Would You Do it Again, Lord?
God Questions: An Exposition of Habakkuk

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Good morning, church! It is good to see all of you here this morning. We’re continuing our series through the book of Habakkuk. We’ve been going verse by verse through the book of Habakkuk for the past four weeks and today we’re in part four. We’ve entitled this series, “God Questions.” Habakkuk is a little book, it is only three chapters, but it has big questions. It’s asking questions of God, questions that maybe you’ve asked. As we’ve covered these past few weeks, we see Habakkuk asking questions like, ‘How long Lord? How long before You answer me? I’m crying out to You.’ God gives him an answer; he doesn’t like that answer, so he asks, ‘Why Lord? Why did You say that? Why are You doing this?’ Habakkuk begins to wonder where God is at right now. He asks, ‘Where are You, Lord?’ These are the kind of questions Habakkuk is asking, but he’s asking them all by faith. He’s not questioning God’s existence. He’s just questioning what God is up to and he’s troubled by it. He’s in pain and he’s suffering some grief, so he’s crying out to God.

Throughout the scriptures, we see this. We see it in the book of Psalms. It’s called a lament in literature. For a believer, lament is crying out to God but keeping the faith. You’re crying out to God with your questions, your complaints and your concerns, but you’re not questioning God’s existence, you’re just questioning what God’s doing because you want to understand. It’s not that you are skeptical of God; you believe in God, but you’re struggling. That’s a lament.

The key verse of this book, as we’ve said, is found in chapter two where it says, Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV) “… but the righteous shall live by his faith.” That’s the key verse. That’s the verse most quoted in the New Testament; it comes from the book of Habakkuk. It’s this idea that Habakkuk is praying to God. He’s crying out his questions and complaints, but he’s keeping the faith at the same time.

It reminds me of what Mark Vroegop, in his book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, says, “Lament is a pathway to praise when life gets hard.” Christian lament is the pathway to praise when life gets hard. That’s what we see in the book of Habakkuk. The whole three chapters together is a lament and it ends as all laments in the scripture do–it ends with praise. That’s where we’re at. We’re getting up to that section now in chapter three, where His praise is evident.

I wonder, are you hurting today? Are you going through a season of pain and grief today? Maybe, you are going through grief from a broken relationship, maybe grief from having lost a loved one . Maybe, it’s some situation you’re in that you’re struggling with today that you’re wondering, Does God even care? Does God care what I’m going through? It could be that you had a dream of what your life was supposed to turn out to be and now you feel like your life’s a million miles away from that which you dreamed. You’re starting to ask questions of God like Habakkuk did. God, why don’t you intervene in my life? Why am I going through what I’m going through? As you look at the scripture you wonder, Where are the miracles? I see all of these miracles in Your word. Would You do it again, Lord?

That seems to be what Habakkuk is asking, ‘Lord, I see You and I see what You’ve done. I believe in You. Would You do it again? Would You act in my life right now? Would You move in my life right now?

I wonder today, would you be interested in learning how to do what Habakkuk is really teaching us how to do? Would you be interested in learning how to lift up your griefs, your hurts and even your questions? Would You do it again, Lord? Cry out to the Lord, so that you get real help;He will turn your pain into praise.

That’s what we’re looking at today. In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet lifted up his cry to the Lord by faith. He turned his lament into praise. I believe, today, that the Lord wants to do that in your life. He wants to take that which you’re crying out to Him and turn it into praise and into joy. He wants to turn your pain into praise.

Let’s look at Habakkuk. We’re in chapter three; we’re going to take uh two weeks to cover chapter three. Today, we’ll cover the first fifteen verses and then we’ll save those last few verses for next Sunday .

Habakkuk 3:1-15 (ESV) 1 “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. 2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. 3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power. 5 Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. 6 He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation? 9 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear. 12 You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger. 13 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah 14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters.” This is God’s word. Amen.

We’re looking for three ways that our lament turns into praise.

OUR LAMENT TURNS INTO PRAISE WHEN WE…

1. Worship God for who He is.

The first way is when we worship God for who He is. Let’s make no mistake, as we look at chapter three, that we see Habakkuk has moved from his real questions to more of a time of praise. In fact, he invites all believers to praise God with him. He starts with a new title; he begins saying that this is an oracle of the prophet Habakkuk. In chapter one, verse one, the word, “oracle,” we said could also be translated, “burden.” God has given Habakkuk a “burden” and he shares it with us for two chapters.

