1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:02,920 Lots of people will tell you that the key to happiness is 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:08,400 something like this. Live in the moment, stay focused 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:15,160 on the present, don't get sucked into the past, don't worry about 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,600 the future. There's some wisdom in that 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,800 advice. While I wouldn't say that living 6 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:26,120 in the present is a sufficient path to happiness, it's 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,560 certainly true that being wrongly attached to the past or 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,720 the future can rob us of what the present has to offer. 9 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,880 The Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal reflected on these issues 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:45,600 400 years ago, writing We never keep to the present. 11 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,240 We recall the past. We anticipate the future as if 12 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,160 we found it too slow in coming and we're trying to hurry it up. 13 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,000 Or we recall the past as if to stay. 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,680 It's too rapid flight. We are so unwise that we wander 15 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,760 about in times that do not belong to us and do not think of 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:11,280 the one that does. So vain that we dream of times 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,440 that are not and blindly flee the only one that is. 18 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,760 The fact is that the present usually hurts. 19 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,440 We thrust it out of sight because it distresses us, and if 20 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,160 we find it enjoyable we are sorry to see it slip away. 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,960 We try to give it the support of the future and think how we are 22 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:36,040 going to arrange things over which we have no control for a 23 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,560 time we can never be sure of reaching. 24 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,480 Let each of us examine his thoughts. 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,200 He will find them wholly concerned with the past or the 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,000 future. We almost never think of the 27 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,240 present, and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light 28 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:53,920 it throws on our plans for the future. 29 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:58,840 The present is never our end. The past and the present are our 30 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:06,880 means, the future alone our end. Thus we never actually live, but 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,919 hope to live. And since we are always planning 32 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,760 how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never 33 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:20,560 be. So past, present, future. 34 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,480 We long to recall the past. We mentally live in the future, 35 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,640 caught up in our own dreams and designs and plans and schemes. 36 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:33,200 Why? Because, as Pascal says, the 37 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:40,200 present usually hurts. This morning we continue our 38 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,800 series in the Old Testament prophetic book of Habakkuk. 39 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,400 We'll cover most of chapter 3, verses 1 to 15. 40 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,400 The prophet Habakkuk knew something about living in a 41 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:55,200 present that hurts. He's surrounded by a society 42 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,240 that is disintegrating through sin and idolatry. 43 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,560 Injustice is rampant. So he calls out to God to do 44 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,120 something about it. And God promises to raise up the 45 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,280 Babylonians to judge his people, Judah. 46 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:08,600 But that seems even worse to Habakkuk. 47 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,720 How can God use evil people to judge evil people? 48 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:18,120 So the Lord reveals to Habakkuk that one day he will judge the 49 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:24,760 Babylonians and He will deliver his people fully and finally. 50 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,400 Until then, what can the righteous do? 51 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,840 Wait patiently for God to fulfill His promises. 52 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,120 Trust that his plans are good and wise, and they will 53 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:43,600 eventually come to pass. That is an overview of the book 54 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,440 so far, the first two chapters. Now when we come to Habakkuk 3. 55 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,400 Habakkuk has humbly received God's word. 56 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,800 He has submitted himself to what God has revealed, but he's still 57 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,320 wrestling with the prospect of a painful present. 58 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,160 He is about to suffer the devastation of being invaded by 59 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,440 Babylon. A whole lot of bad stuff is 60 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,280 going to happen to Habakkuk between now and when God 61 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,920 fulfills His promises. A whole lot of bad stuff is 62 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,240 going to happen to all of God's people between now and when God 63 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,560 fulfills all of His promises. So how can Habakkuk handle? 64 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,360 How can we all handle? How can you handle all the bad 65 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:34,880 stuff that will happen between now and the fulfillment of God's 66 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,440 promises? That's the question our passage 67 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,760 addresses. Please follow along as I read 68 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:52,200 Habakkuk 3, verses 1 to 15, A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet 69 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:59,120 according to Shigyonoth. Oh Lord, I have heard the report 70 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:03,000 of you and your work. Oh Lord, do I fear. 71 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:06,680 In the midst of the years, revive it. 72 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,040 In the midst of the years make it known in wrath. 73 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:20,400 Remember mercy. God came from Teeman, and the 74 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,200 Holy One from Mount Poran Sailor. 75 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,680 His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full 76 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,640 of His praise. His brightness was like the 77 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,760 light. Rays flashed from His hand, and 78 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:39,640 there He veiled His power. Before him went pestilence, and 79 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,920 plague followed at his heels. He stood and measured the earth. 80 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,520 He looked and shook the nation's. 81 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,400 Then the eternal mountains were scattered. 82 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:55,360 The everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. 83 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,280 I saw the tents of cushion and affliction. 84 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,080 The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 85 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,040 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? 86 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,520 Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation 87 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,960 against the sea? When you rode on your horses, on 88 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,000 your chariot of salvation, you stripped the sheath from your 89 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:28,400 bow, calling for many arrows. Sailor, you split the earth with 90 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:32,360 rivers. The mountains saw you and 91 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,640 writhed. The raging waters swept on. 92 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:41,280 The deep gave forth its voice. It lifted its hands on high. 93 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,320 The sun and moon stood still in their place. 