on.  He was a prophet.  We know that, i.e. Chapter 1, v.1  The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.  Even a non-scholar like me can do that math!!  And we also know that he prophesied before the fall of Jerusalem.

I call Habakkuk a “kindred spirit” because I sometimes get frustrated with my own people or with my own nation!  Ya tracking with me?  Feel my pain?  There are those we love, but for various reasons we see them heading on a bad trajectory! 

This was Habakkuk’s situation!  Matter-of-fact, in Chapter 1 he spells out his complaint to God!! 

v.2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help and You will not hear?

v.3 Why do You make me see iniquity, and why do You idly look at wrong? 

v.4 ….the law’s paralyzed and justice never goes forth…. the wicked surround the righteous — justice goes forth perverted!

I sorta feel like we of 2023 could pray that same prayer!  And perhaps we do.  But ya know what I have in mind when I pray that prayer?  I’m wanting God to “gently whisper in their ear and miraculously turn their hearts to see truth”!  Or I’m thinking ……. “a light bulb moment”… that would work, too!  It seemed effective with Saul of Tarsus. But I’m never thinking or praying, “Lord, I believe what would be really effective is if You’d send something equivalent to World War 3 !”  And the reason I wouldn’t suggest that is…… I LIVE HERE TOO!!!  When trouble hits the nation we live in (or the family we call our own), we don’t walk away unscathed ourselves.  It affects us all!

So I have to wonder what Habakkuk had in mind when he prayed, “how long, O Lord?”   I think, based on his 2nd complaint (v.12-17) that God’s answer back to him was rather surprising (check it out…. v..5-11) 

To summarize ….. basically God told him to “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if I told you.”  And then He proceeded to tell him—— v.6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans (Babylonians), that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.

God referred to them as dreaded, fearsome, they have their own sense of “justice”, their horses are swift and fierce, and the riders fly like eagles swift to devour. They come for violence, they scoff at kings, they laugh at rulers, they pile up earth and take it. They’re “guilty men”, whose might is their god.

This answer from God was basically that He full-well knew the wickedness of Judah — it had not gone unnoticed and He was not going to let them continue on like they were.  He was raising up the Babylonians and He would use their wickedness for His own purposes.  

This, of course, brought Habakkuk to bring forth his 2nd complaint…… “granted Judah is bad — but Babylon is WORSE!!”  And he had a point!  Of course he worded that much better than I just did!!  I love his sincerity as he said in v.13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do You idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

This shows me that we can bring our sincere questions to God.  Habakkuk speaks, and then he takes his stand at his watchpost and he waits to see what God will say (chapter 2:1)

And the LORD answers him…..

I love chapter 2:2-3      And the Lord answered me:  “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.  For still the vision awaits its appointed time;  it hastens to the end — it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.  “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

2 things jump out at me in the Lord’s answer back to the “waiting-at-the-watchpost Habakkuk”………

1. First of all….. that word “appointed time”!  One of the definitions of “appointed” is “fixed or established, especially by order or command”.  It helps me to know that God is Sovereignly in charge and in control.  He’s got this!  Things happen by His order and command.  He’s never rethinking or reorganizing anything!  His works are FIXED and ESTABLISHED — even when they haven’t yet happened!  They are as good as done!  I take comfort in knowing God’s in control.

2. Also I notice the words “puffed up” and “faith”.  Those 2 words tell me there are 2 ways to respond to God.  There’s the prideful puffed up …whose soul isn’t right within him; and then there’s the righteous….. who lives by faith in God!  It strikes me, as I “wait at my own watchpost looking ahead to what yet will be”…… God notices how I wait.

Meanwhile…. back to those rascally Chaldeans (i.e. Babylonians) that Habakkuk had mentioned as being “worse than us” yet God was going to use them to put an end to Judah’s wickedness ……   Yes — God was in fact going to use them for His purposes in addressing Judah’s sin, but in due time He would bring judgement down on them, as well.

