WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.120 Well, good evening. My name's Archie. I'm the pastor in training here, as Graham has said. 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:08.220 And before we come to God's word together, let me pray. 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:16.160 Father, you are our rock. You are a mighty fortress. 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:26.460 I pray that by your Holy Spirit this evening, you would help us to keep our eyes on you as we hear from you in your word. 00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:30.160 For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:37.539 If you want to turn to Habakkuk in your Bibles, it's, I'm not sure what page it's on because I don't have a pew Bible with me, 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:44.019 but it's somewhere around 950 probably. First person to get there, shout out what page number it is. 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:49.900 What's that? 942, page 942, Habakkuk chapter 3. 00:00:50.179 --> 00:00:54.120 Whilst you try and find that, let me start by telling a quick story about when I was a teenager. 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:58.619 When I was a teenager, I thought I knew the streets of Edinburgh really, really, really well, right? 00:00:58.699 --> 00:01:02.000 I lived out in West Lothian, and I would get the train in all the time. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:06.879 Train to Waverley, Prince's Street, Royal Mile. Nothing more to know. 00:01:08.039 --> 00:01:08.939 So I thought. 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:13.420 Then I went on a trip to this place, to Camera Obscura. 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:15.819 I don't know if you've ever been to Camera Obscura. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:18.659 I haven't been in years, to be honest, not since I was at school. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.400 But it is amazing. It's just at the top of the Royal Mile. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:25.620 And the way it works, you get to this building. It's a tall building. 00:01:25.859 --> 00:01:30.520 When you get there, you go to this room at the top, a darkened room, and there's a sort of table in the middle. 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:35.480 And on that table is projected a bird's eye view of the whole of Edinburgh. 00:01:36.440 --> 00:01:39.580 It's like a sort of live version of Google Earth. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.760 The incredible thing about it is it's been there since the 1800s. 00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:48.040 I have no idea how it works. I think it's probably magic, but it is amazing. 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:49.300 You should go. 00:01:49.820 --> 00:01:53.520 At the time, though, I had never seen a map of Edinburgh before. 00:01:54.740 --> 00:01:57.580 So I thought, Prince's Street, Royal Mile, nothing more to know. 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:00.880 I didn't have Google Maps on my phone like we do today. 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:04.360 And when I saw the whole city laid out like that, 00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:08.219 it just gave me a whole new perspective of this city that I love to visit. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.800 Saw Leith Walk and Arthur's Seat and the Meadows. 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:14.980 There was just so much more to Edinburgh than I had thought that there was. 00:02:14.979 --> 00:02:19.139 It totally changed my experience of this city. 00:02:20.459 --> 00:02:22.699 Now, in a much, much bigger way than that, 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:27.739 through the questioning process that we've seen Habakkuk go on through this book, 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:29.919 his perspective has been changing. 00:02:30.899 --> 00:02:33.079 If you haven't been here the last two Sundays, 00:02:33.459 --> 00:02:36.939 do head to our website and have a listen to where we've been. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:43.280 But by way of summary, Habakkuk begins in chapter one with a very honest question. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:45.020 He says to God, 00:02:45.140 --> 00:02:49.740 what are you going to do about the injustice among your people in Judah? 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:55.780 God responds that he will, by way of the oncoming Babylonian war machine, 00:02:55.979 --> 00:02:58.979 bring justice on that sinful people in Judah. 00:02:59.099 --> 00:03:00.360 It's a surprising justice. 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:05.020 And then Habakkuk asks another honest question. 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.979 He's not petulant or grumpy or complaining. 00:03:08.139 --> 00:03:09.759 He accepts God's word. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:11.479 He accepts the oncoming justice, 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:14.859 but he just doesn't understand why God would do that. 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:22.120 Why would God use an evil foreign empire to bring justice on his own people? 00:03:23.799 --> 00:03:25.620 And God responds by saying, 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:29.120 well, he will also bring justice to the Babylonians, 00:03:29.459 --> 00:03:34.099 not because of the justice that they have executed under his restraint, 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:38.560 but because they are an arrogant, prideful, and self-sufficient people. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.959 And if God is a God of justice, he has to judge a people who are like that. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:50.419 And yet, in chapter two, verse four, maybe have a look at chapter two, verse four. 00:03:50.799 --> 00:03:52.519 This is a key verse for the book. 