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[0:00] You could say it's an obscure book of the Bible. And I know some of you have got these pulpit Bibles. And just to help those that do, it's page 705 in this one.

[0:15] Page 705, the book of Habakkuk. So it's the fifth from the end of your Old Testament. The fifth book from the end of your Old Testament.

[0:26] So if you go, obviously, Malachi and flick back a few pages there, you'll come to Habakkuk. It's a bit of a short book, only three chapters. Question is, are you searching for answers?

[0:45] Have I got the book for you? This is the one, the book of Habakkuk. The book that has the answers for you and me for the now.

[0:58] You might say, how come? This book was written 600 BC. It's a very old book. And yet it has answers that are real and relevant and true for you and me, for our lives, for the here and now.

[1:13] Now, Habakkuk. Now, it's kind of interesting, these kind of books of the Old Testament that you may not turn to much or may not be that familiar with.

[1:24] And yet they're full of gospel truth. Habakkuk was a minor prophet. You know, these smaller prophet, prophetical books, the smaller books by these lesser-known prophets are called minor prophets.

[1:39] Habakkuk was a minor prophet grappling with some major questions, some major questions. He wanted answers, answers from God.

[1:51] This was where we see in chapter 1. These are chapters 1, 2, and 3. Chapter 1 is about a burden. Chapter 2 is about a vision. Chapter 3 is his praise.

[2:02] We're going to look at these in order. And Habakkuk wanted some answers for hard questions. And these same questions we can ask today. Why is the world in such a mess?

[2:17] That might be a question you could ask. I know sometimes I think that. Why are things in such a mess? How can God allow evil? Why does God not seem to answer when I cry out to him?

[2:32] Habakkuk looks at these age-old, universal, worldwide, history-wide questions, really, aren't they? The problem of evil and human suffering in our world.

[2:46] And I put to you today, we can learn from Habakkuk. How to have faith in God? While life doesn't seem to make sense at times.

[2:57] And how we look back on his faithfulness and we look forward in faith, trusting him for our future. Habakkuk is a two-way conversation, a dialogue, an interchange between God and man.

[3:15] God and the prophet have this interchange, this conversation. And Habakkuk asks, why do good people suffer?

[3:28] Why must they suffer? And also he asks, why do cruel people seem to succeed? That can happen, can't it? We know that. And Habakkuk's book, it begins with doubt, but it closes with faith.

[3:45] It opens with gloom and it closes with glory. And the key message for us from Habakkuk is trust in the Lord.

[3:57] God is in control and his purposes will prevail. And we can trust God no matter what. Habakkuk teaches us these things.

[4:09] So let's dive in. Now, strangely enough, Habakkuk starts at chapter 1, verse 1. That is where we're going to start. Let's dive in. Habakkuk, chapter 1, verse 1.

[4:22] It starts off with the burden. The burden which Habakkuk, the prophet, did see. The prophet has a burden here.

[4:33] A burdensome message. This is the first part of the book, the burden. He struggled and he wrestled in prayer. He wrestled with God, like Jacob.

[4:47] Habakkuk 1, verse 2. What is he saying? O Lord, how long shall I cry? And thou wilt not hear. Even cry out unto thee of violence.

[5:00] And thou wilt not say. He tells of the violence. He tells of the contention. He tells of situations there that are not right.

[5:14] He says, how long will I call for help? And you will not hear. When we pray, we have to wait. The answers are not always then and there, immediate.

[5:31] When we pray, we must wait on the Lord. Habakkuk saw how the people disregarded God's law.

[5:43] And what did it bring? Violence and destruction. Strife. Injustice. We see these in the opening words here. And what does God answer?

[5:55] In chapter 1, verse 5. He says, behold ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously. For I will work a work in your days. And you will not believe, though it be told you.

[6:08] The Lord's telling Habakkuk here, something amazing is on its way. Something that he would find it even hard to believe. I will work a work in your days.

[6:21] God gave a promise to the burdened Habakkuk. It goes on. Chapter 1, verse 6. For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.