But now in chapter three, even though he hasn’t had his questions all answered and even the ones he has had answered, he’s not sure he likes the answer, he still decides to say, ‘God, I’m going to worship You anyway. even though I don’t completely understand what You’re doing. Even though I don’t even know how I’m going to get through what I’m going through. I’m going to worship You anyway.’ You might be asking me, ‘Gary, where are you seeing this in the scripture? Where do you see Habakkuk worshiped anyway?’

Well, first of all, he calls this last chapter a “prayer.” Notice that. But really, this is more of a psalm than it is a prayer. It’s more of a song to be sung and he gives us what we believe in Hebrew is “musical notation.” We’re not even quite sure what some of these words mean. The first one we encounter, and we only see it in one other place and that’s in one of David’s Psalms, is the word “shigionoth,” which is left untranslated. They just left it in Hebrew because no one’s positive of what it means. But, we believe it’s a musical notation that’s basically saying, “here’s the beat,” or “here’s the musical instruments.” Something like that. Maybe, how you’re supposed to sing this song. We see three places in what I just read where it says, “Selah,” which is another word that they left in the Hebrew. We think it may mean “to pause and meditate on what you were just saying.” But, we’re not sure about that one. They both fall into the category of words, used in the Psalms, that may have something to do with musical notation.

Some that have really looked into the root of the word, “shigionoth,” say it could mean to sing it with passion or with rapid changes of rhythm; it could be an instruction to how to play the beat. I think mainly here’s what Habakkuk is saying to us – ‘When you sing this song, get “shiggy” with it. I know that some of you are ashamed of me right now. It was “low hanging fruit,” But, he has given instruction; this is a worship song. Habakkuk has had all these hard questions; he is really dealing with them. But, he wants to sing this song to the Lord – I want to worship Him for who He is.

Notice how he begins it in verse two. He says, “O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” I want to sing about You. I want to worship You in Your work. “Oh Lord, do I fear,” that word, “fear,” here has more of the sense of not the “trembling” kind of fear, but more the “awe and reverent” kind of fear. In fact, in the NIV translation, ” Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” The sense here is of worship . Lord, when I consider You and I focus on You, it lifts my eyes from my troubles and I decide that I am going to worship You anyway. I don’t understand what I’m going through. I’m hurting. I don’t have all of my questions answered, but You’re God and I’m not and I trust You, so I’m going to worship You.

Do you see what Habakkuk’s choosing to do now as he closes out his lament? He says, ‘Come with me and let’s praise the Lord together. I’ve written this song for us to sing together because we serve a great God. His fame is great. I stand in awe of Him. Here is what He’s decided; but now, I’ve decided to seek His face. Instead of just giving my laundry list of what I need – Lord do this for me, do this for me, I just want to look at Him and see His glory.’ Habakkuk decides to worship. He decides to worship God anyway, even though he doesn’t fully understand what he’s going through. Even though he’s still in the midst of it. I’m going to worship You anyway. I’ve heard the report of You. I stand in awe of You.

The psalmist in Psalm 29 writes, Psalm 29:2 (ESV) “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” Give Him glory; give Him worship. It will lift you up from where you are.

Some days, I get up in the morning. First of all, I don’t want to get up. I get up and I don’t want to. I look at my calendar of what’s in front of me that day and I say to myself, I don’t want to do this. Do you ever get like that? Do you ever feel like that? I’ve learned something, though. I’ve learned what David learned in the book of First Samuel. It says that when he was down, he learned to encourage himself in the Lord. Do you know how to do that? Do you know how to encourage yourself in the Lord? David knew how, I think. One of the ways David encouraged himself in the Lord was to write songs. He was a musician; he would play songs and write them.

I’ve got this little bluetooth speaker that sits in my bedroom. I will get my phone and my worship playlist and right before I get in the shower, I “crank” up my speaker. I might not “have my praise on” yet, but before I get out of the shower, there’s some singing going on. My wife will come in and she’ll ask me, “Is it loud enough for you?” I will say to her, “Well, it’s as loud as it’ll go.” My wife still loves me anyway. I’m so glad. But, I have to “get my praise on.” It’s a habit I’ve learned in order to encourage myself and to ask, “Lord, strengthen me for today.” One of the things that strengthens me, as a believer, is to start the day with praise. Rather than asking for help, I ask to seek His face first and ascribe to Him His worth and His glory.