94 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,160 At the light of your arrows, as they speed at the flash of your 95 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,920 glittering spear, you marched through the earth in fury. 96 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:54,880 You threshed the nations in anger. 97 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,240 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the 98 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:03,200 salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the 99 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,880 House of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. 100 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,000 Sailor you pierced with his own arrows the heads of his 101 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,920 warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, 102 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:19,880 rejoicing as if to devour the poor. 103 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:27,720 In secret you trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of 104 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:34,880 mighty waters. How can you handle all the bad 105 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:39,720 stuff that will hit you between now and the fulfillment of God's 106 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:44,080 promises? How can you not only survive, 107 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:50,680 but spiritually thrive in a painful present? 108 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:54,840 Here's the point of our passage in one sentence. 109 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:04,480 Remembering God's past and resting in God's future brings 110 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,640 grace for now. I'll say that again. 111 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:17,040 Remembering God's past and resting in God's future brings 112 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:22,960 grace for now. Before we walk through the 113 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,120 details of the passage, I'm going to give a little bit of an 114 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,560 overview exposition to help us get our bearings. 115 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,960 Looking at verse one, a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet 116 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:36,320 according to Shigeon oath. Now the book began in chapter 1, 117 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,200 verse one, the Oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. 118 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,440 So even though chapters one to two incorporate Habakkuk's 119 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:49,120 responses to the Lord and his laments, it's primary content is 120 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,600 the prophetic visions that the Lord revealed in response to 121 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,760 Habakkuk's prayers. Now the rest of the book, all of 122 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,400 chapter 3, is Habakkuk's prayer in response to the Lord's 123 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,920 visions. This marks a change in genre and 124 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:09,160 a change in tone. It also likely marks a change in 125 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,920 Habakkuk's stance toward the Lord and his revelation. 126 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,480 Habakkuk is done lamenting. He's done wrestling. 127 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:22,880 Now he's going to pray a prayer of petition and remembrance. 128 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,720 But this is not just a prayer. It's also a song. 129 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,480 Verse one says according to Shigyon oath. 130 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:31,880 It's hard to know exactly what Shigyon Oath means. 131 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,360 It's a Hebrew word that shows up only twice in the Old Testament, 132 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:37,840 once here and once in the heading or superscription to 133 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,240 Psalm 7. So all that we can really gather 134 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,240 is that it means it's a song for worship. 135 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:49,480 All of Habakkuk 3 is not just a prayer, it's a Psalm. 136 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,720 We also see this at the end of verse 19, in a phrase familiar 137 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,560 from the Psalms very last bit of the book to the choirmaster with 138 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,240 stringed instruments. This means that Habakkuk's 139 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,080 prayer is not just something he prayed, it's something all of 140 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,960 God's people were to pray. It's not only something they 141 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,960 were to pray, it's something they were to sing in corporate 142 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,640 worship. In other words, all of Habakkuk 143 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:17,640 chapter 3 gives us a model of how to respond to God's 144 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:23,360 revelation, especially when that revelation is troubling or 145 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,840 disturbing. When God announces coming 146 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:30,200 judgement, when God announces perplexing providences, how 147 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,400 should we respond? We should respond by praying and 148 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,640 singing in ways like Habakkuk does here. 149 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,240 Now the content of Habakkuk's prayer in the sense of petition 150 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:44,280 is in verse 2. Oh Lord, I have heard the report 151 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:47,480 of you and your work. Oh Lord, do I fear in the midst 152 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,040 of the years, revive it in the midst of the years, make it 153 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,200 known in wrath. Remember mercy. 154 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,040 We'll come back to this all in more detail later, but for now, 155 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,960 I just want to focus on the phrase in the midst of the years 156 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,040 because I think it gives us something of a key to our 157 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,560 passage. In the midst of the years. 158 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,680 Habakkuk has in view a time in between. 159 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:14,000 But between what? I think the best answer is that 160 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:19,640 in the midst of the years refers to the time between the two acts 161 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,520 of judgement that the Lord has revealed in his dialogue with 162 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:31,320 Habakkuk in chapter 1, the Lord revealed that a punitive purging 163 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,480 judgement is going to fall on the whole people of Judah very 164 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:37,480 soon. Historically speaking, this 165 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:39,280 probably happened within two decades. 166 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,720 And then in chapter 2, as we saw especially last week, the Lord 167 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,680 revealed that He will one day completely condemn Babylon and 168 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:51,440 all oppressive nations, and He will completely save and deliver 169 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:53,560 His people. One day. 170 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:57,840 He will unleash a full and final judgement, and He will 171 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,840 accomplish a full and final salvation. 172 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,800 So what's Habakkuk asking? He's asking the Lord to continue 173 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:10,640 His work, to preserve His people, to sustain their faith 174 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,720 in the time between these two judgments, the near judgment and 175 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:20,320 the far judgment. Now, the time between is also a 176 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:25,320 fantastic one phrase description of the whole Christian life. 177 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,640 As Christians, we live in the time between Christ's 178 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,920 resurrection and His return. As Christians, we live in the 179 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:36,200 time between our new birth and the coming of the new creation. 180 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,880 We have all kinds of encouragement and assurance from 181 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,680 what God has already done, and yet we're exposed to all kinds 182 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:45,120 of trials and hardships until God completes His work. 183 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,080 We live in the time between. So what do you need God to do in 184 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,920 the time between? You need Him to revive His work. 185 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,240 You need Him to show His work to you anew. 186 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:01,360 You need Him too in wrath. Remember mercy. 