[6:42] The Chaldeans or the Babylonians, interchangeable term, were going to come. God says, I will do a work. I'm going to bring in the Babylonians. I will use the Babylonians.

[6:55] Now, these people were cruel. They were vicious. They were cruel. They would take lands from other countries, lands that did not belong to them. They were really out there.

[7:07] They were terrible and dreadful people, it says in verse 7. They are terrible and dreadful.

[7:20] The Babylonians. People were scared of them. They were a fierce and to be feared people. Fierce and to be feared.

[7:33] Chapter 1, verse 9. It says what they would do. They would capture prisoners, it says. And the picture there is like someone would scoop up sand at the beach side. This is the picture here in chapter 1, verse 9.

[7:46] That they would capture prisoners and they would kind of scoop them up like you'd scoop sand at the beach side. What a picture. Just big masses of people.

[7:57] They would just scoop them up and capture and control and take over. And then chapter 1, verse 10. It tells how they would make fun of kings and rulers. They would just laugh at the fortresses that they would withstand.

[8:10] They'd build these siege walls and they would just march right on in and capture them. And just ransack them and take them over. The Babylonians.

[8:22] Are on their way. Habakkuk responds further now. He complains. How Babylon was even worse than Israel. It just didn't seem fair.

[8:34] Things were going from bad to worse. Not only have we got this violence and this disregard of the Torah of God's law in Judah. But we've got the Babylonians coming in now.

[8:47] To take over and cause more chaos. And the prophet complains about how Babylon was coming.

[8:57] And it didn't seem right. Habakkuk said, chapter 1, verse 13. Habakkuk said, chapter 1, verse 13. Habakkuk said, Habakkuk said, Habakkuk said, Habakkuk said, Habakkuk said, You can't look favourably on wickedness.

[9:13] What are you doing? What's happening here? He was struggling to understand God's plan. What was God's purpose? Have you ever been there in prayer? Where it seems, What are you doing, Lord?

[9:24] Things are getting harder. It's getting worse. How long? I'm waiting, Lord. I'm crying out. I need you to help. It goes next to chapter 2.

[9:38] I'm just really picking out some of the salient points here. You might want to read this in full. And this is really my take on it. So chapter 2, verse 1, we see what happens next.

[9:50] We're getting to the vision. Number 2, there's a different section here, chapter 2. What does Habakkuk say? I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower.

[10:01] Here he is on the ramparts, on the watchtower, on the bulwark of the wall. And he says, I will watch to see what he will say unto me.

[10:12] And what shall I answer when I am reproved? Habakkuk says, I will stand like a guard. And I'm going to watch what's going to happen. I'm going to station myself on the lookout tower.

[10:24] I'm going to keep watch to see what he will say to me. This was the first part of the book, The Burden. He was crying out. Chaos, violence, the Babylonians coming now.

[10:35] And now we see that God gives him a new take on it. He opens his eyes to see the vision of what God's grand plan was.

[10:49] Now we can be like Habakkuk and stay in chapter 1 with the burden, with the complaining, with the confusion, with the despair, with disappointments, with hurt feelings, with struggles, with struggling, even angry at God.

[11:07] What are you doing, Lord? I don't understand what you're doing. What you're doing with me? Where am I going? What's your plan? Not understanding what his end game is.

[11:20] Because God's got a bigger view, a bigger vision than our little vision. You know, I like to think, for me, my vision's impaired somewhat.

[11:34] I look back, look at some of you on the back row, you look a bit fuzzy. You know, something wrong with your faces. You know, the vision's not so clear about you. I can see a few smiles back there, but, you know, my vision is impaired.

[11:48] But, you know, one day we'll see as we are seeing, won't we? We'll see his plan. We'll see God's bird's eye view, as it were, of eternity, past to future and forever.

[12:01] We'll see God's picture, God's perspective, and our vision will be much clearer then. But we see here, the second part of the book of Habakkuk is the vision.

[12:11] God gave Habakkuk a clearer vision of what he was doing, what was happening. Habakkuk 2 verse 2. And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it.