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:58.540 Behold, his soul is puffed up. 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:00.280 It is not upright within him. 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:01.600 That's the Babylonian. 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:06.480 But the righteous will live by his faith. 00:04:07.420 --> 00:04:12.760 God says that he will judge the proud, the puffed up, the self-reliant, 00:04:13.260 --> 00:04:19.080 and that the humble, those with faith relying on God, they will live. 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:21.620 And so it is this. 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:26.120 This is Habakkuk's renewed perspective of God's salvation, 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:28.379 and it is great cause for celebration. 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:31.579 And that's what we're going to get in today's passage. 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:33.019 It's a celebration. 00:04:33.259 --> 00:04:36.379 It's a song of prayerful praise. 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:42.039 It's praise for the God that we read about in Romans chapter three 00:04:42.039 --> 00:04:43.740 at the beginning of our service this evening. 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:53.180 The God who has made a way to be both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in him. 00:04:54.100 --> 00:04:57.139 So Habakkuk chapter three, let's read it together. 00:04:57.139 --> 00:05:03.919 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shagianoth. 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:06.800 Lord, I have heard of your fame. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.519 I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:12.639 Repeat them in our day. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:14.579 In our time, make them known. 00:05:15.719 --> 00:05:18.060 In wrath, remember mercy. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:23.319 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:27.439 His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. 00:05:27.719 --> 00:05:29.719 His splendor was like the sunrise. 00:05:30.159 --> 00:05:34.099 Rays flashed from his hand where his power was hidden. 00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:36.899 Plague went before him. 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:39.519 Pestilence followed his steps. 00:05:40.539 --> 00:05:43.060 He stood and shook the earth. 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:46.279 He looked and made the nations tremble. 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:50.680 The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:53.340 But he marches on forever. 00:05:54.259 --> 00:05:56.959 I saw the tents of Cushion in distress. 00:05:57.300 --> 00:05:59.720 The dwellings of Midian in anguish. 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:02.340 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.420 Was your wrath against the streams? 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:09.240 Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory? 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:11.620 You uncovered your bow. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:13.319 You called for many arrows. 00:06:13.840 --> 00:06:15.480 You split the earth with rivers. 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.160 The mountains saw you and writhed. 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:21.520 Torrents of water swept by. 00:06:22.020 --> 00:06:25.640 The deep roared and lifted its waves on high. 00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:31.620 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.500 at the lightning of your flashing spear. 00:06:35.400 --> 00:06:37.560 In wrath you strode through the earth, 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:39.600 and in anger you threshed the nations. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:43.640 You came out to deliver your people, 00:06:44.100 --> 00:06:45.720 to save your anointed one. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.439 You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness. 00:06:49.520 --> 00:06:51.900 You stripped him from head to foot. 00:06:52.640 --> 00:06:55.460 With his own spear you pierced his head 00:06:55.460 --> 00:06:58.379 when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, 00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:02.040 gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:05.439 You trampled the sea with your horses, 00:07:05.840 --> 00:07:07.500 churning the great waters. 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:11.259 I heard, 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:13.420 and my heart pounded. 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:15.839 My lips quivered at the sound. 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:17.959 Decay crept into my bones, 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:19.740 and my legs trembled. 00:07:20.740 --> 00:07:24.360 Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:27.199 to come on the nation invading us. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.000 Though the fig tree does not bud, 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.060 and there are no grapes on the vines. 00:07:32.979 --> 00:07:34.319 Though the olive crop fails, 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:36.159 and the fields produce no food. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.079 Though there are no sheep in the sheepfold, 00:07:39.159 --> 00:07:40.639 and no cattle in the stalls. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:43.879 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 00:07:44.539 --> 00:07:47.180 I will be joyful in God my Savior. 00:07:48.719 --> 00:07:50.539 The sovereign Lord is my strength. 00:07:51.180 --> 00:07:53.699 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. 00:07:54.159 --> 00:07:57.060 He enables me to tread on the heights. 