That’s what Habakkuk finally decides – ‘I’ve asked my questions and I’m still hurting, but Lord, I’m going to praise You anyway. That’s what lament is; it’s a pathway to praise. I’m hurting, but I still trust you.’

In the fall of 2001, it had only been three months since my mother had passed away. She passed away at age 66 on July 6th, 2001. I was a pastor; I was actively working as a pastor, planting this church and serving in this church. I thought I would be better after three months; I thought I’d feel better, but I wasn’t. My father died when I was eight years old. My mother died when I was in my early forties and I was aggravated at God. In fact, let me just be honest; I was angry with Him. I didn’t doubt Him, I doubted His care for me at that moment. You’re not fair, Lord. You’re not being fair to me. So, here’s what I’m gonna do; I need to hear from You. I’m going to seek Your face, so I am going to start getting up early and drive to my office. I decided to do this until the Lord deals with me. I began to get up early and drive to our office. We rented this old office building downtown; it was a rundown office building . Some of you that were with us in those days remember. I would get in that office and get down on my face on the carpet every morning by myself, with the door locked before anybody got there. I would cry out, “Lord, speak to me, get with me. Lord be with me!” This particular morning, I said to the Lord, “Lord, I’ve just got to be honest with You. I’m angry with You. I’m upset with You.” I didn’t hear anything as I was laying on my face crying out to Him, but all of a sudden, I felt something come into the room. Now, I’ve rarely ever talked about this because I don’t like to talk about experiences. God doesn’t do “encores” and He’s never done that before since. But this particular day, after several weeks of me getting on my face before the Lord and saying, “Lord, I’m hurting and plus, I’m ticked.” I believe in You, but I don’t feel like You’ve been fair with me.” (I know you are probably thinking, I probably should go to another church. This guy’s messed up.) But, “something” came into the room. I say “something” because, you see, there’s this word for “glory” in the Bible. It’s the Hebrew word, “kavod.” In fact, when there’s no glory, the word is “Ichabod.” “Ichabod” means, “no glory, the glory departed,” but “kavod” means “glory, God’s glory.” It can also be translated as “heavy. “ God’s glory is “heavy.” Something “heavy” came in that room and pressed down on me. It was bigger than anything in that room. I just started crying. I said, “Ok, God. Ok. I have no more questions. Just let me breathe. Let me get up.’ He did. I didn’t lie on that old moldy floor anymore after that. I got my answer . His answer wasn’t a word. It was, ‘I’m God. I’m with you. I hear you.’ He gave me just a glimpse of His glory. He’s God and I’m not.

Our lament turns into praise when we worship and seek His face, instead of seeking His hand or instead of seeking answers. Sometimes, it’s just enough to say, “God, You are God and I am not. I’m ok. Let me up. God, let me up. I want to follow you.” That’s the first way that lament can lead us to praise– when we begin with worship. That’s where Habakkuk is.

OUR LAMENT TURNS INTO PRAISE WHEN WE…

2. Remember what God has done.

Then, Habakkuk does this. He teaches us to remember; remember what God has done. Worship God for who He is and then, remember what He has done. That’s really what Habakkuk is doing in verses three through 15. It’s like he’s written a collage or a montage of other laments throughout the Bible or songs of praise throughout the Bible. It’s like he did a “mash up” of the songs of Moses, the songs of Debra and the songs of David.If you have a Jewish background, you would have been like, ‘Ok, that’s about the commandments in Mount Sinai. That’s about when they were going through the wilderness. That’s when the Red Sea was parted. Habakkuk is remembering what God has done and he’s reminding God, ‘I know that You’ve done these things and I believe it. God, You’re my hero and I see what You’ve done.

If you look at verse two, verse two is really the key to understanding these 15 verses. Verse 2, “O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” He begins to number some of the works of God and he remembers them. I want to go through these quickly, rather than just digging in on each one because we’ll be here for a while if I do that, because we would have to read all of the stories that he’s pointing to.