[12:28] He says, write this down clearly. Even that someone running could read it. Even so that this message is going to be easy to read. It's going to be very clear. It's going to be very plain. He goes on to show Habakkuk how that, as God, he can do and use even the godless for his plan.

[12:53] God can. He did. And he does use even the godless for his plan. We see that through the word, don't we? The situations with Pharaoh, with Nebuchadnezzar, with various situations and rulers, some of them godless.

[13:10] Yet God had a plan. And God used even the godless to do his will, ultimately. And really, Habakkuk, the Lord shows Habakkuk how that he will also judge them in his good time.

[13:30] You know, we're doing a bit of a promotion for this meeting coming up Friday, the creation meeting. And we had some people responding over messaging, saying, oh, these bad things have happened.

[13:44] I don't believe in God anymore because of this, that and the other. Bad situations have happened to me. Look at what churches are doing. It's disgusting. These vile creatures who are causing hurt to young children.

[13:58] Children, all the vile things that people throw up as bad things that have happened. People are struggling to understand. Not understanding. And friends today, that can be some people stay there in that situation of despair.

[14:12] And I'm just reaching out to them and trying to reach these people. To encourage them. To spend time with them. To take one-to-one time with them. To talk through with them. To help them understand.

[14:22] To help God helping me as much as how can I understand. Yet that God has got a bigger picture. That's the point. God's got a bigger picture than we can understand. And that he will judge them in his own good time.

[14:38] They will wear it. These ones have done dastardly things. The Lord will judge them in his own good time. And God pronounces judgment on the Babylonians.

[14:51] He was angry at their pride. We read that further in Habakkuk 2. We see that the Lord was angry at the Babylonians. He was angry. They were a proud people.

[15:01] They were a God-rejecting people. They were a God-spurning people. And that's still true today. The Bible says God is angry at the wicked every day.

[15:12] He's as angry as these people are that are contacting me. He's as angry as some of you might have been. When you've seen situations that have hurt, of loss, of tragedy, of grief.

[15:24] God is angry. He's angry at the wicked every day. He's been angry since Eden. But God has a plan. And he's made a plan. And he's made a preparation.

[15:34] And he's offering salvation. Even the wicked can be saved if they will simply trust him. But God is angry with the wicked. And he's angry with their wrongdoing. And they will face his wrath.

[15:48] We don't want to be in their shoes. Do not be in their shoes. Get right with God. Don't stay on the wrath side.

[16:00] Get on the right side. Amen. He will right the wrongs. And we read on one of the most pivotal statements of the book of Habakkuk. Not just of the book of Habakkuk. But of the whole Bible.

[16:11] It's chapter 2 verse 4. Behold his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. But the just shall live by his faith.

[16:24] The soul of this one. The Babylonians. The soul is not right. It's not upright. It's lifted up. Prideful. It's proud. It's puffed up. He's saying look at this.

[16:34] Look at this. Behold. Look at this. This proud one. Puffed up. His soul is not right with him. We see people like that don't we?

[16:46] The prideful. The proud. The puffed up. Why do I need God? I've got it all. I've got everything I need. That's what they would say isn't it?

[16:57] With their own inflated egos. They have a sin problem. They're like this balloon. That will be deflated. And they will be shown as what they are.

[17:08] Empty and vain. Just like a balloon. Puffed up is the sense of it here. This lifted up. This puffed up. This proud one. These prideful inflated egos. People who say I did it my way.

[17:24] Where that ends up is hell. My way leads to hell. We've got to go God's way. We've got to get a detour. We've got to do a U-turn. Don't go my way.

[17:35] Go God's way. His way. The just shall live by his faith. The clear message of Habakkuk is live by faith. By faith be made alive.

[17:46] By faith find life. Life eternal. Life everlasting. Life real, true, everlasting life. And the message here in Habakkuk 2 verse 4 is twofold.

[18:00] God will judge the proud. God's judgment is against them. Some people get prideful. They think that they're educated. They've got some various qualifications and intellectual learnings that would say, oh, we've got a higher truth.