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:01.519 For the director of music on my stringed instruments. 00:08:04.219 --> 00:08:06.680 I want you to imagine with me. 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:07.420 Let me take you back. 00:08:07.479 --> 00:08:10.459 If you've been here over the last couple of Sunday evenings, 00:08:10.459 --> 00:08:11.779 this is a familiar picture. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:12.680 It's World War II. 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:16.219 We've been on the stormy boat to France. 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.379 We've pictured ourselves on the beaches of Normandy, 00:08:19.379 --> 00:08:22.259 and we've thought about that sort of strange in-between. 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:24.860 Victory at D-Day is secure, 00:08:25.019 --> 00:08:27.060 but the battle still rages. 00:08:27.220 --> 00:08:28.300 You've lost friends. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:29.220 You're exhausted. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.100 But you are getting ever closer to Berlin. 00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:34.899 You're getting ever closer to the enemy surrender. 00:08:35.019 --> 00:08:37.139 You can almost feel it. 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:42.199 For us, over the last three weeks, this has been a picture of life, really. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.059 And there is no denying it. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.559 Wherever you stand, whatever your worldview is tonight, 00:08:48.740 --> 00:08:51.159 whether you have faith or not, 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.600 for all of us in life, there is pain. 00:08:56.379 --> 00:08:57.559 There is trauma. 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.619 As we look around us, there is injustice. 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:02.439 There is mess. 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:06.839 And yes, as a Christian, we stand on this side of the cross, 00:09:06.959 --> 00:09:08.899 this side of D-Day, if you like. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:11.639 And as we read the promises of Habakkuk, 00:09:11.719 --> 00:09:14.599 that ultimately eternal justice will be done, 00:09:15.159 --> 00:09:18.500 as we get ever closer to that final victory, 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:22.000 we can nevertheless not deny that there is mess. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:26.779 The Christian life just doesn't look as victorious as we might have hoped. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:33.659 And yet, we can, with Habakkuk, praise our God. 00:09:33.659 --> 00:09:38.980 We can praise him because we know what he has done. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.480 And we can praise him because we know what he says he is going to do. 00:09:46.100 --> 00:09:50.679 For Christ has come, and Christ will come again. 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:57.459 Now, this chapter of God's Word, as I've already said, 00:09:57.500 --> 00:10:00.620 it's not an ordinary sort of spoken prayer that might look like it. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:01.959 It really is a song. 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.180 I don't know if you noticed it in verse 1. 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:05.300 Have a look at verse 1. 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:07.480 It might be in italics for you. 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:11.500 It's a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shagianoth. 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:13.600 Now, you might be asking, I was certainly asking, 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:15.080 what on earth is Shagianoth? 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:19.620 It seems to be, according to those clever people who write commentaries, 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.540 one of those musical instructions that we sometimes get in the Psalms. 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.720 It's maybe a tune to sing this to, or an instrument, 00:10:27.900 --> 00:10:31.100 or a way of playing an instrument that goes along with these words. 00:10:31.100 --> 00:10:33.940 And then you have the word Sela throughout. 00:10:34.060 --> 00:10:38.540 If you're in the Pew Bibles, you'll have a footnote saying that there is Sela's throughout this. 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:41.500 Some of your Bibles, if you've got your own, might actually have them printed. 00:10:42.060 --> 00:10:44.759 That might be a footnote, but it is in the text, really. 00:10:44.920 --> 00:10:48.500 And that's probably, again, a sort of musical pause, 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.060 maybe a change of tone or a change of tempo. 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:55.159 And then right at the end of the chapter, as if to hammer it home, 00:10:55.239 --> 00:10:56.699 go there with me, verse 19. 00:10:58.019 --> 00:11:02.359 This chapter is written to the choir master with stringed instruments. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:05.419 This is no ordinary prayer. 00:11:05.599 --> 00:11:08.259 It was obviously intended to be sung. 00:11:09.079 --> 00:11:09.439 Why? 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:16.359 Well, I think because it is also to be remembered and to be internalized. 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:19.360 It's amazing what singing does, isn't it? 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:24.639 It was true of soldiers during World War II belting out a chorus of, 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:25.800 we'll meet again. 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:29.360 Picture yourself there singing it arm in arm. 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:32.159 We begin to internalize those words. 