Revived in the Present, Habakuk 3
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Habakkuk 3 (ESV)
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. 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. 3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power. 5 Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. 6 He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 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? 9 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. Selah
You split the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear. 12 You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger. 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. Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters.
16 I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.
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, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 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.
He prays for a fresh wind of the Lord to revive His people… but there’s a perspective that Habakkuk brings that I believe many people are missing in their prayers for revival and renewal.
Habakkuk prays that God would revive “in the midst of the years…”
Revival doesn’t mean a return to the way things were.
Many times the cry for revival is mixed with a desire for things to be like they once were. Think about this way… (mountain top experiences)
When you hear people talk about revival, its often mixed with a desire for their circumstances to be like they once were. You hear this when it comes to our country from many people today…
It is normal for the cry for revival to come with a description or reference to the past… But, if we are honest, the history of our country is plagued with many injustices and immoral actions ranging from slavery, the treatment of women, segregation, and more.
It was just 1964 when civil rights act was passed prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act brought an end to many practices that fall under the term segregation. That was only 57 years ago. If you are over 57 years old then you lived at least a portion of your life when segregation was the law of the land. It was 1920 when women were given the right to vote in our country with the 19th Amendment to the constitution. Just 98 years ago. That may seem like a long time ago, but one of our sweet saints passed away this year at 100 years of age. Up until recently we had a member of our church who lived a couple of years in the era when women were not allowed to vote. The Emancipation proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. He made a preliminary proclamation in 1862… and it was June 19th 1865 when Federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX to take control of the state and ensure that enslaved people were freed. This was almost 2.5 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation… and even it still it was December of 1865 that the 13th Amendment of the Constitution was adopted and slavery was abolished. The 14th and 15th Amendments were also added to the constitution to further guarantee equal protection to all citizens.
Our country is great, and the fact that we have these amendments and acts proves two things… 1. It proves that sin has been present in many forms and demonstrations throughout the history of our country. 2. It proves the unique and valuable blessing that it is to be an American.
We have a tendency to make the past more moral and ethical than the present… but the truth is that every era of our country’s history is stained with the presence and power of sin. And, acknowledging that truth doesn’t make someone unpatriotic, it simply rightly applies the gospel to our own history and prevents us from idolizing the past and its heroes by keeping Jesus as the only one who is perfect and Genesis 1-2 as the only time the world was without sin.
Some look backwards to a time in our country while others look backwards to a time in their church. This is very much like the situation with our country, just like no era of our history is perfect, no era in the life of a church is perfect, including the present. There are sweet and significant times in the life of every church. I have served in two churches that are older than the end of the Civil War. FBC Crystal Springs, MS (1861) and FBC Jackson, TN (1837)… and one more that was started in 1890- New Union Baptist Church, Dayton, TN. Harrisburg us relatively young in comparison to those three churches. We started in 1933… and I can testify that are good ole days in each church. Even two churches younger that Harrisburg, Mulberry Baptist in Houma, LA (1960) and Immanuel Baptist in Hammond, LA (1983) had their share of glory days to speak of.
Here’s the thing, the glory days were good… and how old a church is determines how many different eras of golden years there are. When some say they want revival, they often mean they want things to be like they used to me… and the concern with that is that we can mix our longing for the Lord to move with a longing for people and situations that we miss.
But revival doesn’t mean a return to the way things were… Revival means a fresh move of God in His people today.
Revival means a fresh move of God in His people today.
Habakkuk prays that God would revive them in the midst of their years, and that God would make His work and name known in the present.
Habakkuk doesn’t pray for a return to the days of old… in fact the desire for the days of old has often been associated biblically with a desire to go against the will of the Lord. When Moses was leading Israel through the wilderness they rebelled against the Lord and cried out for Moses to take them back… and back was to slavery in Egypt. But, at least they had a home, food, and water when they were slaves. The people of Israel would have rather had the comfort of shackles and a sense of control than the freedom and faith that God was giving them through His rescue.
Revival brings a renewed faith in God and strengthens God’s people to live in the present.
The present moment for Habakkuk was difficult. The first 2 chapters reveal that they are under the rule of their enemies, and that it is the way that God is judging and punishing Israel. They rebelled against Him and now they are under the rule and terror of the enemy.
Habakkuk is struggling with the fact that God has chosen to use pagans to do his justice toward His people. And Habakkuk is praying for God to carry out justice on their enemies… though the result of his encounter with the Lord is a renewed faith in God and His plans.
Habakkuk 3:16 says, “…Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.”
In his song Habakkuk says that he will wait quietly for the day of God’s justice against his enemies. This leads me to point out what I mean when I say that when God moves He renews the faith of those who are His.
Habakkuk and Israel have lost faith and trust in God… but, Habakkuks faith is renewed to the point that he will now wait for the Lord execute justice on their enemies. Which means he is also embracing the justice that God has given to Israel for her sins.
But, isn’t this what so often happens when we hear from the Lord and pray… at least it should be.