[18:16] We've got Darwin's origin of the species. We don't need the Bible anymore. And they're prideful. And it's vanity. It's vain. It's emptiness.

[18:27] God will judge the proud. But those who know him will humble themselves under his mighty hand. God will judge the proud. God's judgment is against them. What does he declare?

[18:39] In chapter 2 we see various judgments. Woe, woe, woe. These woes. These declarations of judgment that he makes. God's judgments.

[18:49] Various woes are to the proud. There's a woe for covetousness. For this greedy grasping. There's a woe to the cruelty. For the drunkenness.

[19:03] For the idolatry. There's many woes here. He tells how the proud will fall prey to wine. Restlessness and greed. Says the prideful will fall.

[19:15] Friends, we're all accountable. God is going to bring Babylon down. Habakkuk, just wait. Just wait and see. And the rights will be, the wrongs will be made right.

[19:29] God will bring Babylon down. And if you believe, you might say, I'm struggling. It's hard going. Wait a little longer. And it'll all be made plain. Amen. It'll all be made plain.

[19:41] God's plan will be made plain. It'll be made right. It'll be made just. God is going to bring Babylon down. For the meantime, for the righteous. For the meantime, the message is, Trust in the Lord and be patient.

[19:54] Hang in there, saint. God will punish the wicked at the right time. Judgment is closer today than it was yesterday.

[20:05] Isn't it? And ultimately, that day will dawn. The day of the Lord. The day of judgment.

[20:15] Judgment day. Ultimately, that day will dawn. I don't know whether some of those appointments in my calendar, I'm not going to be able to keep. Because the judgment day trumps everything, doesn't it?

[20:28] And we'll all have to face him. We want to make sure we're ready for that day, don't we? Do we know him? Do we know him? Do we know him? The Babylonians are going to get their just desserts.

[20:45] And what we see here in Habakkuk, that evil is self-destructive. The greedy will lose everything. It doesn't matter what's in the bank balance.

[20:57] On day dot, it's all wiped. It's gone. It's no longer on the balance sheet. Everything's gone. They're going to lose everything.

[21:09] The violent will turn people against themselves, it's saying here. They're going to lose out. Those big bully, brash, braggart types, they're just turning people against themselves.

[21:22] They're going to lose everything. The idolater, it goes on. So they're trusting in their own creations. They will have no redeemer.

[21:33] They'll have no help. And friends, there's idolaters here in Elizabeth, isn't there? People have the idols they worship, those vain things that they've made for themselves.

[21:47] I don't know if they might polish them in their garages. The idolaters are here in Adelaide today, aren't they? And they've got their own creation.

[21:58] Oh, look what I've done. Look what I've bought. Look what I've made. Look what I have. They're going to trust in their own creation, but it's all going to go.

[22:10] And they're going to have no redeemer. They're going to lose out big time. And in contrast, the one who has faith. We're going to live by faith. We're made alive by faith. We're given eternal life by faith.

[22:23] In chapter 213, it tells how the lost will tie themselves out for things that have no lasting value. They'll have nothing to show for it. Nothing. Nada, zilch, zip.

[22:35] Habakkuk was on his watchtower. And God opened his eyes. Wow, I see things differently now. I see things differently now. He could see things from what God was trying to show him.

[22:47] And when Habakkuk sees God's master plan, he can only worship. He can only worship. What is the vision? God's plan.

[22:59] The Bible shows us. I'm just a baby student of these things.

[23:13] I'm not claiming to be some masterful doctor today. I'm just trying to pick out some kernels of truth, some nuggets that you can hopefully take home and polish and use yourselves.

[23:27] When Habakkuk sees God's master plan, he can only worship. What is God's plan? What is the vision? God will correct Judah. He'll sort Judah out.

[23:39] And then God will punish Babylon. Yes, he will. And most importantly of all, God will be known over all the earth. God will be known over all the earth.

[23:50] That transcends everything, doesn't it? That ultimately this old planet's just going to be vaporized and revitalized.