Let’s do this how the Jewish believers would have done it; they knew the stories, so when they’re singing a song, all of these images pop up in their minds. Verse three and four, “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power.” That’s in the Sinai Peninsula just above the Red Sea, where Moses first led the Israelites. They stopped at Mount Sinai and Moses went up on the mountain. There’s lightning bolts and thunder; Moses goes up there and gets the 10 Commandments. Mt. Paran and Teman are all places in the Sinai Peninsula. Teman and Mt. Paran are in the Sinai region of Edom.

Habakkuk keeps going in verse 5, “Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels.” Now, that is Korah’s rebellion. Korah was one of the people who was saying, ‘Why can’t we leave Moses? Why does he have to be the leader? I feel like I could be the leader.’ They rebel and God sends a plague upon the people. Habakkuk is pointing to this; they’re taking this journey. They’ve left Mount Sinai, they’re going north up towards the Promised Land on the east side of the Jordan River. The rebellion of Korah and the plague takes place in Numbers 16.

Verses six and seven seem to be talking about the conquest of the land of Canaan, because he talks about the uh the land of Cushan and the land of Midian 6 “He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.” He’s moved up past the Sinai Peninsula. He’s going up on the east side of the river Jordan , going toward the north. He is talking about the Israelites doing it, but God is the hero that is making it happen. He’s describing how they overthrew the Midianites and that land of Cushan, which is the area.

Then he continues; he gets into verse eight and nine. 8 “Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation? 9 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. Selah . Now,You split the earth with rivers.” Habakkuk writes this section in question form, which makes it very interesting because these are rhetorical questions. God, were You mad at the Red Sea when You parted it? Were You angry with the river Jordan when You parted it? It could be either of those stories. I think it’s probably whenever He parted the Red Sea and He allowed the Israelites to go across on dry land. Then, He closed it back whenever Pharaoh’s army came and followed. This is God heroically moving and this is how he’s telling the story.

God’s doing all of this. God’s doing all of this. It could be back in Exodus or it could be in Joshua when God reproduced a similar miracle in order to show that His hand was upon Joshua. Moses has died and Joshua is crossing and going west across the Jordan river. If you remember that story, God parted the Jordan river, so it could be either of those stories, but that’s what they’re singing about. Habakkuk is saying, ‘Come sing with me about this. Let’s remember together the miracles that God has done in the past.’

Verse 10 says, “The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high.” The latter part of verse nine also says, “You split the earth with rivers.” This seems to be talking about where Moses was told by God that the people were thirsty. God tells Moses, ‘I want you to take your staff and strike the rock and a river of water will come out.’ This is what Habakkuk is singing about here. He’s singing about how God miraculously brought forth water from the rock, from Exodus, chapter 17.

In verse 11 it says, “The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear.” Now, he’s talking about the solar miracle that Joshua called for when he was fighting the battle at Gibeon against the Amorites in Joshua, chapter 10. Do you see what he’s doing? He’s telling the stories of how God heroically saved his people and gave them the land of Canaan.

Then, Habakkuk switches from talking about these miracles of nature, in verses 13 to 15, to miracles of God, how God acted heroically against Israel’s enemies.

I went really quickly through all of that, didn’t I? But, that’s really kind of the way it’s supposed to be read. We’re supposed to be familiar with these stories because we’re God’s people. When we see the imagery, we see what he’s doing; he’s leading us to sing a song of all of the heroic, miraculous deeds that God has done in the past. That’s what’s happening. He calls us to this and he’s teaching us something that this helps us. When we remember what God has done in the past, it increases our faith.

It says in the book of Psalms, Psalm 77:11-13 (ESV) 11 “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?” This is what we’re called to.

In fact, Jesus teaches us to do this, as the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (ESV) 23 “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” You see, we’re forgetful people; we’re forgetful.

One of the reasons we gather weekly is to remind each other of what Jesus has done for us, what God has done for us. We even offer the Lord’s Supper on Sunday mornings, which was instituted by the Lord Jesus as a way of remembrance of His miraculous sacrifice on the cross , which gives us salvation.

One of the pathways through pain and through grief is worship – to seek His face. Another is to think of, be thankful for and remember what He’s already done in the past. We get stuck in the moment; we forget what He’s done and it’s to remind ourselves to remember what He has done. Our lament turns into praise when we remember how far God has brought us.