187 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,840 So how does God do that? What's the answer to Habakkuk's 188 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,960 request? Now, the rest of the passage 189 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,040 through verse 15 does, in one sense, continue the prayer. 190 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,640 But it's a prayer of rehearsal. It's a prayer of recital. 191 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:20,440 It's a prayer of declaring what God has done and will do. 192 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:25,120 So all of verses 3 to 15 are a reminder of God's saving work in 193 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:29,800 the past, and they're a refresher about the future work 194 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,920 of judgement and salvation that God will accomplish. 195 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:39,640 Verses 3 to 15 look both backward and forward now as 196 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,120 we'll consider the details when we walk through the passage. 197 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:47,560 Some parts of the passage refer explicitly to what God did in 198 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:51,560 the past when he delivered his people from Egypt at the Exodus, 199 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,280 and some parts of the passage refer explicitly to what God 200 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:59,760 will do in the future when he completes his work of salvation 201 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,440 and judgement. But a whole lot of the passage 202 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:09,440 refers to God's saving work in terms that could fit either the 203 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,240 past or the future. It might seem a little general. 204 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,160 It might seem a little vague, like you can't tie it to one or 205 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,320 the other. That difficulty or that 206 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,240 ambiguity is actually one of the key points of the whole passage. 207 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:26,120 What God did in the past guarantees what He'll do in the 208 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,720 future. What God did in the past is the 209 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,280 model for what He'll do in the future. 210 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,520 If you look at the cross and resurrection, you see how it all 211 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,480 will end. How can you not only survive, 212 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,000 but spiritually thrive in a painful present? 213 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:47,640 Remembering God's past and resting in God's future brings 214 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,280 grace for now. Now for the details. 215 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,040 We're not going to walk through the passage exactly in order, 216 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:58,400 though pretty close. We'll focus on God's past, then 217 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:06,160 God's future, then our present, past, future, present .1. 218 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:11,360 Remember God's past, Remember God's past. 219 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,280 That's what Habakkuk does in some ways throughout verses 3 to 220 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,800 15, but especially in verses three to seven. 221 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:23,880 Look again at verse 3. God came from Tea Man and the 222 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:28,200 Holy One from Mount Poran Salah. His splendor covered the 223 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,880 heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 224 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,680 Tea Man and Mount Poran are located in the wilderness of 225 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:39,440 Edom near Sinai. They are between Egypt and the 226 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,120 Promised Land, so to speak of God coming from Tea Man and 227 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,360 Mount Poran. It's a way of describing the 228 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,560 whole arc of the Exodus, from the plagues in Egypt to the 229 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,520 people's rescue from Egypt, to the giving of the law at Mount 230 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,320 Sinai, to their wanderings through the wilderness, through 231 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,080 their entrance into the land and their conquest and inheritance 232 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,320 of it all. That is what God did for His 233 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,080 people when He came to their rescue. 234 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,680 That's the key verb. On the one hand, this was a 235 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,760 response to their cries. Exodus 2 verses 23 and 25 tell 236 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,920 us that the Lord, the people, cried out to the Lord in their 237 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,280 oppression and affliction, and the Lord heard them. 238 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,600 And the Lord remembered His covenant promises to Abraham, 239 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:20,800 and He answered those covenant promises. 240 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:22,600 He answered their request. He fulfilled His covenant 241 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,840 promises through coming to their rescue. 242 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:29,760 The Lord responded to His people, but no one forced him 243 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,640 to. No one compelled him to. 244 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,680 God kept His promises because of His own perfect character and 245 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,880 flawless integrity. And verse 3 portrays God's 246 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,680 saving work as the result of His own sovereign initiative. 247 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,160 He came, He took action, He changed everything for His 248 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,520 people. And when he did, verse 3 says 249 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:52,960 His glory and praise filled the earth. 250 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,920 God's saving work not only delivered His people, it also 251 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,360 displayed His glory. Why did the Lord send plagues on 252 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:07,720 the people of Egypt? Exodus 914 says so that you may 253 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:12,599 know that there is none like me in all the earth. 254 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,200 Verses four and five. His brightness was like the 255 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,640 light rays flashed from His hand, and there He veiled his 256 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,960 power. Before him went pestilence, and 257 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:28,600 plague followed at His heels. The Exodus both revealed and 258 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:32,840 concealed God's power. It was open but hidden. 259 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,400 It was unmistakable. But if you were hard hearted 260 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,840 like Pharaoh, you could continue to reject it and blind yourself 261 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:41,120 to it. What did Pharaoh say? 262 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,480 Who is the Lord? That I should obey his voice and 263 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,480 let Israel go. Now the references to pestilence 264 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,960 and plague here in verse 5 are some of the details that 265 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,680 specifically fit the Exodus. We know it's talking about that 266 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:01,800 past work of Deliverance, but then verses 6 and seven continue 267 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,320 to echo the Exodus, but in terms that seem to broaden the view to 268 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,760 something wider. He stood and measured the earth. 269 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,720 He looked and shook the nation's. 270 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,640 Then the eternal mountains were scattered. 271 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:20,280 The everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. 272 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,080 I saw the tents of cushion and affliction. 273 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:28,080 The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble when God 274 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,560 delivered his people from Egypt. Creation itself trembled. 