[24:00] It's going to be remade. Everything's going to be gone and refashioned. And what does Habakkuk 2.14 tell us? But the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

[24:17] The earth's going to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. We're going to know everything. We don't need Google anymore. It's like we're going to know everything. It's going to be, wow. God's going to open our whole understanding.

[24:34] And the great news is that the honor of the Lord shall prevail. God's glory shall be known. And all those things that we grapple with, the sadness, the stuff that is hard, the injustice, the evils of this planet, that will be all gone.

[24:53] God's glory shall be known in all, A-double-L, the earth. And we see what a beautiful picture that is for us, the glory of the Lord. And in contrast, we see to the glory of the Lord, we see the ugliness of rejecting him.

[25:13] And it's likened to the ugly shame of drunkenness. You know, you see some pretty rotten pictures of people that are besotted with drink, don't you?

[25:25] And some of you might say, I've been there. Thank God it's behind me. But chapter 2.15, it says, Well unto him that giveth his neighbour a drink, that putteth thy bottle to him, and make him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness.

[25:41] There's a picture here of drunkenness. There's a picture of foolishness, of waste. And chapter 2.16, it's very graphic language here. You know, chapter 2, verse 16, what does it say?

[25:55] Shameful spewing. That's a pretty gross picture, isn't it? Shameful spewing. You know, go down to the local hotel and you might see some of that. Shameful spewing.

[26:06] It's likened to the drunks in the gutter. That's the picture of sin. It's a picture of sin. And friends, drink. Drunkenness, it brings misery and shame.

[26:18] And what does it picture? The vanity of the world, doesn't it? It's vain. The ugliness of a drunken waster. A true picture of sin's grip. It grabs a hold of your neck, of your gullet, of your guts.

[26:33] Sin's grip and control is the drunkard. It grips his mind, his senses. And it's shameful spewing. Awful shame. Degradation.

[26:45] You know, vomit down their front or whatever. I could go on to say fowler things. But, you know, people messing themselves with, because they're drunk beyond their, their brains have been lost by the drink.

[26:59] And the drink is something to be shunned and avoided. Like the plague, don't touch it. Don't even look upon it, it says. It will bite you like a viper. You know, there's a sense where, keep clear of it.

[27:11] Certainly, don't come under its control. And that's just a picture. It's the contrast of the glory with the shameful spewing. What a contrast that is, isn't it?

[27:21] It's chalk and cheese. And the Lord also, not only does he condemn the drunkards, but the drunkenness, he condemns the makers of idols in chapter 2.18. Chapter 2.18, he talks about the idols.

[27:34] What profiteth the graven image that the maker hath graven it? The molten image and a teacher of lies that the maker of his work trusteth therein to make dumb idols.

[27:44] These idols, these blocks of stone, of wood, of metal, they cannot speak. They're dumb. They're mute. Can't talk to you. Well unto him that says to the wood, awake.

[27:56] To the dumb stone arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. Our Lord challenges here of what worth is a false god?

[28:09] Now there's false gods that are not idols. There's false gods that you can name. Multitudes of false gods. In other words, a replacement god.

[28:21] It's a substitute god, isn't it? It's an anti-Christ standing alongside Christ, you know, in his place. Taking what is his rightful place. And what does Habakkuk find out here?

[28:34] The Lord says that the maker of idols trusts in their own creation. Now I put to you today that people can trust in all kinds of vanities.

[28:45] All things that they've made. Look what I've made. Look at my CV. Look at what I've done. Look at my achievements. Look at me. Me, me, me. They trust in all of these vanities.

[28:56] They're worthless. They're worthless. Trust in the real God. Trust in him. These idols, these dumb idols that can't speak.

[29:07] They have no life, no spirit in them. In contrast, we can know not these false gods, but the true and living God. It's about getting the vision, people. Chapter 2, verse 20.

[29:20] The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. What does it say here? You can choose the shameful spewing, or you can choose to revere the Lord in his holy temple.

[29:36] Be respectful in his presence. Have reverence to the Holy One. So, recapping thus far, we've seen the burden. The crying out, a prayer, answers.