When I consider our church, I think about our church back in 1991, in the fall of 1991, when we first got the idea of planting a church in Eastern North Carolina in a little place called Wilson. We had seven people meet in my living room and two of them were me and my wife. We were big, right? Then, we started growing; an upstairs bedroom was a nursery. Then, we needed a youth group, so we opened up our garage. The church started in our house. We still live in that same house. We’re right here ; God called us here. Thirty-two years later, here we are. When I think about it all, there were times when I would pray, “God, get me out of here. This is too hard.” But, I wouldn’t take anything for those moments now. Because, when I remember how far God has brought us, church, I’m thankful. It helps me when I see what God has done in the past. It reminds me of who God is and that God is not finished. God is not finished with you. He’s not finished with me.

When you look at your life, do you see God’s work in your past? Do you see where God has been at work in your past? Maybe even in your most painful moments, He was at work. Remember, this is one of the pathways to understanding and growing. To move your pain into praise.

OUR LAMENT TURNS INTO PRAISE WHEN WE…

3. Trust that God is working now.

Now, when we recognize who He is and all the work that He’s done, we also trust that He’s working right now. He’s at work right now.

Look at what Habakkuk says. Remember, I told you that verse two really helps us understand chapter three. “O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” Could You do these things You did back in the day? Could You do them again? Could You bring back those miracles? Could You act as our hero again? Lord, could You move miraculously in my life today? Would You revive it again? Lord, in the midst of the years, would You make it known? I’m going to sing a song to You about all the things You’ve done, but would You do it again, Lord, in my life and in my family’s life. Lord, I’ve seen all these miracles . Not only that, because we’re New Testament believers. We’ve seen the miracles of Jesus. Lord, I’ve seen and read about what You’ve done. Would You do it again? Revive it, Lord, in the midst of the years. Right in the middle of my situation, would You act miraculously?

That’s what Habakkuk is asking, that God would revive in the midst of the years. This could be translated, “to quicken,” “to refresh uh uh to bring it back. Would you do it again? Lord, as you were in the days of old, would you do it again? He believes that God will work again. He believes that God is still at work and that God is not an “absentee landlord.” He’s still active. He’s on the throne and He’s still sovereign.He’s still at work.

In the midst of the years, revive it. “O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it ;” Lord in the midst of my years, would You bring back Your fame, Your glory and Your work? Would You make it plain so nobody can miss it?

At the end of verse two, it says, “in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk is saying this because God brought His wrath in the past; Habakkuk knows that He will move in judgment, but he doesn’t want Him to forget mercy. Now, maybe when he’s saying, “don’t forget mercy,” he might have been saying, ‘Remember me when you act; remember me, remember us.’ But, I think he was actually calling on God to do something that he already knows is true of God. He already knows it’s true of God – God’s wrath, which is His righteous response to man’s sin, is not like man’s wrath. His wrath is not out of His control. He’s not like an angry man who acts out of control. His wrath is a righteous, just response to man’s sin that He holds back until He must act according to His timing and His mercy mediates His wrath.

We see it blended on the cross, don’t we? We see on the cross, the “transaction,” if you will, the “intersection” between God’s holy judgment and God’s merciful love that He judged our sin in the person of Jesus. As we learned last week, all of our woes of judgment fell on Jesus, so He could show mercy to us.

Here’s Habakkuk. He hasn’t seen Jesus; he doesn’t know Jesus. This is before Jesus. But Habakkuk, by faith, knows His God and he asks, ‘God, when You judge, remember to be merciful.’

Then, we see these little “snippets” of foreshadowing. In verse eight, we see the word, “salvation.” Then, we see it twice in verse 13; we see the word, ”salvation” twice. Verse 13 says, “You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck.” Habakkuk just trusts Him. Even though Babylon is coming to judge them, Habakkuk trusts that what He is doing is what He has done in the past – He is bringing His salvation for His anointed. Certainly, when he uses the word “anointed,” he, first of all, has to be talking “to be anointed with oil,” which means “to be chosen by, to be called by or named by.” He’s probably talking about God’s chosen people. God, I just pray that whenever You bring Your judgment, that You would, in mercy, remember Your anointed people.He’s probably thinking about that.

There’s a little challenge with interpreting the word, “anointed,” that way because, in the Hebrew, it is in the masculine singular. We don’t have these kinds of things in our English language. But, if you’ve studied French, Spanish or any Latin language, they have masculine plural, masculine singular, feminine plural and feminine singular. They have these different voicings and tenses. When you look at it in the Hebrew, it’s in the masculine singular, which means the anointed one singular, which could have meant that he’s talking about things that Moses was the leader of. Certainly, Moses was anointed by God, but I think he’s talking about something else because the Hebrew word for anointed one is “Messiah.” “Messiah” is in the masculine singular.