When we hear from the Lord and pray God conforms our hearts to His will.
God changes our minds and hearts through His Word
Prayer becomes the process of our minds and hearts conforming to God’s will… this isn’t to say God doesn’t answer prayers because He absolutely does… this means that God uses our prayer life to teach us and to help us to be faithful to Him. Habakkuk is still longing for justice, but through the Word God gives him and the peace that comes from God he is now ok with the Lord’s timing as well.
This is what happens when we pray… this is not to say that God doesn’t hear our prayers and act… but it’s to mature us to understand that our comfort/joy isn’t because God answers our prayers. Instead it helps us to see that our comfort isn’t in the answer, but in the relationship with God.
Praying draws us close to God, and our response to the Lord and His Word reveals our motives in praying.
God confronts our sins when He renews and revives the church.
The work of God that brings revival refines us and exposes our motives for what they really are.
To the one who years more for good ole days, than for God to move it’s exposed.
Renewal and revival is marked by peace, not comfort.
Habakkuk prays, and he has an encounter with the Lord that leaves him at peace, even though nothing has changed.
Look at 3:17-18… “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, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
Habakkuk is at peace if he loses the extras of life. (Figs and Fruit)
Habakkuk is at peace if he loses the staples and necessities of life (Olive Oil, Wheat, and the Flocks)
Habakkuk is renewed to the point that he is at peace if things get worse!
And this might be one of the truest marks of renewal and revival in the heart of a believer…
Renewal results in peace, even if things get worse.
How? Why?
Habakkuk 3:19, “19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”
God is Life!
And this is where I would like to point our attention to Jesus…
Jesus is the source of our life, comfort, and joy.
Jesus is the source of our life
John 1:1–5 (ESV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Jesus is the source of our comfort
Philippians 3:7–10 (ESV)
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Jesus is the source of our joy
Matthew 13:44 (ESV)
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
When you pray for revival… are you praying for what you, our church, or our country once were?
Are you praying in an effort to draw close to the Lord and experience peace… or ar eyou praying to control and determine the outcome?
Pray for and embrace a fresh move of God in your heart
It won’t be like it was, it will be like He is…
It comes with peace
It comes with a strengthened faith and deepened resolve to know Him and live for Him
It comes with the truth that having Him is better than having anyone or anything else… even in the best of days.
It comes only when you surrender to what He is doing and trust Him with His timing.
Pray for and embrace a fresh move of God in His church today.
It won’t be like it was, it will be like He is…
Again, it comes with a peace… it strengthens his church and deepens her resolve to live for Him.
It comes with the truth that having Him is better than having the best of days…
Heres what’s different from the personal part… to be a part of the fresh move of God you have to surrender to what He is doing. You can’t experience renewal and revival in your personal life without surrender. But, I have watched the Lord revive and renew His church while some people completely miss out.
They miss out because they yearn for something or someone other than the Lord. So, let go of the glory of the past and surrender to the glory of God in the present. Yearn and pray more for the glory of the Lord to be shown today than the glory of the days gone by.
Pray for and embrace a fresh move of God in our country
It won’t be like it was, it will be like He is…
This is also different than the personal… the renewal of the country is really more of a cry for the salvation of our country. And when the church is renewed it will evangelize and make disciples of all nations.
In fact, one of the greatest signs of God’s work in the present America is the resurgence of church planting. More and more churches are being planted because more and more of the people in our country are lost. For a long time we thought we have enough churches for all the people… but we don’t. In fact, every church in our county would have to run 500 people for us to be close to reaching our community with the gospel. But, the average church in America is around 60-70 people… And, many churches are not reaching people around them. I heard just this week of a local church that identified that there are 22,000 people within 5 miles of their building… but that no one who actually attends the church lives inside that 5 mile radius. It’s realizations like this that help us to see the urgency of the need, but also the scope of the need. Our country has grown exponentially and we need more churches on mission to reach the growing number of lost people around us… and Harrisburg should be one of the churches leading the way. In fact, it’s my hope that around this time next year we will be taking that step and helping to launch a new church in Lee County aimed at making disciples and reaching the lost. While at the same time it’s my hope that our church will have grown exponentially itself in the next year and that we will continue to grow and multiply in the gospel until Jesus comes back!
Praying for fresh move of God in our country means we have to surrender and embrace the way that He is working… and then we have to join Him in it. What that means full I believe the Lord will continue to show us. For now is that we focus our attention on reaching our neighbors with the gospel and partnering with missionaries and church planters around the world. In the near future I believe it means also sending out a new church to join with the rest of us in reaching our neighbors. In the long-term… well I don’t think we have time for that today, but I believe the Lord has a role for us to play in our region… but only if we are surrendered to Him and love having him more than we love having a name for ourselves…
Habakkuk prayed for revival in the midst of his present… that’s my prayer for you, your family, and our church… and that we will learn what Habakkuk learned and embraced,
Our comfort is found in God, not in our circumstances.
Psalm 24:7–10 (ESV)
"7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! 9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah”