How Long Lord?
God Questions: An Exposition of Habakkuk

Below is an automated transcript of this message

Good morning, church! It is so good to see you here today. You’re here at just the right time. We’re kicking off a new series today, going through the book of Habakkuk, we’ve entitled this series, “God Questions: An Exposition of Habakkuk.” We’re going to be going verse by verse through this little book by the prophet,Habakkuk.

Let me give you the historical setting for who this man, Habakkuk, is and how he fits into the Bible. First of all, he’s one of the twelve minor prophets. Let’s pop up a diagram. Habakkuk is one of the twelve minor prophets. This designation of major and minor is not about whether or not he was in the major leagues. It’s not about the significance of his book , but about the size of his book. It’s only three chapters long. That’s the case of all twelve of the minor prophets; their books were shorter and so they’re listed together. Isaiah Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel are much larger books; they’re organized in order that way, based on the size of the books, not their significance.

Certainly, as we look at this, we can see that Habakkuk, in terms of the timeline, was a contemporary of Nahum and Zephaniah, as well as Jeremiah. He lived during that time just before the fall of Judah to Babylon. I have a timeline for you to look at. I’ll pop this up from time to time over the next few weeks as we go through the book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is written somewhere between 609 and 605 BC. We know he started writing probably around 609 because that’s when King Josiah died. That’s when King Josiah was killed at the battle of Kamesh against Pharaoh Nico of Egypt. It was before the Babylonians moved in to become overseers of Judah. You can see how he fits in this timeline, the timeline of the Southern Kingdom called Judah. This much shorter timeline is the northern kingdom of Israel, which fell to the Assyrians, whereas Judah fell to the Babylonians. This gives you context of who this Habakkuk fella is; we don’t know much more about him than that we know the time period he wrote, based on the internal evidence, we know that it was before the Babylonians had come.

We, also, know that perhaps Habakkuk’s name, in Hebrew, seems to mean “to embrace” or “to uplift” and we know he’s a prophet because he tells us that in verse one. That’s what we know about Habakkuk. It’s a little book but it asks big questions. It’s only three little chapters, but it’s power packed with questions. It asks questions like this. “How long must I wait?” “How long before You will help?” “How long must I cry out before You will help me?” Questions like “Lord, when are you going to rescue us?” “Lord, are you even listening?” “Lord, how long before You do something about all the violence and strife in our world?”

Habakkuk’s not “playing around” here. He’s crying out from his heart, how he feels about what’s going on in God’s people in the land of Judah. It’s these kinds of questions that makes the prophet Habakkuk unique among all the prophets. All of the other prophets tend to speak on behalf of God to the people; they represent God to the people. But, Habakkuk represents the people to God. This makes him unique because he’s asking these questions of God. He’s representing the way the people feel and the way he feels in his heart, in prayer to God. This is how he’s speaking.

Now, this is what we call in biblical literature a “lament.” Now, what is a lament? Ryan Higginbotham says this, in his definition of a lament, “A lament is a prayer expressing sorrow, pain, or confusion. Lament should be the chief way Christians process grief in God’s presence. Because many Christians have grown up in churches which always look on the bright side, lament can be jarring. And for believers whose lives are relatively free from tragedy, lament may seem unnecessary.”

If you’re here today and you’ve lived this long and you’ve not had to face any sorrow, any pain, any loneliness or any trouble, then you probably won’t get much out of this message. But, if you’ve had to cry, if you have felt pain, if you’ve suffered, if you’ve been lonely or if you’ve lost a loved one, then this message is perfectly timed for you today from the book of Habakkuk. Even though this book was written 3000 years ago, it’s just as timely today as when it was first written.

What is this idea of lament? And why would God want us to lament to Him? Here’s what Mark Vroegop says in his book, “Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament,” “Lament is a divinely-given liturgy for processing our pain so that we can rejoice. Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. It is not only how Christians grieve; it’s the way Christians praise God through their sorrows. Lament is a pathway to praise when life gets hard. To cry is human, but to lament is Christian.”

To cry is human. Isn’t that the way we all begin life? Isn’t that the first sound that we make as we leave the safety and warmth of our mother’s womb? If you’ve been a parent, if you’ve been present in the room, you know that your baby entered the world weeping. Really, as we go through life, the crying doesn’t stop. No one has to teach you the language of crying. It doesn’t matter what part of the world you’re from. The language of crying is identical. We all are born already knowing how to cry.

To cry is human, but to lament is learned. It’s learned by people of faith who have learned to turn their cries no longer outward, or even towards other humans, but to turn them upward. To lament is an act of faith. It’s something that we learn and we can learn it from books like Habakkuk. We can learn how to lament from writings like the book of Job. We can learn it from at least one third of the Psalms that David writes. We can learn to cry out our pain, our sorrow, even our doubts and questions to God; we can be real with God.

The key verse for this book is found in chapter two. To really understand this book, we must understand the key and the key is from Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV) “… but the righteous shall live by his faith.” That’s one of the most quoted verses in the Old Testament from the book of Habakkuk. This is what Habakkuk has going for Him. He doesn’t doubt God’s existence. He doesn’t doubt God’s ability to save. He doesn’t believe that God is deaf. He knows that God can hear. He doesn’t doubt these things. What he struggles with is why God is not answering; why He’s not moving. Why is he letting this go on for so long?nLord, how long, how long must we go through this? How long must we endure and cry out before You answer?

Maybe you have questions for God today. Do you have questions for God today ? Are you asking the Lord ‘how long?’ Maybe you’ve gone through a divorce Maybe your husband left you or your wife left you and now you’re alone with your kids. You’re wondering if the Lord sees what you are going through. Maybe you’ve heard something from the doctor recently that’s really scared you and you’re praying for healing. But, when you go back to the doctor, the news is grim. There doesn’t seem to be any healing. You’re thinking, How long Lord? How long do I have to cry? How long do I have to pray? Maybe you’ve lost a loved one. You prayed and you asked God for healing and healing didn’t come. Now, you’re facing life without that loved one. What do you do with those feelings? Do you just repress them, bottle them up and go through life, thinking, I’m a Christian. I’m not supposed to think of negative thoughts, so I’m just going to pretend that I’m ok. Maybe you go to the doctor and you medicate the pain and try to bury it that way or maybe you become bitter about it. You don’t cry out to God about it, but you cry out to everyone else and your sickness, your sorrow, your grief remains.

To lament as a Christian is to learn from the book of Habakkuk today. It is to understand the pathway to praise, through sorrow, through questions and through doubts. In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet cries out his questions and his doubts believing that God will answer.

I believe that today we can do that. We can learn from Habakkuk how to pray a lament to God. If you aren’t going through one now, you’ll go through one someday, where you’ll need the ability to pray a prayer of faith, crying out in your sorrow, in your pain, even in your doubts to the God that you believe in.

I believe as we look at the text, we’ll see three ways that we can cry out to God while still believing in Him. Let’s look at the text. We’ll take on the first 11 verses today. I want you to take note that there’s a conversation, a dialogue here going on between God and Habakkuk. It begins with Habakkuk’s questions in verses one through four and then God’s response in verses five through 11:

Habakkuk 1:1-11 (ESV) 1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. 2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. 5 “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. 6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation , who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. 9 They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. 10 At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. 11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!” This is God’s word. Amen.

We’re looking for three ways that we can cry out to God. believing that He will answer. Here’s the first:

1. Cry out believing that God will help.

If you look at verse two, circle the word “help.” Do you see it there? Habakkuk doesn’t question God’s ability to help. What he questions is how much longer He is going to have to cry out for help before God answers. That’s what he’s asking. He’s not saying, ‘God, I don’t think You’re able to help.’ He just doesn’t know how long God expects him to keep crying to Him before He does help. He doesn’t doubt God’s existence. He doesn’t doubt God’s power. He just is struggling with the timing of it. When are you going to help God? How much longer do I have to sorrow? How much longer do I have to cry out to You? This is where He’s at now.

To give you some background, we must first look at verse one. This is the introduction, 1 “The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t use the word, “oracle,” very often. The Hebrew word has the original idea of “a burden of great weight or load.” It came to mean something that you would see in a vision. Remember that Habakkuk’s name in the Hebrew has the idea of , of “one who embraces or lifts up.”

Here, Habakkuk the prophet has been given a burden from God that he now lifts up back to God. He’s burdened with this vision, this oracle from God because, as you look at it, it looks like God’s brought him up to the place of God’s perspective.

In verse three, he’s asking God, 3 “Why do you make me see iniquity,” He could already see the evil around him, but now it’s like God’s brought him up and made him see that it is everywhere. It’s not just in his neighborhood, it’s not just in his school, it’s not just in his city, it’s everywhere and he’s burdened by it. So, he cries out to God, believing that God can help, but wondering when He will. 2 “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?”

The Hebrew word for cry is “šāva” and the Hebrew word for hear is “šāma.” How long must I “šāva” before you “šāma?” How long must I cry before You hear?

Habakkuk sounds like Job, doesn’t he? In Job 19:7 (ESV), Job says, Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. Is this ok? Should believers talk to God in such a way? This is a lament. This is a Godly man who has real questions, real concerns and he’s not bottling them up. He’s not medicating them. He’s not pretending that he doesn’t feel this way. He’s crying out to God. We are led like Habakkuk; we believe as those who walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Sometimes we go through seasons where life is hard, suffering is real and loneliness is upon us. We could pretend like it’s not there and then we become like those two dimensional cardboard Christians that the world disdains, or we could get real with God. We could get real with God and let the world see what it looks like for a Christian to go through trouble,yet still believe we . We go ahead and ask our questions. We go ahead and cry out, ‘I’m hurting here, God. I believe that You hear God. You need to get me through this, because I don’t know how much longer I can keep crying.’ We know that He has promised to hear and to help.

He tells the prophet, Isaiah in Isaiah 41:10 (ESV) Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” When all else in the world doesn’t make sense, we believe in the promises of God. This is a lament. This is where we go. I don’t see evidence right now, but yet I believe. I’m not going to play. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not hurting. I’m going to go ahead and cry it out, but I’m also not going to stop believing.

Peter told Jesus, when Jesus said, “Are you going to leave me too?” Peter John 6:68, “Lord, where would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.”

Lord, I will hang on to You even when life doesn’t make sense. We can go to Him with confidence as we read in Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We can come boldly before the Lord. We can cry out the way we really feel. This is a timely word, written 3000 years ago, but just as true today as it was then.Are you going through something right now that you need God? Cry out to Him; cry out to the God who hears a lament.

Today, we’re going to pause after verse 11. Over the next five weeks, we will take on all three chapters, but it’s one lament. One third of the Psalms is an entire lament. It will begin with the questioning and the problems and then asking for help.

There’s four phases of a Christian lament: There’s the (1) crying out, there’s the (2) naming of the complaint, there’s the (3) asking for help and then, there’s the “choosing to trust and praise the Lord, even though the answer hasn’t come yet.” We won’t see it all here until we read the whole book of Habakkuk, but trust me, that’s how it works. For the believer, you cry out, lift up your questions, concerns and complaints, ask for God to help you with this, ask Him how you are supposed to feel about this and then say that you are going to praise Him anyway. You are going to praise Him, even if it means You will answer me today, tomorrow or next year. I’m going to praise you anyway.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. If you’re going to praise Him when He gives, believer, you have to praise Him when He takes away, but knowing this, that there’s a day coming when every tear is wiped away.

Do you believe this? This is what we believe. Stop bottling up your questions and complaints. Stop medicating your pain or wallowing in your suffering. Learn to cry out to the Lord who hears and will help. This is the first way to cry out to God; believing that He will answer. Here’s the second cry out:

2. Cry out believing that God will save.

Take note of the word, “save,” in verse two, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?” Do you see the violence in Judah, in my land, in the land that’s supposed to be marked by God’s people? Josiah has just died . He was killed in battle, fighting against Pharaoh Nico, as he was headed up to do battle with, ironically, the Babylonians. Chaldeans is another way of saying the Babylonians. Josiah was killed in battle with violence. He was killed there at Megiddo, which is where the future battle, the Armageddon battle, will take place. Josiah was the best king they’d ever had and he’s gone; violence took him.

Habakkuk looks at his country; the king that came after Josiah is not a Godly king. He’s murdered people. He’s already showing what a murderous, violent man he is. Habakkuk cries out to God, What are you going to do about this land? He uses a word in Hebrew. I don’t want to overuse these Hebrew words, but they reveal things sometimes. Habakkuk says, in verse two, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?” The word “violence” is the Hebrew word for “ḥāmās.” How much longer, Lord, must I say “ḥāmās” before You will save? How about that?

The word, “save,” is where we get the word, “Yasheh.” “Yasheh” is the root of “Yeshua,” or “Joshua,” where we get the word “Jesus.” “Yeshua,” to save. How long must I cry “ḥāmās” before you will save?

We catch a quick glimpse of the Gospel here. You must recognize that Habakkuk doesn’t know the gospel yet. He lives before Jesus, but he’s crying out to God. He believes in Him, but he doesn’t have “Yeshua” yet. He doesn’t have Jesus. He cries out, ‘How long do we have to cry, “ḥāmās” (violence) before You will save?’

It reminds me of the lament that David wrote in Psalm 69. It is a great example of one of David’s laments. He says, Psalm 69:1, 14 (ESV) “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck… Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.” David is drowning. The water is up to his neck and his feet are sinking in the muddy mire at the bottom of the water. He is going under. Lord, the timing is right now if You’re going to save me. I’m going under. I’m going under. Let’s not forget who David was. The Bible says that God saw him and said that David was a man after His own heart, so, let’s not put on David that he’s praying wrong. No, he’s praying right. He’s praying right, as God would have him. He’s praying from a heart of integrity. He’s praying from a heart that was a heart after God’s heart. He says, Lord, I’m drowning here and You’re the only one who can save me. I’m sinking in the mire, God. You’re the only one. This is the prayer of lament. This is the prayer that believes. This is the prayer that doesn’t doubt God, but this is the prayer that gets real with God and not afraid to talk to God about what’s going on in his heart.

The word, “hamas,” is a timely word because it has been a word that the terrorists in Palestine have taken on as their acronym. They have an acronym which, basically, has the idea of Hamas. The word, “hamas,” is also in Arabic. In Arabic, the word, “hamas,” tends to mean “warrior” or “courageous warrior.” Whereas, in Hebrew, it means more like “terrorist,” “one who loves violence.”

It was the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, who brought Hamas to Jerusalem, but we live in a day today where Hamas still exists. Violence still exists.

I got contacted this past week by one of our missionary families that serve in Istanbul, Turkey. You may not know this, but ever since the Hamas Israeli war broke out in October, there’s been disturbances throughout the Middle East and in Turkey, wherever there are Christians or Jews. In fact, the Jews have not met in a synagogue since October in Turkey. They’ve closed their synagogues because they feel it’s too dangerous to meet. Christians, also, are more and more deciding that they just can’t meet in a public place in Turkey, although they legally have the right to meet. I got contacted by one of the families because a week ago, terrorists entered a Catholic church in Istanbul, masked gunmen entered and killed one man and injured about sixteen. They then fled and Isis took credit for it. As a result, this family that I love and that you love that I won’t name because we’re going out on the internet right now got a call from the Turkish police. They didn’t even know the Turkish police knew their cell phone number, so that scared them. They got a call and were wondering, Oh, no. what’s this call about? The Turkish police asked them if they had security where they meet for church . The police asked, “Do you have a plan if something happens? Do you have a security guideline?” They questioned them about whether or not they had police protection where they met for church. Actually, it was a favorable call but they didn’t know that the police had their phone number so this scared them. Pray for them. We have two missionary families right now from our church in Istanbul. I asked our friends, “Are you going to keep meeting?” They said, “Yes, we’re going to keep meeting.” They have a Russian service, a French-speaking service and an English speaking service. They have church services all day on Sunday. Pray for them.

Hamas (violence) has broken out and we have it in our country now. I’m not taking a stand politically on pro Palestine pro Israel. I’m pro Jesus and I believe wherever war breaks out, both sides lose and innocent people are harmed, right? I believe Hamas is a terrorist organization that needs to be addressed. What we need to figure out, as Christians, is how to pray for this and cry out, saying, ‘God, do you see the violence? Do you see the “Hamas” in our world?’ Violence is not just in other parts of the world, but look how it’s breaking out and affecting us because it boils over and affects our missionaries and then it boils over and affects our soldiers that serve in the Persian Gulf. Three US army soldiers were killed and more than 30 service members injured in a drone attack overnight in a small outpost in Jordan, marking the first time that US troops have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the beginning of this war. A US destroyer shot down a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile and three drones Wednesday, the US Central Command said. It followed a close call for a US warship that was was targeted by the Iran-backed group in the Red Sea.

In our country, we have political divide, we have dissent, we have more and more destruction and violence being called for. What is this Lord? We, as believers, are called to be the salt and the light. We’re the ones that are called to cry out, Lord? How long Lord, how long? We represent God’s people and even the lost of this world. God will you do something about this? You’ve made me see it now. I didn’t want to see it.

Verse three says, “Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?” Let us pray for our city. Let us pray for our neighborhood. Let us pray for ourselves. Let us cry out to God, God, save us, God, save us. Let us be the church that stands before God saying, God, help us God, save us knowing that He will hear. Now, we’re to the third way that we can cry out to God believing:

3. Cry out believing that God will bring justice.

We’re in the final verses now. God’s answer, although it was detailed, was really just one thing, ‘I hear you. I’m sending a surprise that is going to blow your mind. I’m going to send the Babylonians to judge Judah.’ It’s probably not what you thought; when you come back next week you will hear how Habakkuk responds. When He was asking for help, He had this in mind, but I can’t talk about that yet because that’s next week. I am saving that for next week, but just know that this is not what he thought he was asking for.

Notice in verse four that he’s talking about justice. There’s no justice in Judah. Then, you notice in verse seven, that God says, 7 “They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.” God is bringing some justice; it’s not what Habakkuk was hoping for, but He’s bringing some from the Chaldeans, from the Babylonians.

Habakkuk talks about the situation in Judah. He says, in verse 3, “Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.” It sounds like some other country that I know, right? Verse 4 says, “So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.”

This sounds like what Paul wrote in Romans. Paul said in Romans 8:3 (NIV) “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering…” The law can’t save. It’ll tell you what’s wrong. It’ll tell you what to do and what not to do, but it is numb. It can’t save you. We need a Savior to save us. Paul says that’s why you need Jesus. Here’s Habakkuk noticing this. He’s saying that the Torah is paralyzed and justice never goes forth.

When you’re driving down the road and you see these laws posted on signs that say things like, “speed limit 55.” Now, that sign is powerless to get your foot off the pedal because the flesh is driving your car. Can you imagine that sign leaping off that post and jumping in your car? No; it doesn’t do that. It doesn’t happen. The law is powerless to save. God’s law is good and it tells us right from wrong, but it has no power to help you keep it. We need a Savior, Habakkuk. He’s learning this right now.

We’re on the other side of this story. We have this book; we got Jesus. Habakkuk didn’t have that yet. He’s learning. He says that the law is paralyzed. They have had the Torah all of these centuries. The wicked surround the righteous so that justice goes forth, perverted another way, literally twisted. The court system not only is powerless, but it has taken God’s law and twisted it. That was during his day.

That’s not our day, right? Our court system hasn’t twisted God’s law, has it? It hasn’t taken and twisted it and what God called right is wrong and what God called wrong is right? Yes, it has. Habakkuk is a timely book. When the Lord answers, He doesn’t answer the way Habakkuk hopes for.

The Lord gives three imperative words here in verse five, verse 5 says, “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” Look, among the nations. You can look at all the nations. He has called one and it’s coming their way. He says, “For I am doing a work in your days.” Habakkuk might have thought, Where’s God? Why aren’t You doing something? God says that He is already at work. Habakkuk just doesn’t know it yet, but it’s coming.

Verse 6 says, “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,” Now, we can say this is Southern – ‘He is “sicing” the Babylonians on you.’ That’s not what Habakkuk was hoping for. He was hoping God would do something so that they could keep the status quo, but just clean it up. No. Habakkuk is asking for justice; Habakkuk says that there’s too much violence. God is going to bring the most unjust, violent people to come and give Judah what they want. It’s a bitter nation; a hasty nation.

He uses these “predatorial” images to describe how they fight. They’re like leopards in verse eight. They’re like evening wolves; they’re like eagles. They are predators . They come for “Hamas;” they come for violence. They gather together captives. They laugh at kings and scoff. They even laugh at the walls of Jerusalem, that they’re just so beautiful and wonderful and they’re going to pile up earth in ramps. They’ve got technology. They’ve worked it out and they’re patient. They’ll work 6, 8, 12 months until they take you out and lay siege to your fort.

They laugh at the forts in verse 10 and then in verse 11, “Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!” They will move fast. He’s calling them from afar. He’s calling them from a distance. In verse seven, it says, “They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.” They worship their own strength as their God, their own technology, their own warfare and their own chariots. That’s what they worship.

This had to surprise Habakkuk, because they were always fighting against the Assyrians and the Egyptians. They had lost Josiah to the Egyptians . The Chaldeans were down there in Mesopotamia, near the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. They’ve never given them any problem. In fact, that’s almost 1000 miles from there.