He says, in verse 13, “You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed.” The Messiah, in the Greek New Testament, is “Christos,” which we translate as “Christ, the Anointed One.” This is before Jesus came. But, in Habakkuk’s day it referred to God’s anointed people in general and hoped for king/deliverer in particular.

‘Would you make known your salvation through the anointed one?’ Even what He does with Israel at this time, even what He does with Judah during this time, He’s bringing to pass the coming of “the Anointed One,” the coming of the Messiah. Habakkuk is learning that, even in the midst of this trial and trouble, God’s still at work. He’s at work right now. You might not see it, but He’s at work right now, bringing to pass His salvation.

Whenever Jesus was asked about the Father’s working, here is what He said in John 5:17 (NLT) But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” You might be sitting here today, thinking, God, would you do it again? God might be saying, I’m doing it right now. You might not see it, but I’m already at work and I’m bringing to pass that which will bring salvation.

How can we apply this to our life? How can we learn from what Habakkuk has learned here ? I believe that one of the ways is that we can pray like Habakkuk did. We can say, ‘Lord revive me. Bring back life in me, so that I have more faith, so that I have a more mature faith.’ Then we can pray for the Lord to revive us corporately – ‘Lord, revive our church. Revive us so that we see You move, that we can see Jesus as our hero and that we can see You bringing Your merciful salvation to this world. Lord, revive us. Let revival begin with us and let it pour out to the other churches in Wilson County, to the churches that are preaching the gospel. Let’s join arms in collaboration. God, bring revival to Wilson. Bring revival to Eastern North Carolina. Even in the midst of what we’re going through, God, we know that You’re at work. We know that You desire that all men, women and children hear Your gospel. Show us how we can give every person multiple opportunities to hear, see and respond to the Gospel. Revive us Lord.’

We can also pray as Habakkuk prayed, ‘God in your wrath, remember mercy. Jesus is coming again.. Jesus came the first time in mercy. He came the first time as Savior, as a lamb of God. But, when He comes again, He comes as King of Kings, to judge the earth and to take those unto Himself that are the anointed ones of God because they believed in the Anointed One.’

He’s coming again. God’s at work. He’s at work now. He’s been at work in the past. We can worship Him for that. We can believe that He’s at work right now and ultimately, He will “wrap it all up.” That’s what we believe as Christians. It gives us power to move our pain to praise. It gives us a pathway.

This reminds me of a song that we’ve sung many times here. It’s called “Way Maker.” “Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are.” Then it goes to this verse, “Even when I don’t see it, You’re working. Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working. You never stop, You never stop working. You never stop, you never stop working.” God’s at work. The reason you might not notice it today is because you haven’t leaned in and remembered. You haven’t looked on His face and remembered how He’s worked in your past and trusting Him that He’s at work in your future. When you do, , trust what God’s word says in Habakkuk. It turns our lament, it turns our pain into praise. God’s at work. He’s not finished.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank You for Your word. Lord, we worship You even now, even when we don’t understand everything. Even when life doesn’t always make sense and it hurts You are God and we trust You. Lord, help us, move us to that place of praise. I pray for those that are here today that might be hurting, Lord, that you’d show them a pathway to praise, a place of joy, so that even in our grief, we still do so with hope. Lord, I pray for that one that might not know You today. A way of salvation has been made through Jesus. Would you receive Him today? Would you decide today? ‘I want Christ as my Savior. I want Him as my Lord.’ You could pray that right now. Prayer is just expressing your faith with words. Would you pray with me? ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe that You died on the cross for my sin and that You were raised from the grave. I believe that. Come and live in me. Make me the person You want me to be. I want to be adopted into the family as a child of God. I want to follow You all the days of my life as my Lord and Savior.’ If you’re praying that prayer of faith, believing, He’ll save you and make you His own. Others are here and, and you love the Lord. You’re a follower of Jesus, but maybe you’re stuck somewhere on the path. Maybe you’re angry at God about something, hurt or grieving. Maybe you have questions. Cry out to the Lord. He’s listening. He’s at work. He loves us. Lord, hear us now. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.