[29:47] Lord, help me. We see the vision. God shows his perspective. Wow. This is bigger than I thought. This has blown my mind. Yes.

[29:58] The earth should keep silent. And God is in his holy temple. Show him the respect that he is due. The glory of the Lord is going to fill this world. The knowledge of God.

[30:09] It's just going to be mind-blowing. And we've seen the burden. We've seen his complaint. We've seen the vision. We've seen the plan. And thirdly, we see in the book, the praise, the prayer of Habakkuk.

[30:20] He finishes the book with chapter 3 with the prayer, the praise of Habakkuk. Some have reckoned chapter 3 verse 1, when it talks about Shigionoth, that this can have the sense of a wild, enthusiastic, triumphant music.

[30:39] You know, we won't just have one pianist playing. We'll have a whole orchestra. All of us will be playing. All of us will be enthusiastic. You know, I've seen some enthusiastic worship. You see some people, they're kind of jumping out of their shoes.

[30:52] They're just praising the Lord. They're enthusiastic. They're just entering in. We're not talking about some kind of shallow, superficial, conjured up kind of emotionalism, but that sense where they awe, the wonder, the amazement of our great God and Saviour, that we can get enthusiastic and joyful and jubilant.

[31:14] And chapter 3 verse 1 says that the prayer of Habakkuk was such a thing. And it goes on to say the prophet, he's trembling at God's majesty. He's breaking forth in this joyful praise.

[31:27] We see that he comes to understand the power of God. He comes to acknowledge the wonder of this praise of God. And in three verses through the song, he uses the term silah, which, you know, there's various understandings, but you could say it means to stop, meditate and proceed.

[31:49] Sometimes we need to just stop, just... Ah. Silah. Wow. What can I say? What can I say, Lord?

[32:01] What can I pray? What can I praise? Silah. But pause, a holy pause, a holy... Just stop your busyness and stop and trust to spend that holy time with him.

[32:19] And we see in the song of Habakkuk, this prayer, this song, this prayerful, praiseful song, he recounts God's deliverance of his people through the setting free from the heaviness of Egypt's slavery.

[32:32] And there's a rejoicing there. God has done this, that and the other. And he will prevail. He will prevail. He will prevail. He will deliver his people.

[32:43] You know, it talks about he has delivered, he is delivering and he will deliver. There's a verse in the New Testament along that line. The Lord will prevail.

[32:53] And he will bring victory for you. Friends, believers here today, you can be assured by the promise of God, he will prevail. He will bring victory for you.

[33:05] You might feel like it's a fight, but the fight will lead to victory. The trial will lead to triumph. We can trust him.

[33:15] In the meantime, while the battle is on, in the hardness of the now, knowing he will prevail, he is your answer. Habakkuk prayed then, we see for revival.

[33:27] Habakkuk 3 verse 2. O Lord, I've heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. Make known in wrath, remember mercy.

[33:40] Glory. He says, Lord, revive. Trust the Lord for your spiritual life, for your refreshing, for that revitalizing, that God can enliven you and empower you.

[33:52] Take away our dryness. Lord, revive your people. Revive your work. You know, there's a lot of spiritual deadness and dryness that's out there.

[34:03] And it can be in here too, can't it? It can be in here, in me. Lord, revive thy work. Make me live. Make me alive. Enliven me.

[34:14] Empower me. Bring spiritual life and refreshing to my soul. That can be our personal and corporate prayer. Habakkuk cries for mercy. In wrath, remember mercy.

[34:26] Yes, there is wrath. There is trouble. But God will remember mercy. Mercy will prevail. Grace will prevail. And we can join in Habakkuk's rejoicing, his prayer for reviving, for God to bring compassion and mercy and love, for God's majesty to totally prevail and for his glory.

[34:47] It goes on, chapter 3, verse 3, in part it tells of his glory, covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise. Wow. Get a load of that.

[34:58] The glory covers the heavens. You've not seen a sunrise or a sunset like this one. Amen. His glory is going to cover the heavens. It's going to be wow.