Let’s have a map right now. They’re down here from the Persian Gulf. They’ve just been like a minor player up until now. This man, named Nabopolasser has now been fighting for the last 10 years against the Assyrians. He has weakened them and now he’s brought his son, Nebuchadnezzar. up and Nebuchadnezzar comes all the way up to fight the last uh battle against Assyria before they overthrow Assyria and Pharaoh Necho. Pharaoh Necho hears about it and he doesn’t want this new player on the international stage. So, he comes up through Israel, up through Judah and Israel and he’s headed to Kamesh to try to at least stand with the Assyrians against this new force of Babylonians . Ironically, as he passes through, the last good king of Judah, king Josiah fights him at Megiddo, which is the place that we call today, the Valley of Armageddon. King Josiah is killed by an archer. Pharaoh Necho told him, ‘The Lord sent me up here. Why are you delaying me? I’m not even coming to fight you. I’m on my way to Kamesh.’ He goes up here and he gets defeated. So, the Assyrians and the Egyptians are defeated at Kamesh. Now, the Babylonians own the entire Fertile Crescent. Now, this is 1000 miles. You can’t come across the Arabian desert. There’s no water; there’s no way to do that. So, they had to travel along the Tigris and Euphrates to the Fertile Crescent.

Habakkuk had to be astounded. The answer that God is giving him is I’m sending the Babylonians to judge Judah. But after 70 years, and Habakkuk doesn’t know this, they’ve “cleaned up” n when they come home. There’s no more idolatry. The synagogue system starts. It’s a new time for Judah as they return.

We’ll look next week at how Habakkuk feels about the answer during this time, but this is the beginning of God really answering the way He’s going to answer, because in Isaiah, we see the answer that’s really coming. He says in Isaiah 42:1-3 (ESV), 1 “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” He said that there’s a Messiah, an Anointed One coming, who is so gentle , even though there’s a wick that’s about to go out. The wick is just smoking. He won’t pinch it out. He’ll let it go ahead and smoke. Even though there’s a bruised reed that’s about to break, He won’t step on it. He’s gentle. He comes and He brings justice without violence. This one comes and brings justice to human hearts and He changes the world, one heart at a time. Isaiah sees this new One that comes, the anointed One, that brings real salvation and he speaks of Him.

This is what Jesus says in the book of Luke. He says in Luke 18:7-8 (NIV) 7 “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Jesus says that He is going to bring justice. He’s coming. He’s going to bring justice. He’s going to bring help .

I don’t know what you’re praying for today. I don’t know what your heart is crying out for. You might say, ‘Lord, if you don’t do this thing, I don’t know if I can trust You anymore.’ This is not a prayer of lament. This is a prayer of doubt. Can I challenge you to pray like this? ‘Lord, I believe in You. I trust you, but it seems like You’re not answering my prayer. I know that You’re able; I know that You hear me, but how much longer do I have to cry out?’ This is the prayer of faith. Notice the difference, the difference is not subtle. The difference is that you keep on believing while you wait and you trust that God’s with you, even when you’re walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

This is the way that Habakkuk prays and this is the way that we can pray. We can pray as Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Lord, Is there any way this cup could pass from me? Yet, not my will, but your will be done.” Your will is always better than my will. Oh, yes, we enter into this world wailing and there’s many tears along the way, but there’s a day coming. How long before it comes? Oh, come quickly, Lord. Come and wipe away every tear, but until then, let us cry out to Him. Even so, Lord come quickly.

Let’s pray. Lord, right now, I just lift up to You our prayers. First, I’ll lift up the prayers of that person that came in far from God today. You came in today and you’ve got your doubts and your questions, but as you listened, you were convinced that God is real. Christ is the only way. But, you’ve never cried out to Him and made a commitment to Him. Would you do it right now? You can do it right where you’re at. You can express your faith in prayer. “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I believe You died on the cross, You were raised from the grave and You did this to pay for my sins. I believe that and I receive You now, as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life, forgive me and adopt me into your family. I want to follow you all the days of my life. Even though I still have questions, I’ve decided today to commit my life to You and I trust even my questions to You. Others are here today and you’ve done that. You’ve received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but you’re going through it right now. You’re hurting. You don’t know where to put the pain. It’s too great. The burden is too heavy. You could try to deny it, you could try to bury it, you could become bitter by it or you could cry out, ‘Lord. I’m hurting. How long must I grieve? How long must I ask for help? How long before you move, Lord? But know this, Lord, while I wait, I believe. I trust. I know Your way is better than my way.’ In Jesus’ name. Amen.