275 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,040 We heard some of that earlier in Exodus 15, and we'll see that 276 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:36,760 theme again and again in our passage. 277 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,600 Mountains here are called everlasting because by our 278 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,880 standards, they're stable. They don't change as much or as 279 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,680 quickly as rivers or forests or fields. 280 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,880 Mountains stay put, but only God's ways are actually 281 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,560 everlasting. Mountains last longer than us, 282 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,880 but only God is eternal. Only God is creations, ruler and 283 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,400 Lord and judge. And he demonstrated all that 284 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,000 when he saved his people. These verses seem designed to 285 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,200 suggest that he's going to do that again, but on an even 286 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,760 grander scale. In verse 7, the reference to 287 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,520 Kushan and Midian likely refers to peoples who live to the 288 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,520 southeast of Israel who heard what the Lord did in the Exodus 289 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:25,680 and they were afraid of Him because of it. 290 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,000 When you look back at the Exodus, what do you see? 291 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,520 You see God's faithfulness to His promises. 292 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:39,320 You see His infinite majesty. You see His power over creation. 293 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,040 You see His judgement against sin. 294 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,040 You see His work of liberating from oppression. 295 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:50,240 You see that His grace can overcome and overpower any human 296 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,080 opposition. When you look back to the cross 297 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,760 and resurrection of Christ, what do you see? 298 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:04,040 You see that all humanity lives in a state of bondage worse than 299 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:09,120 being enslaved to Pharaoh. All of us are born into sin by 300 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:11,200 nature. All of us are born, as the 301 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,720 Apostle Paul says, slaves of sin. 302 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,480 As much as we like to think of ourselves as free, making our 303 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,720 own way and making our own destiny, we are enslaved to sin. 304 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,000 And we cannot break ourselves out of that bondage. 305 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:27,520 We don't have the power to do it. 306 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,520 We cannot work on ourselves to free ourselves from that inward 307 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,800 slavery. Not only that, but we've racked 308 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,680 up a debt. Our sin has created a mountain 309 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,520 of debt that we cannot pay off. So what did Jesus come to do? 310 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:43,320 He came to pay our debt by suffering God's wrath on the 311 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,560 cross. And he came to liberate us from 312 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,440 slavery to sin. He triumphed over death, He 313 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,720 conquered Satan, He ascended into heaven. 314 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,400 He poured out His Spirit all that to free us, all that to 315 00:20:55,400 --> 00:21:00,040 break us out of our self-imposed prison in bondage to sin and 316 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,320 Satan. Jesus came to accomplish through 317 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,160 His death and resurrection a true and greater Exodus. 318 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,160 What Israel's deliverance was only a picture of is what He 319 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,760 holds out, what He achieved, and what He offers to everyone who 320 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:13,600 will turn from sin and trust in Christ. 321 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,400 If you've not believed in Jesus and turn from your sin, do so 322 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,480 today and trust yourself to Him. Submit to Him, repent. 323 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:30,080 Come to Him as your Saviour. When the present is painful, how 324 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,040 can you not only survive but thrive? 325 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,760 It's by remembering the decisive salvation God has accomplished 326 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,600 for you and all His people through the cross and 327 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:44,600 resurrection of Christ. Not only that, but like Habakkuk 328 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,840 does here, you should also meditate on the whole history of 329 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,320 how God has saved his people. One particularly fruitful way 330 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,760 you can do that is by studying passage of scripture that tell 331 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,600 that whole story or that tell a big part of it. 332 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:05,440 For instance, passages like Nehemiah 9, Psalm one O 6, Acts 333 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,800 7. Each of those gives us something 334 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:12,160 of a panoramic overview of how God has worked to save his 335 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:14,400 people. Let those surveys of God's work 336 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,960 stir up your confidence in God's faithfulness to his promises. 337 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,680 Habakkuk meditates on the exodus in view of his painful presence 338 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:30,840 to remind himself and us that God doesn't save his people in 339 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:35,360 vain. God doesn't save us and then 340 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,560 give up on us. God didn't rescue his people 341 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,640 from Egypt only to abandon them in the wilderness. 342 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,320 The God who brought them out of slavery will bring them into 343 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,320 their inheritance and His Kingdom. 344 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:53,720 God did not rescue you from sin only to give up on you. 345 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:59,040 The God who sent his Son to die for you is not a God who's going 346 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:05,160 to quit on you. God never quits halfway, as 347 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,120 Calvin put it, though the Lord did not daily shine forth from 348 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:11,280 heaven, and there were not conspicuous signs of His 349 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,880 presence as at Mount Sinai. Still we ought to establish that 350 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:20,160 He Himself is the same God who had exhibited such a clear 351 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,800 testimony of His power to the fathers, and that He is endowed 352 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,120 with the same power today and to the end of the world. 353 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:31,600 Although it may not be visible, although God now hides His power 354 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:37,240 and shows no sign of His grace, nevertheless reckon that not in 355 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,520 vain has He formerly appeared with so much power to your 356 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:46,720 Father's. When the present is painful, it 357 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,880 also helps to meditate on how God has been faithful to you to 358 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,040 provide for you and sustain you and care for you in your own 359 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,880 past. When Christian and I were 360 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,320 sharing with our good friend Welton Bonner about a hard time 361 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,760 our family was going through, Welton reminded us of First 362 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:12,600 Samuel Chapter 7 verse 12. Then Samuel took a stone and set 363 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,400 it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer. 364 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:22,960 For he said, till now the Lord has helped us. 365 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:31,840 Why did they say till now? Because if he's done it till 366 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,720 