[35:09] And the earth is going to be full of his praise, it says. And it says his brightness is the light. He's got these horns, these rays coming out of his hand. There's this sense where God's just going to be so bright and glorious and majestic.

[35:23] And God's strength is going to be so astounding and astonishing. Friends, God is powerful. Sometimes we've just got to say, God is. God is.

[35:34] Wow. That's all we need, isn't it? God is. He's all powerful. He's all encompassing. He's overshadowing care.

[35:45] We can yield to him. We can yield our little teensy-weensy vessel that we are into his hands.

[35:55] This worm that I am. And know that he is going to take charge. And just to be a surrendered vessel in his hands.

[36:06] You know, sometimes people want to kind of big note themselves. We just need to be a surrendered vessel in his hands. Just say, Lord, here I am. I'm not much, but Lord, take what I am.

[36:19] Take me who I am. I know I'm not much, but let me be a vessel surrendered. Chapter 3, 6, he says, God's ways are everlasting.

[36:30] Get that eternal perspective. God's ways are everlasting. We can't reckon it in the human timescale, in this dimension that we're limited in.

[36:40] God's ways are everlasting. Realise that. Verse 13, it says he went forth for the salvation of his people. It's saying here the prophet's declaring, God marches for us.

[36:53] There's a sense where God marches for us. Don't you love the idea that he is the Lord of hosts? He is the commander-in-chief of the eternal, invincible armies of God.

[37:10] He is our Lord, our friend, our father. And he is the Lord of hosts. He will march out to save his people. Don't you want to be there when the saints go marching in?

[37:25] Amen. Don't you want to be in their number when the saints go marching in? Glory. Yes, sir. God will intervene.

[37:36] He will intervene. And for the meantime, we can rest in him. Simply rest in him. Even in the day of trouble. Habakkuk 3, verse 16, he talks about his belly trembling, about his lips quivering, of rottenness in his bones.

[37:50] He's trembling in himself. And he says that I may rest in the day of trouble. I can rest in the day of trouble. He will invade with his troops.

[38:04] You know, he's going to send reinforcements. The cavalry's coming. Amen. The cavalry's coming. Now you like that in the westerns? No, don't worry. The cavalry's coming. He will invade them with his troops.

[38:18] So though you may tremble, you can trust him. Amen. Regardless, no matter what happens. And we can wait patiently for the Lord, even in the day of distress, of disaster.

[38:31] And we're coming to the wrapping up here. Habakkuk declares the confidence of his faith. Even during those testing of times. The burden, the burden, the burden of Habakkuk.

[38:43] We see now the blessing. We see that trouble that he started with. We see the victory. And here he closes in that most testing of times.

[38:55] Lord, I don't understand. I'm crying out. I need answers. God shows him a bigger view, a vision. And then we see the praise.

[39:05] And look, things were still the same. Weren't they? He was still having burdens. He was still battling here.

[39:17] But what a lovely song he closes with, a song of praise. Verse 17. Of course, it's been popularized with a chorus. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines.

[39:29] The labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls yet.

[39:40] Yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will joy. I will joy in the God of my salvation.

[39:54] Even while beset by troubles that we face, we can be like Habakkuk and say, yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will still be glad, even though there's still some tough things going on right now.

[40:11] I will be glad. I will rejoice. I will joy. Not in me or my, him. His.

[40:22] He. I will joy in him, the God of my salvation. I will choose to rejoice in the Lord. I will choose to shout in exultation in that victorious God who I know and love, in the God of my salvation, the God who saves me.

[40:37] He keeps me. He saves me. He's my saviour. And he closes his book with this song of victory. A song of victory. He confesses God's strength and power and his faith that God will make him strong.

[40:54] Friends, look at the last verse. Chapter 3, verse 19. Chapter 3, verse 19. The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hind's feet.

[41:06] And he will make me to walk upon mine high places. Glory. Believer, you can know Habakkuk's God today. And you can know and you can say like Habakkuk said, I will joy in my God.

