Persevering Perspective
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Introduction
Introduction
At the start of Habakkuk we found the prophet in what we might call “down in the valley” perplexed in his faith with questions while wrestling with the will of God. Last week Habakkuk went to get alone in a quiet place with a quiet heart waiting and expecting to hear from God - while living by faith. After hearing God’s word and seeing God’s glory Habakkuk will finish his book bounding like a deer through mountain tops of faith. His circumstances never changed though - he changed, his perspective changed. He was walking by faith and living by God’s word and not depending upon understanding or explanation.
The climb to higher heights in our walk of faith is not an easy task, but much better than living in the valley of doubt and fear. Like Habakkuk we must continue in faith despite the perplexing questions we face. We must be honest with God about them but continue to hold on to God in order to see what God has. We must be willing to experience the fear and trembling as the LORD takes us through things and reveals Himself to us. We must look and see what it is that takes Habakkuk from the valley to the mountaintop summit. It is having a persevering perspective for God’s work, God’s ways, and God’s will.
1 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth. 2 Lord, I have heard the report about you; Lord, I stand in awe of your deeds. Revive your work in these years; make it known in these years. In your wrath remember mercy! 3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.
4 His brilliance is like light; rays are flashing from his hand. This is where his power is hidden. 5 Plague goes before him, and pestilence follows in his steps. 6 He stands and shakes the earth; he looks and startles the nations. The age-old mountains break apart; the ancient hills sink down. His pathways are ancient.
7 I see the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble. 8 Are you angry at the rivers, Lord? Is your wrath against the rivers? Or is your fury against the sea when you ride on your horses, your victorious chariot? 9 You took the sheath from your bow; the arrows are ready to be used with an oath. Selah You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains see you and shudder; a downpour of water sweeps by. The deep roars with its voice and lifts its waves high. 11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence, at the flash of your flying arrows, at the brightness of your shining spear. 12 You march across the earth with indignation; you trample down the nations in wrath.
13 You come out to save your people, to save your anointed. You crush the leader of the house of the wicked and strip him from foot to neck. Selah 14 You pierce his head with his own spears; his warriors storm out to scatter us, gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak. 15 You tread the sea with your horses, stirring up the vast water.
16 I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls,
18 yet I will celebrate in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19 The Lord my Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! For the choir director: on stringed instruments.
Pray For His Work
Pray For His Work
1 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk. According to Shigionoth. 2 Lord, I have heard the report about you; Lord, I stand in awe of your deeds. Revive your work in these years; make it known in these years. In your wrath remember mercy! 3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.
A prayer from Habakkuk is recorded here for us. According to Shigionoth - most likely a musical term referring to the type of psalm - most likely a passionate psalm with rapid rhythmic changes. Habakkuk prayed and his prayer became a psalm to be sung. It starts with LORD I have heard the report about you. I have heard the account of you, a short account of the news about You. Second line is LORD I stand in awe of Your deeds. Habakkuk has heard the awesome of the news of God’s purposes for disciplining Judah and the destruction of Babylon and it filled him with awe. God’s plans and purposes were beyond human understanding and God’s place is beyond human comprehension. Habakkuk’s response to hearing from God is to fear God and stand in awe of God. “To know God is at once the easiest and the most difficult thing in the world.” A.W. Tozer.
God has the ability to reveal Himself to us, but its difficult for God to find someone who is ready to receive Him. God doesnt reveal Himself to superficial saints who only seek an experience or those who desire only to sample deeper fellowship but only if its not too great a price. In all honesty we are the ones who make it difficult to get to know God.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
2 My hand made all these things, and so they all came into being. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word.