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:36.680 We might not know how or when, but we're sure that we'll meet again. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.139 If you've ever been to Murrayfield and sung the national anthem, 00:11:40.259 --> 00:11:41.899 you'll have experienced it there too. 00:11:41.899 --> 00:11:47.600 And how much more important when we're singing about our God? 00:11:49.059 --> 00:11:53.220 I trust here in church we're singing songs that contain words of truth, 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:54.699 real truth. 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:58.379 And it's important that if we listen to Christian music elsewhere, 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:00.179 which is a really good thing to do, 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:05.059 it's just really important with such a huge array of worship songs on offer 00:12:05.059 --> 00:12:07.840 that we're careful, that we're discerning, 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:13.360 that we listen to songs and sing songs that contain truth that we can trust. 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:16.980 Because there is something about music and something about singing 00:12:16.980 --> 00:12:22.580 that takes words from the head and begins to see them absorbed by the heart. 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:25.920 And that is especially true when we sing together. 00:12:26.340 --> 00:12:28.139 It's why we do it here at church. 00:12:29.220 --> 00:12:30.639 When I was at university, 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.840 I had a friend who actually refused to sit next to me in church 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.960 because my singing was so bad and so loud that he couldn't help but laugh. 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:42.040 And maybe some of you will have had the joy of experiencing that here at Brunsfield. 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:44.980 But even if we are terrible at singing, 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.000 there is no denying that it engages the heart in a way that sitting at home 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.960 and watching online simply doesn't manage. 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:57.980 If you are watching this online, listening to it back on the website, 00:12:57.980 --> 00:13:02.500 or if you're here and you've slipped into that habit of occasionally missing church, 00:13:02.560 --> 00:13:03.460 maybe saying to yourself, 00:13:03.560 --> 00:13:06.019 it's okay, I can just watch it online this week. 00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:09.879 You need to see that that just isn't the same thing. 00:13:11.100 --> 00:13:12.879 There may be no option for you, 00:13:12.920 --> 00:13:16.240 and it's great that we're able to do that when there really is no choice. 00:13:17.539 --> 00:13:21.460 But watching a service online is no substitute for singing arm in arm 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:22.759 with your brothers and sisters 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:27.700 as truths about God move from your head to your heart. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:32.319 And so here we have a particularly important prayer 00:13:32.319 --> 00:13:35.399 preserved in song for faithful believers 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:37.379 as they gather together through the ages. 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:42.379 And in this song, we see that Habakkuk firstly praises God 00:13:42.379 --> 00:13:47.539 for what he has done and who he is in verses 3 to 15. 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:52.899 And then he praises God for what he will do in verses 16 to 19. 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:55.419 You have done it before, he says. 00:13:55.719 --> 00:13:57.559 You will do it again. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:00.860 So let's start in verse 2. 00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:04.699 It's a bit like a prologue for the rest of the chapter, verse 2. 00:14:04.779 --> 00:14:06.399 So just the first half of it. 00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:08.159 Have a look at verse 2. 00:14:08.319 --> 00:14:10.480 Lord, I have heard of your fame. 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:14.000 I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:20.700 And so what is to come starts with praises for what God has done and who he is. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.940 Habakkuk has waited patiently to hear from the Lord. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:30.379 And what he has heard, what he has seen, that which he is about to share, 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:34.539 it is literally so incredible to him that he cannot help but fear him. 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:36.600 He stands in awe of him. 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:39.360 So what is it that God has done? 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:48.480 Well, for Habakkuk, the big salvation event in the history of Israel is the exodus. 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:56.399 It's the rescue out of slavery from Egypt and the conquering of Canaan, the promised land. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.440 And so that's what we get in these verses. 00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:02.680 It's a retelling in song of that story. 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:09.039 See, in verse 3, we get Mount Paran, that's often associated with Sinai and the wilderness, 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:13.139 where God's people met with him after they had been rescued out of slavery. 00:15:13.719 --> 00:15:17.120 And at Mount Sinai, in the wake of that exodus story, 00:15:17.239 --> 00:15:23.679 God, he revealed his power to his people in thundering clouds and great flashes of lightning. 