Crossing Church

Preached on 11.2.08 by Dustin Neeley
Sermon Notes

3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. 2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. Selah
4 His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power.
5 Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. 
6 He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation?
9 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their place
at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters. 16 I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. Habakkuk 3:1-19 ESV

P : God has always acted for His own glory and the good of His people.

P : How we see God determines how we respond to God.

Do I have the correct, multifaceted, balanced picture of God? Do I have the right response to Him and appropriate fear?

Seeing the Whole Picture:

1. God is a deliverer (v.3-6)
2. God is a warrior. (v.7-12)
3. God is the victor. (v. 13-15)
4. Habakkuk’s circumstances had not changed but his focus/perspective had.

If we want to be transformed in our trials, we need to take our eyes off of our circumstances and fix them on God.

v. 16 Judgment is still coming, but now his response is completely different.
v.17-19 Poetic description of life as bad as it could possibly be. Yet, he rejoices in God, His salvation and proclaims God will him in his trials.

How Do We Do This?

1. Recognize that it is not what we usually do.
   • Explore why this is the case.
     • When bad things happen, where do we turn?
     • Where is our hope? In temporal things? If so, we will be disappointed.
2. Repent of the idolatry in our own lives.
   • Pray that God would cause us to hope in the Giver and not His gifts.
3. Leverage the means of grace that God has given us.
   • Scripture. Do you go to God’s unchanging Word in hard times?
     • Matt. 6:25-34, Jn. 14:1-3, Jn. 14:25-27, Phil. 4:6-7
   • Prayer. What is the content of your prayers, especially when you suffer?
   • Community. Are you walking with people who ‘encourage’ you?
     • Share stories of God’s deliverance. Build ‘Ebeneezers.’
4. Apply the Gospel.
   • Think about Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins. Leads to perspective.
     • What am I most aware of? Our suffering or our salvation?
   • Use Gospel Logic: If God can deal with our sin, He can deal with our circumstances and suffering.

How is God wanting to transform you today?

Works Consulted : Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Life Application Bible, MacArthur Study Bible, New American Commentary, Tyndale Commentary: Baker, Messages by Reid Monaghan, Steve Treichler, CJ Mahaney