now, he's not going to stop. If he's done it till now, he's 367 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,880 not going to quit, he's not going to leave the job half 368 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:45,440 done, Welton said to us. The Lord hasn't upheld you in 369 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,880 your trials and use them to do good to you and others through 370 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:59,000 you, only to quit on you now. Brother or sister, know that God 371 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,680 is not going to fumble you at the five yard line. 372 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:09,040 God is going to carry you all the way home. 373 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,040 When the present is painful, remember God's past. 374 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,560 But God hasn't just given us a past to look back to. 375 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,920 He's also given us His promises to hold on to. 376 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:32,640 So point #2 rest in God's future, rest in God's future 377 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,120 now. To get us to rest in God's 378 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,000 future is one of the main reasons for Habakkuk's 379 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,680 remembering God's past. What God has done partially in 380 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,440 the past, he will do fully in the future. 381 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:47,800 The deliverance he's accomplished in the past is a 382 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,880 guarantee of it's a down payment on the deliverance he will 383 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,400 accomplish in the future. For the sake of completeness, 384 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,440 we're going to briefly walk through the whole second-half of 385 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,760 the passage, verses 8 to 15. We'll see that some of this 386 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:04,080 language refers to the past, some of it refers to the past in 387 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,680 terms that can also fit the future, and some of it, 388 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:11,920 especially verse 14, refers explicitly to the future. 389 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,040 Start with verse 8. Was your wrath against the 390 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,640 rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the 391 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,480 rivers or your indignation against the sea when you rode 392 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,040 out on your horses, on your chariot of salvation? 393 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,680 Habakkuk's point here is that in the Exodus, God performed some 394 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:34,680 powerful acts of judgement by means of the created order. 395 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,760 He divided the Red Sea to let his people pass through, and 396 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,000 then he slammed it back together again to drown Pharaoh's army. 397 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:42,840 But his anger wasn't against the water. 398 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,800 It was against the people who opposed him and oppressed his 399 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,520 people. And so verse 8 also gives us a 400 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,800 picture and a preview of final judgement. 401 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:58,120 God will pour out his wrath forever on those who persist in 402 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:03,760 rejecting Him. Verses 9 to 11 describe more of 403 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,000 the effects of God's saving work on creation itself. 404 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:12,160 Again, Habakkuk describes the Exodus in terms that also fit 405 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,480 and resonate with Christ's second coming. 406 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,560 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many 407 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,320 arrows. Sailor, you split the earth with 408 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,160 rivers. The mountain saw you and rise. 409 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,880 The raging waters swept on. The deep gave forth its voice. 410 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,600 It lifted its hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in 411 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,920 their place at the light of your arrows as they speed at the 412 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,280 flash of your glittering spear. The point here is that God's 413 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:41,880 power overwhelms creation. When God brings his saving power 414 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,440 to bear, creation itself cannot just go on as normal. 415 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:50,280 And what poetically describes the Exodus will be more 416 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:52,640 literally fulfilled at Christ's second coming. 417 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,120 The whole order of creation will be shaken. 418 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:00,680 This whole world and universe as we know it will be completely 419 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,120 stripped down and instantly rebuilt. 420 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:10,320 As the author of Hebrews puts it in chapter 12, verses 26 to 29, 421 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,680 citing Haggai chapter 2. At that time His voice shook the 422 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,440 earth, but now He has promised yet once more I will shake not 423 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,280 only the earth, but also the heavens. 424 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,440 This phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things 425 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,440 that are shaken, that is, things that have been made in order 426 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,600 that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 427 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,960 Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a Kingdom that 428 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,680 cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable 429 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:47,320 worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. 430 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,480 This is a warning that everything that you might rely 431 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:58,040 on for stability will be shaken, will be stripped away, will be 432 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,160 of no use before God's judgement. 433 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,920 This is a warning that whatever you think you can put as a 434 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:10,640 shield between you and God, whatever refuge, whatever good 435 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,920 works, whatever reasoning, whatever track record of the way 436 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,680 you've tried to live your life, if creation itself will give 437 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,840 way, we'll melt away, we'll collapse, we'll be shaken, we'll 438 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:26,280 be undone. How much more your excuses, how 439 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,680 much more yourself presentation to God of you should really 440 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,440 accept me because I've been a good person. 441 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:36,680 If creation itself will be shaken at Christ's return, no 442 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:41,680 human effort or achievement will be of any use on that day. 443 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,560 Verses 12 and 13 again return to the theme of God's judgement 444 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,960 against the nations that oppose Him and oppress His people. 445 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,080 You marched through the earth and fury. 446 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:54,960 You threshed the nations in anger. 447 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,240 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the 448 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,520 salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the 449 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:06,800 House of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. 450 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,720 Salah. Now I think the end of verse 13. 451 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,600 It is one of the places where the future focus becomes 452 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,640 explicit. This echoes God's ancient 453 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:22,360 promise from Genesis 315, right after Adam and Eve plunged the 454 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:27,440 human race into ruin and misery. To Eve, God promised, I will put 455 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,320 enmity between you and the woman, and between your 456 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:35,120 offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and 457 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:40,080 you shall bruise his heel. God granted A partial 458 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,080 fulfillment of this promise at the Exodus. 