Hymn of Faith
Text: Habakkuk 3:16-19
When I heard, my
belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my
bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when
he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and
the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and
there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will
joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD
God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make
me to walk upon mine high places.
Audio Link Background
The book of Habakkuk is a record of running dialogue with
God, a series of questions about evil in the world and God’s people. In the
first two chapters, the prophet speaks with God about evil and its punishment.
In chp 1 he asks God why he tolerates the evil and sin of the Jewish nation. "Hab
1:2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto
thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!" God tells him that the
Chaldeans, the fierce world conquerors, are coming as punishment for just that
sin. Habakkuk then questions if the cure is not worse than the disease. Surely
he ask God, the Babylonians are far worse in their sin even than the children
of Israel.
In chapter
2 God the instructs Habakkuk that once he has used the Chaldeans to sift his
people, to separate the faithful from the hypocrite, the true from the false he
will also deal with the Babylonians as well. It is in this chapter that God
gives to Hab the OT verse most quoted in the NT, chapter 2 verse 4 “Behold, his
soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his
faith." Indeed this is the theme of
the book of Habakkuk, "The just shall live by faith."
Finally, in
Chapter 3 Habakkuk takes his eyes off himself, his people and the Babylonians
and puts them directly on God. It is
then that he writes the "Hymn of Faith" that is the theme of our
sermon this morning.
Introduction: Three Envelopes
Bro. LeRoy
had just been voted in as the new pastor of the largest church in town. The former
pastor who was retiring met with him privately and presented him with three
numbered envelopes, #1,#2, and #3.
"Open these if you run up against a problem you don't think you can
solve."
Things went
along pretty smoothly, but about a year later things took a downturn and Bro.
LeRoy was catching a lot of heat. About
at his wit's end, he remembered the envelopes.
He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read, "Blame your the former
pastor."
Bro. LeRoy
called a business meeting and tactfully laid the blame at the feet of the
previous pastor. Satisfied with his
comments the majority of the church responded positively. Things began to pick up and the problem was
soon behind him.
About a
year later, the church was again experiencing a loss of momentum and
membership, having learned from his
previous experience, Bro. LeRoy quickly opened the second envelope. The message read, "Hold a big revival
and then reorganize." This he did, and the church quickly rebounded.
After
several consecutive productive years, the church once again fell on difficult
times. This time by far the most
difficult of all, but Bro. LeRoy wasn't worried he still had one envelope left.
He went to his office, closed the door, reached inside his desk drawer got the
envelope and with a confidant smile on his face he opened the third envelope.
The message
simply said, "Prepare three envelopes."
How do you deal with difficult times? Most of life’s difficult
times don’t come with three envelopes. How do you make it through? Here is an
even harder question, how do you reconcile God’s love and the harsh realities
of life?
Charles Trumann Wesco was an independent Baptist missionary
who arrived in the West African nation of Cameroon on October 18,2018 along
with his wife and their eight children. They went to serve in the troubled
north-western region, near the town of Bamenda. On October 30, local media
reported that Wesco had died of bullet wounds to the head.
Wesco had just arrived in northwestern Cameroon and was
still in the process of settling in. On October 30, another missionary, Ben
David Sinclair, drove Wesco his wife Stephanie and one of their sons, to the
market in Bamenda so that they could load up on provisions. But along the way,
a bullet shattered the car window, striking Charles Wesco in the head. He was
rushed to the hospital in Bamenda, but he did not survive.
How can anyone believe , how can anyone claim to be a Christian
when the world is filled with pain suffering and death and even those who are
serving God are not protected? And yet that is exactly what we see, time and
time again. People like the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk we will look at
today, or David, Daniel, Isaiah or the apostles and millions even billions have
believed. They have taken the worst blows the world can beat them with and
remained faithful, even growing stronger in their faith. Take for example the
background of the man Habakkuk that we
are looking at today from Habakkuk
Fruit Failed Habakkuk 3:16-17
16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered
at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that
I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will
invade them with his troops. 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and
the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there
shall be no herd in the stalls:
Israel’s Sustenance Gone
Habakkuk sees the future of Israel and he is filled with a
terror so great that it makes him physically ill. when he knows that all will fail.