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:26.059 Just like in verse 4. 00:15:26.099 --> 00:15:27.199 Have a look at verse 4. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:39.480 This image, it's like something from a Marvel film, isn't it? 00:15:39.920 --> 00:15:46.360 You can almost imagine the scene, a superhero descending on clouds with lightning coming out of their hands or something. 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:55.159 But notice that that is only what happens when God's power is hidden or the ESV maybe puts it more helpfully, veiled. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:58.560 Do you see that at the end of that verse? 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:04.159 Just imagine the awesome sight of the full power and glory of this God. 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:06.100 It's indescribable. 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:08.080 It's unimaginable. 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:12.000 Even the creative boffins at Marvel would not be able to do it justice. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:16.740 And the exodus story continues in verse 5. 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:19.840 Plague went before him. 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:21.919 Pestilence followed his steps. 00:16:22.419 --> 00:16:26.419 Very often in the Bible, pestilence and plague are signs of God's judgment. 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:31.940 And of course, famously, there were the plagues in Egypt when Pharaoh's heart was hard. 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:34.299 And God judges him in this way. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:38.279 And then he brings his people victorious into the promised land. 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:42.179 And in verse 6, as he does that, God shakes the nations. 00:16:42.959 --> 00:16:45.059 He stood and shook the earth. 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:47.980 He looked and made the nations tremble. 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:52.879 As God leads the Israelites in victory from Egypt into Canaan, 00:16:53.559 --> 00:17:00.539 I wonder maybe if that's even a specific picture of the walls of Jericho falling before God's faithful people. 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:07.079 Not as they tore them down themselves, but as they trusted God on their way into the promised land. 00:17:08.420 --> 00:17:12.319 And as Habakkuk looks back, the echoes of Exodus continue. 00:17:12.539 --> 00:17:15.460 Do you notice all the water imagery in these verses? 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:19.180 In verse 8, have a look at verse 8. 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:21.159 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:23.480 Was your wrath against the streams? 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:25.539 Did you rage against the sea? 00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:30.940 I think in this water imagery, Habakkuk probably has the parting of the Red Sea in mind. 00:17:31.539 --> 00:17:36.619 Again, in the Exodus story, as God's people rode their horses and chariots to safety, 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:41.359 and the following Egyptians were swallowed by the white wave horses of the sea. 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:47.659 Habakkuk is looking back at this incredible salvation and praising God for what he has done. 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:53.839 But in doing so, he is also praising God for who he is eternally. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:56.399 See, God doesn't change. 00:17:57.619 --> 00:18:05.039 Even as we remember what he has done and our perspective of him changes, he remains the same. 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:10.539 In the Bible, water and the sea is very often an anti-God image. 00:18:10.959 --> 00:18:14.159 It represents sort of chaos and evil and destruction. 00:18:14.919 --> 00:18:19.039 And yet in these verses, did you notice how God has total command over the waters? 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:22.159 God is a victorious God. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:23.160 God has total command over the waters of the sea. 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:24.860 He has done it before for his people. 00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:31.060 And just a hint here, that the final victory over evil is his too. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.960 We get, I think, a further hint of that final victory over evil in verse 13. 00:18:36.040 --> 00:18:37.680 Have you come to verse 13 with me? 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:46.060 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:49.460 You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness. 00:18:49.560 --> 00:18:51.860 You stripped him from head to foot. 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:55.279 Now remember, Habakkuk, he's looking back here. 00:18:55.400 --> 00:19:03.140 So he's describing how God has defeated their enemies, crushing their heads, as the ESV translation has it. 00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:06.700 Humiliating them by laying them out naked for all to see. 00:19:06.800 --> 00:19:12.440 Apparently that was a common practice for victorious kings and their enemies, humiliating them like this. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:16.780 Now Habakkuk is, he's recounting the victories of God, of what he's done. 00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:21.920 But there are also allusions, if you notice them here, to the promises of Genesis chapter 3. 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:30.079 Genesis chapter 3, right at the beginning of the Bible, where the serpent, an image of evil, if you like, enters creation. 00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:37.079 And where God promises that the woman's offspring would bruise or crush the head of the serpent. 