459 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,680 When Pharaoh was defeated, all the first born sons of of Egypt 460 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,080 were killed. He gave an even greater 461 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,560 fulfillment of this promise at the cross and resurrection of 462 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,920 Christ when Satan was disempowered and cast down. 463 00:30:55,520 --> 00:31:00,000 But he will bring this promise to its full fulfillment when 464 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,600 Christ returns and destroys Satan's power forever. 465 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,000 On that day, Satan will be completely and forever defeated, 466 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,880 disempowered, done. And so we still look forward to 467 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,240 the day when he will fully crush Satan under foot. 468 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,480 Now, Habakkuk describes all this in the past tense, even those 469 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,600 events that clearly have a future fulfillment. 470 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,440 Why does he do that? I think mainly because it's all 471 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,440 part of the same prophetic vision. 472 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,800 In prayer form. It's a single seamless garment. 473 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,280 It's one big reminder that what God has done, he will do. 474 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,640 Even more So what God has started, God will certainly 475 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,560 finish. You might call this verb tense a 476 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:46,280 prophetic perfect. Habakkuk uses the past tense to 477 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:51,240 describe a future action, because God's future action is 478 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,880 so certain, it's as if it has already happened. 479 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,520 Verses 14 and 15 round off the passage by pointing forward, 480 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,040 then backward in quick succession. 481 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,960 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who 482 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,240 came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour 483 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,680 the poor in secret. You trampled the sea with your 484 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,520 horses, the surging of many waters. 485 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:21,640 Now again, verse 15 is another poetic reference back to the 486 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,160 Exodus, when God showed His supremacy over the sea and over 487 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,440 any other force that might stand in the way of His plan of 488 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,240 salvation. But then how do we know that 489 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:35,280 verse 14 points to the future? Michael was pushing me about. 490 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:37,320 How do we interpret this passage earlier this week? 491 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:41,000 I think verse 14 is maybe the clearest instance of how it 492 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,680 points to the future. It's because Habakkuk is 493 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaking of those who came to scatter me. 494 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,480 Who are those who come to scatter Habakkuk? 495 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,320 It can only be the Babylonians. God has promised it. 496 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,040 It's going to happen soon. Throughout the Old Testament 497 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,320 prophets, that verb scatter is used for the punishment of 498 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,160 exile. God's people are currently 499 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:08,760 gathered in their land, and they're going to be scattered 500 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,440 out of it as God's judgement against their sin. 501 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,920 So when Habakkuk says they came to scatter him, what he's saying 502 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,680 is when the invading Babylonian army comes to carry out God's 503 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,160 judgement against his people, he's going to be there. 504 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:24,440 They're not just coming for them. 505 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:26,520 They're coming for us. They're not just coming for us, 506 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:28,800 Habakkuk is saying. They're coming for me. 507 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,400 This is going to happen to me now. 508 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:38,920 For Habakkuk, that temporal judgement he suffers will not be 509 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:43,960 a sign of final judgement. We trust Habakkuk is saved and 510 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:45,960 spiritually safe in the hands of God. 511 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:52,680 So for Habakkuk, this judgement will be divine discipline that 512 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,840 further prepares him to inherit eternal salvation. 513 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:02,680 But in any case, Habakkuk is staring down disaster. 514 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,200 He knows the bad news of judgement that God has promised 515 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,600 against his people will also be bad news for him. 516 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:15,400 God's hammer will fall, and it will fall on him just as much as 517 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,000 on the wicked in Judah. Habakkuk's present is painful, 518 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:21,360 and it's only going to get more painful. 519 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:28,199 But Habakkuk also knows that after God judges his own people, 520 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:33,000 he will judge the people He used to judge his people. 521 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,320 He will reverse the direction of Babylon's arrows. 522 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,679 Right now they are appointed and soon to fly at Judah. 523 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,560 But when the grand day of judgement comes around, the 524 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,080 direction of the arrows will do a 180 and we'll come back 525 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:52,159 against the Babylonians. When Christ returns, God will 526 00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:54,440 avenge all evils committed against his people. 527 00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:57,880 He will establish a perfect, permanent Kingdom. 528 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,320 He will deliver us from all evil. 529 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,040 He will cover the earth with the knowledge of His glory as we saw 530 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,880 last week, He will banish suffering and sorrow forever, 531 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,840 and He will give the new creation a newness that will 532 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,640 never grow old. If you're not a believer in 533 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,960 Jesus, what do you most look forward to? 534 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,080 Or as you look back over your life so far, what are the things 535 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,880 that you have most hoped in? Did they come to fruition? 536 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:34,880 Did they satisfy? One problem with every earthly 537 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:39,600 hope you project out into the future is that you don't know 538 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:44,200 how long you have. If you are living for your own 539 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:50,000 hopes, all of them are uncertain of fulfilment. 540 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,560 Our family recently planted a garden for the first time ever. 541 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:59,160 We've had earth boxes, we've had little pots out in front of our 542 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,640 apartments we've lived in. This is our first garden 543 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:03,520 Christmas wanted once and she was a kid. 544 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:07,040 Our the previous owners of our home had a nice little tomato 545 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,800 patch in the back corner of the yard that we've heard was very 546 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:13,400 productive. And so just last weekend Rose 547 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,880 and I put up some fence posts and strung it around with deer 548 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:18,720 mesh fencing. Don't get me started about the 549 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,640 deer. And then the whole family. 550 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,120 Well, me, me, Kristen, Rose, Lucy, we all planted. 551 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,360 We planted tomatoes and cucumbers and jalapenos and 552 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:28,800 herbs and all kinds of good stuff. 553 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,760 It was a ton of fun. We are eagerly looking forward 554 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:36,240 to harvest. But planting a garden is an act 555 00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:38,800 of hope. When you put those little plants 556 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,360 in the ground, there are no full grown vegetables sitting on them 557 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,480 and there are not really any full grown plants you're putting 558 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,920 in. The whole thing is done in hope. 559 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,400 Many, many things could go wrong between now and us eating a 560 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,200 single thing that comes from our garden, especially deer. 561 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:06,160 It takes hope to plant a garden. The whole Christian life is much 562 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:11,920 more sowing than reaping. The whole Christian life is much 563 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:18,200 more planting than harvesting. God may choose to cheer us in 564 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,080 various laborers by granting us to see evident fruit. 565 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,680 And we should see some fruit of growth, of holiness in our 566 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:28,760 others lives in in our lives and others lives as we walk with the 567 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,440 Lord. We should see ourselves being 568 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:35,880 renewed inwardly day by day. But there will be many efforts 569 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:43,120 whose fruition either won't come or won't be fully known until 570 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,600 the day when Christ's coming brings everything to light. 571 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,720 That's why we have to sow in hope. 572 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:55,640 How can you rest in God's future? 573 00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:02,600 Fix your heart on the greatest good that will be yours on that 574 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:06,880 day, which is seeing God face to face. 575 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:12,240 Biblical hope is the confident and patient expectation of 576 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:16,360 seeing God face to face and being made forever happy in Him. 577 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:21,600 Hope is resting in God's promise, trusting it, relying on 578 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,720 it. Hope enables you to be calm and 579 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:28,920 confident in God's promise, no matter what seems to threaten 580 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:33,000 Him. Biblical hope looks forward 581 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:37,560 confidently to being eternally caught up in the triune life of 582 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:42,720 God, to being brought up and included in Jesus own sonship 583 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:49,080 from the Father. Hope waits on God to hand 584 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:53,960 deliver the life that is truly life, the life that God Himself 585 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:59,280 is now. If you are remembering God's 586 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,240 past and resting in God's future, what do you still need 587 00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:05,840 to do? You need to do what Habakkuk 588 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:09,320 does in verse 2 back to the beginning of the passage .3. 589 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:18,640 Request God's grace for now. Request God's grace for now. 590 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,760 Verse 2 is the petition that sets the direction for the whole 591 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,880 passage. Oh Lord, I've heard the report 592 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:32,880 of you and your work. Oh Lord, do I fear. 593 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:35,120 In the midst of the years, revive it. 594 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,480 In the midst of the years, make it known. 595 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:43,480 In wrath, remember mercy. I want to focus on three aspects 596 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:48,040 of this prayer. Submission, adoration, and 597 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:52,160 petition. Submission, Adoration, petition, 598 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:57,560 first submission. Oh Lord, I have heard the report 599 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:00,520 of you. What's Habakkuk saying? 600 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:05,600 He's saying that he is accepting what God has revealed. 601 00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:09,440 Message received, vision embraced. 602 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,040 Habakkuk has picked up what God is putting down. 603 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:17,680 He's come to terms with the two judgements God has promised, the 604 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,960 near judgement of God by the Babylonians against Judah, and 605 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,440 the far judgement of God against the Babylonians and all God's 606 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:27,200 enemies that will deliver his people. 607 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:33,560 Habakkuk is not disputing the near judgement, and he is hoping 608 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,680 in the far judgement here. Habakkuk is a model of 609 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,040 submission for us. He's a model of submission to 610 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:43,280 hard truths. Some things in the Bible are 611 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:46,560 hard to understand. Some things in the Bible are 612 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,280 hard to accept. Some are both. 613 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:55,520 A necessary ingredient in spiritual growth is the humility 614 00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:59,360 to submit to hard truths you find in scripture. 615 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:04,520 And Habakkuk is also a model of submission to hard providences. 616 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:09,720 For Habakkuk, this hard truth will soon turn into a hard 617 00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:12,320 Providence. This judgement will fall not 618 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:17,720 just around him, but on him. Though he himself is righteous, 619 00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:19,720 he will suffer along with his people. 620 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:23,560 That's a hard Providence. And Habakkuk says to the Lord, I 621 00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:31,760 accept it, I embrace it. Next, adoration and your work, O 622 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:37,320 Lord, do I fear. This fear is an expression of 623 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:40,520 reverent praise. Habakkuk declares that he 624 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,080 trembles before God's work. He recognizes that God's work is 625 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,760 sovereign and supreme. This work is A2 sided act of 626 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,880 both judgment and salvation. And Habakkuk trembles before 627 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,240 both. He trembles before both God's 628 00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:58,880 wrath and his mercy. How can you grow an adoration of 629 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:02,760 God? One simple way is to begin the 630 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:07,040 times of private prayer by studying Scripture, and then by 631 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,280 praising God for something you see and what you've just 632 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:14,280 studied. Declare what you see of God's 633 00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:17,920 goodness and majesty, Acknowledge God's greatness. 634 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:21,520 Name some feature of God's glory you see in his word. 635 00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:24,080 Just like Amber LED us so well and praising God for his 636 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:28,720 character, his mighty works, his sovereign acts, Gather up what 637 00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:33,280 you see in the Scriptures and translate it into praise of God. 638 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:39,800 So submission, adoration. Finally, in verse 2, we come to 639 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:45,760 petition in the midst of the year's, revive it in the midst 640 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:48,480 of the years, make it known in wrath. 