The rest of Chapter 2 takes on the WOES to the CHALDEANS!!!

v.6-8 Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own ——

they liked their “stuff” …….(maybe we do, too!)

v.9-11 Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set

his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm  ——

they liked “safety” (maybe we do, too)

v.12-14  Woe to him who builds a town with blood and 

  founds a city on iniquity! — —

they liked “success” (maybe we do, too)

v.15-17  Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink —

  you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, 

  in order to gaze at their nakedness! — —

they liked “self-indulgence” (maybe we do, too)

v.18-20  Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake: 

  to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach?  

  Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, 

  and there is no breath at all in it. — —

they liked their “idols” (maybe we do, too)

It’s easy to look at the Chaldeans and fault their many downfalls.  Sometimes when I read a list like this, I don’t identify with the “specifics”……  I may not be building cities with blood or making my neighbors drunk, etc….. but when you look at the generic trait that brought about those behaviors……  such as liking my stuff, keeping safe at all costs, success is the goal, self-indulgences aplenty, and the idols of America 2023 — well, we might have more in common than we thought.  Don’t get me wrong….. I’m not defending the Chaldeans by any means….  but we may be more kindred in spirit than we’d like to admit.

But back to Habakkuk…….  I don’t know about you, but I need a breath of fresh air and Habakkuk is all that and more!  Chapter 3 gives us his response to what God has shared with him.  Tell us Habakkuk — help us learn from you how to receive hard news from God. 

He starts his prayer thus….

v.2 O Lord, I have heard the report of You, and Your work, O Lord, do I fear.  In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

I love this.  Habakkuk proceeds to basically do a little mental Bible study!!  He said he had “heard the report of Him”….  and in verses 3-15 he seems to be giving references to what God’s done in the past…..  he recalls the pestilence and plague….. is this a reference to what God did in Egypt? He asks in v. 8 …..“was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when You rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation?  Is he recalling the parting of the Red Sea?  In v.11 he mentions the sun and the moon stood still in their place….. is he recalling what God did before Joshua?  v.13 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed.  You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck….. is this a recollection back to Genesis 3:15?

Maybe someday I’ll ask Habakkuk “what exactly were you recalling when you wrote your ‘remembrances’ of God?”  But one thing I do know….. I would do well to follow suit!  I have a whole book — Genesis to Revelation — that outlines the work of God!  From “In the beginning God….” all the way through to “even so, Lord Jesus, COME!”  

I can look back at the faithfulness of God down thru the ages!  I can see that from the very beginning He has had a plan!  He still does!  I can read His Word and join Habakkuk in saying: “O Lord, I have heard the report of You, and Your work, O Lord, do I fear.  In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

And I can join Habakkuk, if i just would, for the big finish……  Was this easy?  Verse 16 tells us, that Habakkuk hears, and his body trembles; his lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into his bones; his legs tremble beneath him.  But then we get the big THOUGH-YET RESOLVE!!!!

v.16b Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. 

v.17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 

v.18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 

v.19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Habakkuk 3:16-19

Habakkuk has come to that beautiful place of TRUSTING GOD!  He may not understand  WHY God is choosing to do things the way that He’s planning to do them; but Habakkuk seems to have arrived at a place of quiet acceptance….. a place of worship, actually.  He realizes the cost will be high for him within his homeland of Judah….. economically speaking, he is perhaps anticipating their nation being stripped.  AND YET….. his joy is not to be found within the land of plenty.  Instead it is found within the Lord his God, the God of his salvation.  God, the Lord, is his strength.  And isn’t it interesting….  how he has confidence that God will make his feet like the deer’s!  To quote our friend Habakkuk:  “He makes me tread on my high places.”  

My high places don’t look like Habakkuk’s!  Nor do they necessarily look like yours.  We each have our own path that God has charted out for us.  MY high place.  YOUR high place. But let us join together, as did Habakkuk in that last closing line…..  “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.” 

Habakkuk ends with singing….. singing the good news together!  We’ve watched him go from SOB (1:2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help….)  —-  to SONG!  Maybe we can, as well.