Everything they count on to sustain themselves will be gone
when the Babylonians arrive like a plague and destroy their nation's wealth,
prosperity and even food supply.
The punishment for Israel’s sin, their apathy and their
disregard of God will cost them everything they hold dear, everything they had put
their trust, to replace God, in will be gone.
In Our Own Loss
None of us are prophets, we can't see as Habakkuk did, the
problems even the catastrophes that are coming our way. I'm glad I can't, it would almost be a double
test of faith, once when I saw it coming then again when it finally hit. Yet I don’t have to be a prophet to know that
this world is filled with sin and evil, that terrible things do happen to good
people. That it wouldn’t take much for any of us to be wiped out financially or
have our health fail. I read a story just this past week on my newsfeed from
the Washington Post that said in 2018 “About 46 percent of Americans said they
did not have enough money to cover a $400 emergency expense. Instead, they
would have to put it on a credit card and pay it off over time, borrow from
friends or family, or simply not cover it at all.”
Whether I am willing to see it or not, there will always
come times in our life when we are left with nothing, no resources, no
finances, no way of seeing our way through with what we used to be able to
depend upon. How do you deal with that reality of life? How do you prepare for
it?
If you know God, if you “walk by faith” as Habakkuk had
declared then you will deal with it. Your are already prepared for it by your
faith in God and His working in your life even through and sometimes even using
the difficulties. That kind of real faith makes all the difference.
The Psalmist said it this way in Psalms 46:1-5 God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble. Therefore will
not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
Illustration: Fitted down here
A preacher from years ago used to tell this story, when
asked the question we are asking this morning. He said, "I have a friend
who during the depression lost a job, a fortune, a wife, and a home, but
tenaciously held to his faith, the only thing he had left.
One day he stopped
to watch some men building a stone church. One of them was chiseling a
triangular piece of rock. 'What are you going to do with that?' asked my
friend. The workman said, 'Do you see that little opening way up there near the
spire? Well, I'm shaping this down here so that it will fit up there.'
Tears filled the eyes of the heart-broken man as he walked
away. God had spoken to him through the workman to give him hope and strength
in the ordeal he was passing through.
Transition: Being fitted down here through adversity is not
automatic in depends on doing what Habakkuk did next in verse 18.
Fear Forsaken Habakkuk 3:18
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my
salvation.
Joy In The Lord
Habakkuk, despite all that was happening and all that was
going to happen say, “I will rejoice”
Now this is not foolhardiness, nor is it a joy based upon
wishfulness or some kind of a foolish denial of the facts of life. Habakkuk’s
statement, "I will rejoice in the LORD (Jehovah) I will joy in God” shows
why this was a true as the harshness and pain he saw coming. It was real, it
was true because his joy was based on something more lasting than the oldest
fruit orchard in Israel, more protected than any cattle in the stall. His joy was based upon God who never fails and
who never quits. His foundation for rejoicing is on the everlasting, loving and
faithful God of Israel and in Him there was a joy deeper than the depts of
life’s sorrows.
My Joy In What?
What is my joy built upon? What do I rejoice in? Is it the
circumstances of life? Is it the absence
of difficulties, sorrows or trails? Is
it the lack of trouble? Is it the amount
of money I have in the bank, my job, or my good health? Are these the things that my joy is built
upon? For many of us that is our hope, that is the sum total of my joy, that
life will just be okay and I can kind of coast through it with no real
difficulties. Yet we all know that is not life, that is not reality. Troubles
always come, health fails, money can’t buy happiness it often buys just the
opposite. That is the truth and we must find a way of dealing with that
reality.
Jesus talked about this in the book of John chapters 14 -16.
As the Lord was preparing his disciples for the most difficult time they would
ever endure he uses the word joy 7 times. Isn’t that incredible? They were
going to see their teacher and friend arrested, mocked, beaten and crucified
and Jesus warns them of this but he tells them about joy.
John 15:11 These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your
joy might be full.
John 16:20 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall
rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
And not only did he speak of joy for his disciples but also
for us today. Look at …
John 17:13 And now
come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they (that’s you
and I) might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Their joy and if I am willing, my joy is a gift given us
both from the Lord. That joy was not
dependent on anything in this world but upon the eternal and unfailing God of
eternity.