641 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,160 Remember mercy. Habakkuk is asking God for 642 00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,480 grace, and he's asking God for grace for now. 643 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:59,280 He acknowledges the justice and goodness of God's wrath, and he 644 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,400 knows that God is also abounding in mercy and forgiveness and 645 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,160 steadfast love. So he grants the rightness of 646 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,960 God's wrath, and he asks God also not to forget to be 647 00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:14,560 gracious. Habakkuk is asking for grace in 648 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:19,400 the time in between, grace in the present, Grace to sustain 649 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:20,920 his faith and his people's faith. 650 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:23,240 Grace to renew the people's trust in God amid the 651 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:25,560 devastations that God's judgement is rightly going to 652 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:28,680 work. Habakkuk needed grace for the 653 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:33,400 moment, grace for the day, grace for right now. 654 00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,920 My wife Kristen often wisely counsels others. 655 00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:43,480 God does not give you grace for what you imagine. 656 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:48,400 God gives you the grace you need for now. 657 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:54,200 All of us who believe in Jesus need to depend on God daily. 658 00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:58,840 Each day we need to draw fresh supplies from the well of God's 659 00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:02,440 grace, the well of His promises, the well of His Word, the well 660 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:05,840 of His character. Just as you need to drink water 661 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:09,880 every day to survive, so you need to drink in God's grace 662 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,400 every day to survive spiritually. 663 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:16,000 Take the things that are hardest in your life and turn them into 664 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:18,880 prayer requests. Take the things you're most 665 00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:22,480 anxious about and turn them into petitions for God's help. 666 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:27,760 Take the things you're most confused about and turn it into 667 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:30,240 a study plan for searching the Scriptures. 668 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,760 You need grace for now, and the only way you can live rightly in 669 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:38,640 the present is if you see everything about your present in 670 00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:42,280 the light of God's past and God's future. 671 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:48,320 Your present must be anchored in God's past and God's future. 672 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:54,120 There are always temptations to live in the past you've had or 673 00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:58,120 the past you wish you had. If you Daydream about past 674 00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:02,600 accomplishments or achievements. You are marinating your soul in 675 00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:08,480 pride if you let the loss of good things overwhelm your 676 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,000 present sense of God's love and mercy. 677 00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:16,720 You're in danger of giving way to nostalgia if you can't stop 678 00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:18,840 mulling over a wrong someone else did to you. 679 00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:23,720 You are inviting bitterness to come in and remodel your life in 680 00:45:23,720 --> 00:45:25,880 a way that leaves no room for God's grace. 681 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:30,400 Don't anchor your heart in your past. 682 00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:35,520 Instead, anchor it in God's past, and similar temptations 683 00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:39,040 confront us about the future. There are always temptations to 684 00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:42,160 live either in the future you're planning for yourself, for your 685 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:47,400 good, or the future you're anxious and fearful will bring 686 00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:53,400 you harm. Ambition can lead you to be 687 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:57,400 absorbed with your plans at the expense of God's promises. 688 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:02,000 Fear and anxiety can become overwhelming, all consuming. 689 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,800 You can become fixated on harms that might happen to you to the 690 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,560 point where you struggle to get any comfort from God's grace, 691 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:14,800 His presence, His promises. Don't anchor your heart in the 692 00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:18,120 future that you either crave or fear. 693 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:22,600 Instead, anchor it in the future God promises. 694 00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:24,440 Trust that God will come through for you. 695 00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:27,520 Trust that the future that God will gift you is infinitely 696 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:30,560 better than anything you could achieve for yourself. 697 00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:36,240 The solution to being wrongly attached to your preferred past 698 00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:40,800 or dreaded future is to be rightly attached to God's past 699 00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:45,440 and God's future. Remembering God's past and 700 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:48,320 resting in God's future brings grace for now. 701 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,640 To live in the present is not enough. 702 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:56,240 There is wisdom to be had from thinking about how to rightly 703 00:46:56,240 --> 00:46:59,320 live in the present and not have it be hostage to the past or the 704 00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:03,360 future. But any present you can build 705 00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:06,600 for yourself is nowhere strong enough to withstand the 706 00:47:06,600 --> 00:47:10,960 onslaughts of a haunting past or a fearful future. 707 00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:15,000 What if your present is overwhelmingly painful? 708 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:21,200 What if your past is overwhelmingly shameful? 709 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:27,440 What if the future is overwhelmingly fearful? 710 00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:33,680 No amount of self talk or positive thinking or mind over 711 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:36,720 matter can guarantee that you will survive or thrive in a 712 00:47:36,720 --> 00:47:40,280 painful present. Only God's grace can do that. 713 00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:44,520 Only God's mighty saving works, past and future, can do that. 714 00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:47,360 And that's exactly what He holds out to all who trust in Christ. 715 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:50,960 God has proven His power and love and faithfulness through 716 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:54,440 the death and resurrection of Jesus, and one day what God has 717 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:57,440 granted to Jesus in his resurrection is what He will 718 00:47:57,440 --> 00:48:00,400 give to everyone who believes in him and what He will grant to 719 00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:05,400 this whole created order now and ever. 720 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:10,200 We confess Christ our hope in life and death. 721 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:19,050 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we have heard 722 00:48:19,050 --> 00:48:22,330 the report of you and we fear your work. 723 00:48:23,450 --> 00:48:28,040 Father, we pray that You would revive your work to us, sustain 724 00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:32,440 those who are suffering and struggling, comfort those who 725 00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:38,600 are convicted in the midst of the years, make known Your work. 726 00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:42,200 Pour out Your great greatness and grace upon us, we pray. 727 00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:45,600 O Father, in wrath, remember mercy. 728 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:53,600 May you grant us to tie ourselves to Your promises and 729 00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:56,200 not let go of them. In Jesus name we pray. 730 00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:57,160 Amen.