Habakkuk prayed because He heard God speak. Knowing the will of God should motivate us to pray thy will be done. Habakkuk prayer has two requests, the first is for revival. Revive Your work in these years. Habakkuk’s prayer shows us that revival is a work of God not something to be achieved by man. The only thing man can do for revival is cry out and plead for it from God. The second petition was for mercy, in your wrath remember mercy. The idea is knowing that though the wrath of God is deserved, remember mercy God and send revival. Mercy and revival are works of God and Habakkuk prayed because he wanted God’s work to succeed. It may not have originally been the work Habakkuk would choose, but he has accepted God’s plan and now prays “thy will be done.”
Habakkuk acknowledges that as God once came down to His people at Sinai to establish covenant with them, so He would come to liberate and reaffirm His covenant with them. The earlier visit in Sinai is referred by Habakkuk as God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.
2 He said: The Lord came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; he shone on them from Mount Paran and came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from his right hand for them.
SELAH
When you are discouraged with the condition of the church, the state of the world around you or even your own spiritual life take time to pray for God’s work of mercy and revival. For it to not only succeed but that He might use us. “Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.” The greatest need today is intercessors.
16 He saw that there was no man— he was amazed that there was no one interceding; so his own arm brought salvation, and his own righteousness supported him.
Reflect On God and His Ways
Reflect On God and His Ways
4 His brilliance is like light; rays are flashing from his hand. This is where his power is hidden. 5 Plague goes before him, and pestilence follows in his steps.
6 He stands and shakes the earth; he looks and startles the nations. The age-old mountains break apart; the ancient hills sink down. His pathways are ancient. 7 I see the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
8 Are you angry at the rivers, Lord? Is your wrath against the rivers? Or is your fury against the sea when you ride on your horses, your victorious chariot? 9 You took the sheath from your bow; the arrows are ready to be used with an oath. Selah You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains see you and shudder; a downpour of water sweeps by. The deep roars with its voice and lifts its waves high. 11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence, at the flash of your flying arrows, at the brightness of your shining spear.
12 You march across the earth with indignation; you trample down the nations in wrath. 13 You come out to save your people, to save your anointed. You crush the leader of the house of the wicked and strip him from foot to neck. Selah
14 You pierce his head with his own spears; his warriors storm out to scatter us, gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak. 15 You tread the sea with your horses, stirring up the vast water.
Habakkuk now goes on to reflect of the ways of God in which God used sovereign power to deliver His people. Primarily looking at the deliverance of His people from Egypt.
Going back to Teman and Paran - Mount Paran is another name for the entire Sinai peninsula or Mount Sinai itself. Teman is identified with Edom. They both allude to the theater where God displayed great power while bringing Israel into the promised land. Everything about this stanza reveals the glory of God.
His splendor (magnificent quality of being splendid) covers the heavens and the earth is full of His praise. His brilliance large amounts of brilliant light that emanates from Him with rays flashing from His hands. Gods brilliance like the sun only brighter. His hands concealed His power.
His power revealed in Egypt described by verse 5. God is fully capable of exercising His might. He is terrifying God to those who would oppose Him. The ten plagues not only punishment for Pharoah’s hard heart, but they revealed the inability and the utter vanity of Egypt’s gods. God is not a little feeble weak old man upstairs, He is all-powerful, all-loving. Grace and glory fused with might and majesty.
Exodus 12:12 (CSB)
12 I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.
50 He cleared a path for his anger. He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
This verse may include also the judgments sent to Israel when they disobeyed during their wilderness march. God’s glory was revealed in such a way in the OT but now His glory is revealed through Jesus Christ.
14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Habakkuk’s vision of God coming from a distance and marching across the land. Having reached a place from where He would execute judgment God stopped and stood and shook the earth. The very presence of God shakes the earth. Through a mere glance the nations are startled and the framework of nature, mountains and ancient hills are shattered and crumble to dust. His pathways - His manner or behaviors are ancient (not new). God’s everlasting ways go on - even while all else is shattered and destroyed in His presence.
The tents of Cushan are in distress and the tent curtains in the land of Midian tremble. God’s appearance at the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings were witnessed by the nations of Cushan and Midian. They lay on either side of the Red Sea. God’s wondrous acts at the Red Sea caused neighboring nations to tremble in terror and distress.