Illustration: When Jesus had calmed the storm he then asks the disciples, "Where was your faith?"
He did not ask them why didn’t they have faith, he asks them
where their faith was. Where could their faith be found? Their answer should
have been, “Our faith is in Thee.”
In the midst our depressions, our quitting, our cynicism, our fear and disappointments I think the Lord
is asking us, “Where is your faith? Where is your joy? It not in things out
there in things or possessions, they will fail. But your joy should be right here
in me.”
Transition: Let’s look at Habakkuk’s final statement, the ending to his
hymn of faith.
Faith Fortified Habakkuk 3:19
The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like
hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
Running Stronger, Swifter, Higher
Habakkuk after looking at the coming desolation of Israel,
the war, the ruin the loss then looks to his God, he looks to Jehovah declares
that that in his God he will find greater strength. Not only strength but he
also says. He will make my feet like
hinds feet. Hinds are a type of gazelle and it is an animal that when it
runs from a predator will often leaps high into the air.
He also says of God He will make me to walk upon my high
places. He may have to go through the dark valley but in his God he would run
up a mountain to the high and bright places only God could lead him to.
Habakkuk didn't deny the troubles around him, but he would not
let the troubles deny the joy of know his God. He understood that God would use
the trial to make him stronger, swifter and place him on higher ground.
Look how it was stated by another prophet of God in Isaiah
40:30-31 Even the youths shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the
LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Running Away or Through?
How will you deal with the pain, sorrow and difficulties of
life, that we all will face? Will the negative things of this world beat us up
or lift us up? Will they make us run away or will we find what is needed like
Habakkuk and instead of running from them run right through them?
Can we understand that the troubles you may be going through
are going to be used by God to make you stronger, swifter and place you higher?
Can you see that if you will sing the hymn of faith, the sorrows of this world
will bring you closer to Himself?
The way you deal with trouble is also a measurement of your relationship
and knowledge of God. If the difficulties
rob me of my joy and bring me to bitterness and emptiness it means that I
really don't know the God as I should as I need to.
Let me give you the testimonies of a some other followers of
God.
Oswald Chambers was a missionary and a chaplain during WWI.
He died in Egypt caring for the British troops. Oswald Chambers, "The Christian
is hilarious when crushed by difficulties for he knows the situation is
ludicrously impossible except to God."
Quote from Nehemiah, the man who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem
by telling the people to hold a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other.
After they had finished and withstood the opposition, the people were told, "The
Joy of the Lord is my Strength."
Brother Lawrence was a poor man who became a soldier to be
able to eat, He was wounded and then entered a priory in France to work as a
cook and later as a the man who repair the other monks sandals. He said this, “I
know not how God will dispose of me. I
am always happy. All the world suffers;
and I, who deserve the severest discipline, feel joys so continual and so great
that I can scarce contain them.”
These knew God and in the knowledge of God they found joy
and strength and through Him and escape from the pain and suffering of this
world. He gave them the ability to leap for joy in the midst of sorrow and to
know the peace of walking the high places even in the midst of turmoil.
Conclusion:
We began this message with the very recent and tragic death
of Charles Wesco. Many of the news stories I read this week ended with a quote
from Charles younger brother Timothy Wesco, who is a Republican politician
representing the 21st district of Indiana in the state House of
Representatives. When he was asked by local reporters about his brother’s
death, Timothy said this, “He loved the Lord. He loved people.” And then
quoting from the book of Job he added this very short powerful hymn of faith. “The
Lord giveth. The Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Can you sing your own hymn of faith this morning? If you
could see all the hard times that were coming down the days and years ahead of
you, could you rejoice? Would those harsh realities make you stronger, swifter
and drive you higher or would they destroy you? The difference for you is the
same that made the difference for Habakkuk, Isaiah, Oswald Chambers or the old
wounded soldier and cook Bro. Lawrence. The difference is knowing and trusting
God. Difficulties even catastrophes are coming but God is always right here.
Are you putting your faith in Him today?
AWESOME message! PTL!!!
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