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:44.679 So again, we have praises for what God has done, but also praises for who he is eternally. 00:19:46.019 --> 00:19:47.879 And that's true in the Bible. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:54.799 Whenever we read about God's work in history, it is always in one way or another pointing us to God's work in Jesus. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:58.720 And ultimately to the end of all of history when he returns. 00:19:59.699 --> 00:20:02.359 God has overcome his enemies in history. 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.899 And he is also ultimately victorious over all of history. 00:20:07.659 --> 00:20:09.039 He has done it before. 00:20:09.919 --> 00:20:11.139 He will do it again. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:16.879 This is the perspective of Habakkuk having had his dialogue with God. 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:21.039 He's been reminded of what God has done, of who God is. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:24.740 And he's about to begin to look ahead to what God will do. 00:20:24.819 --> 00:20:27.039 But before we get there, just from our perspective. 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:35.199 How much more can we sing the praises of what God has done in the light of Christ and the cross? 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:47.279 For us, on this side of Jesus, this side of the cross, this side of D-Day, even as we struggle to see God's purposes in the world, 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:57.879 instead, as we look around us and see the mess, as we struggle to see his purposes in the hurts and the pains of everyday life, 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:00.460 whatever it is that we are facing, 00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:11.799 know this, that when God looked his weakest, when he looked most defeated at the cross, 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:15.100 when it looked as though the world had won, 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:20.059 in that moment he was doing what he had always promised to do. 00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:23.559 He was crushing the serpent's head. 00:21:23.980 --> 00:21:27.440 He was defeating the anti-God chaos of the sea. 00:21:27.679 --> 00:21:28.940 He was overcoming evil. 00:21:30.659 --> 00:21:32.700 And it's a surprising justice. 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:38.200 In that moment, he was making a way for you and for me, 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:42.139 despite our contributions to the injustice and mess of the world, 00:21:42.819 --> 00:21:45.000 despite the judgment that we deserve. 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.500 He was making a way for us to know him today. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:54.000 That is a surprising justice, but it is very good news. 00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:55.059 Isn't that good news? 00:21:58.140 --> 00:22:01.319 So Habakkuk praises God for what he has done, 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:06.180 but he now turns to praise God for what he is going to do. 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:09.099 Have a look back at the rest of verse two, 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:10.900 the bit of verse two that we didn't read earlier. 00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:26.640 Here, Habakkuk is saying, you have done it before. 00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:27.860 Do it again. 00:22:29.180 --> 00:22:31.640 Revive, repeat, renew your work. 00:22:31.780 --> 00:22:32.340 Do it again. 00:22:32.560 --> 00:22:33.640 Rescue your people. 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:36.040 Make it known. 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:37.960 Reveal it. 00:22:38.080 --> 00:22:39.360 Help your people to see. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:43.079 Habakkuk has no doubt that God's righteous wrath is coming. 00:22:43.719 --> 00:22:45.079 It is who God is. 00:22:45.699 --> 00:22:47.099 He is a just God. 00:22:47.199 --> 00:22:48.939 He has to judge the proud. 00:22:49.479 --> 00:22:53.399 He has to judge those who perpetuate mess and injustice. 00:22:54.179 --> 00:22:58.019 If he is a God of justice, then he has to judge them. 00:22:58.639 --> 00:23:01.459 But Habakkuk can also appeal to God's mercy. 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:05.619 He is a God of justice, but he is also merciful. 00:23:05.619 --> 00:23:09.979 For those who are humble and rely on him in faith, 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:14.579 though they too deserve judgment, for them God has mercy. 00:23:15.979 --> 00:23:19.819 And so here Habakkuk really pleads God's character back to him, 00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:22.619 and he asks him to act, to do it again. 00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:30.279 And so I think verse 2 sets up for us what Habakkuk goes on to say in verses 16 to 19, 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:33.299 where he praises God for what he is going to do. 00:23:33.919 --> 00:23:39.159 In verse 16, we first get this response from Habakkuk to what God has done, 00:23:39.179 --> 00:23:42.479 and also as Habakkuk looks ahead, this is how he responds. 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:46.720 I heard, and my heart pounded. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:49.779 My lips quivered at the sound. 00:23:50.220 --> 00:23:54.019 Decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. 00:23:55.299 --> 00:24:01.480 As Habakkuk responds and anticipates, his heart, his lips, his legs are just shaking. 00:24:01.620 --> 00:24:03.279 He's unable to hold himself. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.980 I don't know if you know the feeling after a really intense leg workout, 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:10.140 or after getting off the bike, you can barely walk. 00:24:10.860 --> 00:24:12.059 Habakkuk is a bit like that. 00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:15.139 He's just wobbling all over the place in response to God. 00:24:16.419 --> 00:24:22.440 Now, I think in this country, we can be quite British about this sort of physical reaction to God's glory. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:26.419 Sometimes maybe rightly skeptical. 00:24:27.879 --> 00:24:34.919 But this sort of fear in the face of what God has done and is going to do is all over the Bible. 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:39.659 As people hear about who God is and hear about his plans, 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:43.720 I mean, even Jesus in his anguish over what God is about to do, 00:24:44.060 --> 00:24:46.440 he sweats drops of blood, doesn't he? 00:24:48.060 --> 00:24:53.600 Maybe we could respond more fearfully to this God and his plans for this world. 00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:56.220 What are those plans? 00:24:56.220 --> 00:25:13.799 For Habakkuk, as he sits and waits on God's plans, we've seen throughout this book, 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:16.440 he knows that God is going to bring justice. 00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:21.440 He's going to bring justice on Judah by the Babylonians, 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:25.539 but he's also going to bring justice on the Babylonians. 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:31.880 In verse 17, though, we get a picture, I think, of what is coming to Judah through the Babylonians. 00:25:32.080 --> 00:25:33.340 In verse 17, 00:25:33.339 --> 00:25:47.720 This is a devastating image. 00:25:49.059 --> 00:25:51.279 Judah's life was a farming life. 00:25:52.179 --> 00:25:55.099 Fig trees, vines, olives, flocks, cattle. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:56.759 That was what they had. 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:58.659 That was everything that they had. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:02.500 Judah is being stripped of everything in this judgment. 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:04.559 That's the image. 00:26:04.819 --> 00:26:07.699 And yet, in verse 18, 00:26:09.579 --> 00:26:12.000 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:15.679 I will be joyful in God, my Savior. 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:19.720 How can Habakkuk say that? 00:26:19.859 --> 00:26:21.899 Well, it's because in that day, 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:25.220 when judgment is brought on the people of Judah, 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:28.740 when those who have turned away from their God are brought low, 00:26:29.399 --> 00:26:32.500 still those who are faithful to this God will rejoice. 00:26:33.339 --> 00:26:33.899 Why? 00:26:34.339 --> 00:26:37.079 Well, remember chapter 2 and verse 3. 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:40.220 Because the righteous will live by faith. 00:26:41.159 --> 00:26:42.740 When Babylon comes, 00:26:42.939 --> 00:26:47.759 those in Judah who have faith in him will receive their salvation. 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:50.559 And that's exactly what happened. 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:53.539 There was a faithful remnant. 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:56.639 It's faith in the mess. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:00.539 And for us, this is just so important, 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:02.539 living as we do in a messy world, 00:27:02.879 --> 00:27:04.960 living this side of the cross. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.759 God's surprising justice has been done, 00:27:07.879 --> 00:27:10.859 but his complete justice is still to come. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.599 And in the meantime, it's a messy world. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:17.480 But we can, even amidst that mess, 00:27:17.659 --> 00:27:18.899 rejoice in the Lord. 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:21.939 Be joyful in God our Savior, 00:27:22.159 --> 00:27:23.559 knowing what he has done, 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.319 knowing what he will do, 00:27:25.379 --> 00:27:27.000 because Christ has come, 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:28.839 and Christ will come again. 00:27:29.939 --> 00:27:31.539 This is faith in the mess. 00:27:31.539 --> 00:27:35.680 But it's not easy, is it? 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:39.779 And so in the meantime, have a look at verse 19. 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:44.220 God, the Lord, is my strength. 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:47.460 He makes my feet like the deers. 00:27:47.539 --> 00:27:49.940 He makes me tread on high places. 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:52.799 For those in Judah, 00:27:53.740 --> 00:27:56.140 though the Lord would bring them salvation, 00:27:56.360 --> 00:27:58.960 the world was nonetheless going to remain a mess. 00:27:59.059 --> 00:28:00.240 They were going to face challenges. 00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:03.100 Why else would they need the strength of the Lord? 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:05.019 Why else would they need to be given 00:28:05.019 --> 00:28:06.640 the secure footing of a deer? 00:28:07.320 --> 00:28:09.059 Why else would they be given the ability 00:28:09.059 --> 00:28:10.580 to tread on the high places, 00:28:10.580 --> 00:28:11.600 to walk with him? 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:14.940 It is surely because though they have been saved 00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:15.779 by their God, 00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:17.860 they nonetheless need him 00:28:17.859 --> 00:28:21.819 in order to persevere by faith in this life. 00:28:22.859 --> 00:28:25.219 And God gives them everything that they need 00:28:25.219 --> 00:28:27.719 to be able to do that. 00:28:28.979 --> 00:28:32.959 Just so, do we not desperately need God today? 