8 Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.
1 When all the Amorite kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, they lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.
Habakkuk now turns his focus from God’s appearance and glory to God’s acts on earth in verse 8. Verse 8 is a transition in this ode in order to provoke the reader to think on the implications.
Three questions to consider God’s motive for His appearance. Was God showing His wrath at the rivers, streams or sea? Is God angry with nature with an implied no - answer. God is not displeased with nature, but He was using nature as a tool to show forth His power. God struck the Nile River, Red Sea and the Jordan River. Similarly God would strike the nations with the motive to destroy His enemies in order to deliver His people.
God is then described as uncovering His bow and readying it for action. You called for many arrows is an enigma in Hebrew with one scholar claiming over 100 different translations of this phrase. cutting through all that a literal translation is sebuot mattot omer — staves/Arrows are sworn by a word. By solemn oath.
Whatever the translation of this minor phrase we find the word SELAH. Stop and meditate on this. God’s motive, majesty and power were seen within His actions in nature, among nations and against His enemies.
Habakkuk personifies the mountains in verse 10 and added that they see God and shudder. A writhing twisting and turning seized with pangs like seen in a woman who is in labor. The mountains shook before and they writhe now. Flooding waters move in recognition of God’s voice. God’s power creates great power and upheaval within nature.
Sun and moon stand still in their home in the expanse of sky. The sun and moon stood still in one victory God gave the Israelites. The lightning and hail then rained down near Gilgal.
Verse 12 Habakkuk envisions God a giant who marched across the earth. He trampled the nations underfoot. Crushing them to save and bring salvation to Israel.
God has done this before and like the prophet we must be confident that God would do it again God was not vented toward nature or against “everybody” God desires to crush wickedness and to deliver His own people. Deliverance was behind the destruction.
Salvation was for Gods people and for the anointed one. A term never used in the OT for Israel - referring to the coming Messiah. By preserving them God was preserving the Messianic line also.
Habakkuk says that God crushes the leader of the house of the wicked and strip him from foot to neck. God had destroyed Pharoah’s horsemen who pursued them and other leaders as well. If God could do and did do this then certainly He could do it again and destroy Babylon. Another SELAH
Meditate on the awful end for those who are opposed to God and His people. Those who oppose God will be awfully and utterly destroyed.
These final two verses speak of the enemy thrown into such a panic that they who wanted to destroy Israel instead destroyed themselves with their own weapons.
Habakkuk not only heard a sermon from God but now he has a vision of God. There are two schools of thought concerning this passage (verses 3-15). Some say it’s a prophetic word speaking of the coming of Jesus Christ. They say it speaks about His coming from Teman in verse 3. Teman is Edom. In Isaiah 63, we are told that when He comes again, Messiah will move through the region south of Jerusalem, through Bozrah with his garments stained with red blood. He’ll move north toward Jerusalem in power and glory.
Others view it historically. They say it speaks of the descent of God to Mount Sinai when the Law was given and it charts the movement of God in Old Testament history as He came down with the Law for the people. In addition, it charts the movement of His people as they wandered through Midian, through Teman, over mountains, and through the Red Sea on their way to the Promised Land.
So which is it? Is it prophetic concerning the coming of Jesus Christ? Or is it historic concerning the Old Testament movement of God and His people? I suggest it is both. I believe what the Lord is saying is both historic and prophetic. God is saying, “Habakkuk, look back and see how I have worked. Then look ahead and see that I am coming.”
The result? For Habakkuk, it was a reminding of the past and a revealing of the future that he might be renewed in the present. For us, this passage tells us that if we review what God has done for us in the past and anticipate what He will do for us in the future, we’ll have peace in the present. When you remember the glorious things God has done for you in past days and you remember that you’re going to be in heaven with Him soon, you will have a tranquility, a stability, and a peace in your life presently. Jon Courson - Application Commentary
Enduring Strength in the Lord’s Will
Enduring Strength in the Lord’s Will
16 I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls,
18 yet I will celebrate in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19 The Lord my Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! For the choir director: on stringed instruments.