[41:22] I will rejoice. In Jehovah the Lord is my strength. He's my source of courage. He makes my feet like hind's feet. You know, Julie and I used to have friends, had a goat farm, and we used to see these goats just climbing up, like almost vertically, climbing up these steep slopes.

[41:45] And look, Habakkuk's declaring, he will make my feet like hind's feet, like the feet of a deer that does not stumble.

[41:59] In other words, he'll make me steady and sure. He'll help me grapple with life's frustrations. He'll help me get through these burdens and this confusion and this hardness.

[42:10] He'll make my feet steady and sure. He'll make me to walk over my mountains. The Lord will help me keep going. The Lord will help me have the stamina and the keep on keeping on.

[42:24] He'll make me to walk forward in faith and to make spiritual progress. He'll help me to overcome. He'll help me to tackle trouble and handle responsibility and challenges.

[42:37] So look, friends, just to recap, at the start we see Habakkuk, he looked around him. It seemed like the good are having a hard time and the wicked are prospering and it just didn't seem to gel.

[42:49] He couldn't understand it. He asked, why do good people suffer? And yet, God explains in the long run, they won't. They don't.

[43:01] God is in control. Stand on the watchtower. Get a look at the vision. Write it down and make it plain. God's got a bigger picture here. God is in control of all his creation.

[43:12] And one day, this will just seem like a... In eternity, won't it? And we look back. We know God is in control. And even in those hard things, he still was and still is in control.

[43:27] And even my current circumstances, which are difficult, fit into his greater plan. He's got the vision. He's got the plan. And we can trust him.

[43:39] And what did Habakkuk learn? To wait and trust in the Lord. Selah. Yes, Lord. With that knowledge, Habakkuk could praise God for everything.

[43:53] Praise God for answering his questions. You're going to make my feet steady and sure. I'm going to climb over those mountains. My God is my strength. My joy is in him.

[44:05] And we can trust him, friends today, that he will ultimately prevail. And we may still have questions, but really he is the answer, isn't he?

[44:17] He is the answer. And look, friends today, I urge you, if you're not certain of your salvation, you can know him today. Whom to know is life eternal.

[44:29] Simply call on him. Now, we don't have some ceremony or some kind of rote or a ritual that you have to partake of.

[44:45] Some might think, oh, you've got to go through a certain questioning process or a certain course of catechism, of learning, or you've got to learn enough or you've got to have done enough or maybe you've got to have a certain, you know, I like to kind of say, I'll waft some holy smoke over you and ring some holy bells and sprinkle some holy water on you.

[45:06] It's none of that. None. Nothing of that. And it's all of him. It's that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. Trust him. Simply trust him.

[45:17] Trust him now. Simply trust him now with your life. You might say, look, it's hard for me. You don't know what that means. Jesus will help you. I know for some, it's like leaving behind.

[45:31] It's like being an outcast to your family when you become a Christian. God will help you with that. God can help you with that. Don't let anything stop you turning to Jesus today.

[45:42] Turn to Jesus. Trust him. Say, Jesus, I love you. I trust you. I receive your gift. I know you as my saviour. I believe you died for my sin. I call on your name.

[45:53] I trust you now. And in that moment, you can trust him. And in that moment, you're made his forever and ever and ever. Bless you today. Let's be like Habakkuk.

[46:04] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for these learnings from your word that we trust you. Lord, help us to joy in you in the circumstances we face. Lord, to know as we might have a burden at times, yet, Lord, you help ease that burden and you give us a rest for our souls.

[46:25] Lord, we thank you that you help us to see things differently when we see things from your perspective. Lord, as we stand on our watchtower, as it were, and we see what's going on, you show us a vision of what makes everything clear.

[46:39] And to know that you're ultimately doing your plan. And one day we'll understand it fully. Lord, and for the meantime, we just need to praise you.

[46:50] We need to pray and keep on praying. Praise and keep on praising. And Lord, to know, yes, Lord, you're going to make my feet steady and sure. You're going to help me walk over these mountains. And Lord, I'm going to praise you all of the way.

[47:03]  In Jesus' name, amen.