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:33.819 I do. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:38.419 Don't we need him as we navigate the messy world 00:28:38.419 --> 00:28:39.399 in which we live? 00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:42.439 We do not know for certain 00:28:42.439 --> 00:28:44.679 what our future in this world contains. 00:28:45.219 --> 00:28:45.939 None of us do. 00:28:45.940 --> 00:28:48.539 But we can be sure 00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:50.799 that we're still going to face trials 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:51.720 in this world. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:55.680 Trials that make our God feel very small 00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:58.059 and the world feel all-consuming. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:00.680 In the midst of our busy lives, 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:02.900 our families at school or university 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:04.200 or at work, 00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:07.400 just so aware that our God can feel very small 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:09.680 and the world around us can feel very scary, 00:29:10.380 --> 00:29:12.660 as though it's demanding all of our attention. 00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:16.340 God does not promise 00:29:16.340 --> 00:29:19.160 that he, 00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:21.259 does not just promise, sorry, 00:29:21.340 --> 00:29:23.440 that he will ultimately do justice in that mess. 00:29:23.500 --> 00:29:24.440 He does promise that. 00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:26.940 He promises to do ultimate justice. 00:29:27.700 --> 00:29:29.040 But he also promises 00:29:29.040 --> 00:29:31.920 that he will give us everything that we need 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:33.580 in the meantime to persevere, 00:29:34.140 --> 00:29:36.279 to persevere in faith. 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:37.560 Isn't that good news? 00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:42.779 The change in perspective that I was given 00:29:42.779 --> 00:29:45.500 when I saw the wonders of Camera Obscura 00:29:45.500 --> 00:29:47.799 really did change my experience of this city. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:50.339 A bit like Habakkuk with a new, 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:52.779 renewed perspective of God. 00:29:52.899 --> 00:29:54.899 He remembered what God had done. 00:29:55.259 --> 00:29:56.779 He saw what God was going to do 00:29:56.779 --> 00:29:58.220 and his experience changed. 00:29:58.299 --> 00:30:00.659 It changed from questioning into praise. 00:30:01.379 --> 00:30:03.220 Camera Obscura was a game changer for me, 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:06.799 but it was nothing compared to the game changer 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:09.600 and the invention of Google Maps on my phone. 00:30:11.059 --> 00:30:13.680 And how much more can we delight 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:15.140 in the God of our salvation 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:18.100 as we remember what God has done for us 00:30:18.100 --> 00:30:21.000 and what God is going to do for us in Jesus? 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:24.000 He has come. 00:30:24.460 --> 00:30:26.380 He will come again. 00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:29.059 Friends, if God has done it before, 00:30:29.140 --> 00:30:30.220 then we can be certain 00:30:30.220 --> 00:30:32.100 that the final victory is his. 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:34.799 With D-Day behind us 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:37.019 and the victory ever nearer 00:30:37.019 --> 00:30:38.799 with each step that we take, 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:41.200 how much more can we sing the praises 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:43.360 of what God is going to do 00:30:43.360 --> 00:30:46.680 in light of Jesus Christ's promised return? 00:30:48.019 --> 00:30:50.000 And so as your body aches, 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.200 as your mind is tired, 00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:54.400 fed up with the monotony of life, 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:57.259 in your most painful relationship, 00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:59.140 in your greatest anxieties, 00:30:59.140 --> 00:31:02.660 when you are frustrated at your own sin, 00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:05.180 in all of that mess, 00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:07.860 would you have faith in this God? 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.700 His promise is that one day we will be with him. 00:31:13.580 --> 00:31:14.580 No more tears, 00:31:15.180 --> 00:31:16.060 no more pain, 00:31:16.840 --> 00:31:17.780 new creation, 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:18.740 new body, 00:31:19.020 --> 00:31:19.860 no more sin, 00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:21.259 no more mess. 00:31:22.600 --> 00:31:24.920 We can have faith in this God. 00:31:25.360 --> 00:31:26.759 He's always faithful. 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:28.140 He has done it before. 00:31:28.140 --> 00:31:29.460 He'll do it again. 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:32.200 Christ has come. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.500 He is coming. 00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:36.379 Once, finally, 00:31:36.940 --> 00:31:39.339 and for all whose faith is in him. 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:43.000 This is faith in the mess.