Habakkuk witnessing the amazing and awesome display of the power and glory of God is left in awe. The description given is trembling, lips quivering, bones without strength - this describes one who has entered into true wisdom which begins with the fear of the LORD.
10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
IN this understanding also came a patience and a quietness in Habakkuk though he knew a day of calamity was coming - He knew to wait patiently for their day of calamity was coming also from which the Israelites then would be once again delivered by God.
Do not miss the prophets weakened physical state compared to an strengthened spiritual state. Imagining the worst outcome and consequences complete ruin and famine the prophet declared his readiness and willingness to trust God. Like Habakkuk our enduring strength in God’s will requires that we learn that our peace does not depend on our circumstances but upon our God. Habakkuk says yet I WILL celebrate in the LORD and I WILL rejoice in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk is not merely enduring in distress. Habakkuk is choosing to rejoice and celebrate in the LORD despite the distress because God is His God of salvation. Joy is available to everyone, even those stripped of everything, because joy is not found in things, or situations, but real joy is found in a person - Jesus - the God of our salvation.
The LORD is my strength
He makes my feet like those of a deer
enabling me to walk on the mountain heights
The unfailing source of strength and confidence necessary to satisfaction and contentment is the Sovereign (’ădōnāy) Lord (Yahweh) Himself. The strength He gives is like the power found in the feet of a deer, a gazelle, or any active, swift-footed animal. Much as a deer can quickly bound through a dark forest, so the prophet said he could move joyfully through difficult circumstances.
He will make my feet like deer’s feet: Habakkuk thought of the deer running about on the high hills, never losing a step and never falling. More than that, the deer positively dance and leap on the hills—they are full of life and joy. So the prophet declares, “God will set my steps that firmly and lively also. As I trust in Him, He will not allow me to slip or fall, and I will do more than merely plod along—I will skip about with life and joy.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Habakkuk knows that this God of majesty and power is not diminished because man faces difficult trials. Sometimes we think, “If God is so great and powerful, how come I am going through a hard time?” Habakkuk knew this was the wrong question and the wrong attitude. Instead, he says: “I know you are strong and mighty, and if we are in desolate circumstances it is because we deserve it. I will praise You still, and even rejoice in You.”
Rejoice in the Lord … joy in the God of my salvation: With desolate circumstances like he just described, Habakkuk can find no joy in the fig tree or in the vines or in the fields or flock; yet God is unchanged. He can still rejoice in the Lord, because He is unchanging. Habakkuk didn’t just practice positive thinking and shut out the idea of the barren fig tree and the empty cattle stalls. Instead, he saw those problems for what they were and remembered that God was greater than them all
Habakkuk couldn’t rejoice in his circumstances, but he could rejoice in his God
The prophet’s testimony here reminds us of Paul’s admonitions to Christians today:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Habakkuk discovered that God was His strength - verse 19 and song and His salvation and therefore had nothing to fear.
1 On that day you will say: “I will give thanks to you, Lord, although you were angry with me. Your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me. 2 Indeed, God is my salvation; I will trust him and not be afraid, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation.”
2 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
Though his lips were trembling and his legs were shaking the prophet burst into song worshipping his God. What an example!
Our Lord before He went to the cross sang a hymn, and Paul and Silas in the Philippian dungeon singing praise. God can give us “songs in the night” if we’ll trust Him and see His greatness. We might even say that what we praise is our strength. If by his words, life, or heart a man lives to praise his own achievements and resources, that those are his strength. If by words, life, or heart one praises a person or an idea, then those are his strength. We demonstrate that the Lord God is our strength when we praise Him.
Habakkuk 3:19 (b)
…To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
The wrestler becomes a worshiper, the sobber becomes a singer—and so will you if you learn the secret of the tower. - Jon Courson