We'll be in Habakkuk. I know that's your favorite
book. And that's where we're going to be today.
If you're not familiar with Habakkuk, it's okay.
It's one of those that's kind of easy to overlook.
It's right toward the end of the Old Testament.
And it's probably only two or three pages in
your Bible. It's not going to be very long at
all. It might be one of those the pages still
are stuck together a little bit. We probably
don't read through Habakkuk very much. But it's
a good short little book with a good message.
Habakkuk chapter 3. We're going to look at verses
17, 18, and 19 to start. But we'll talk a little
bit about what's going on after we read those
verses. Habakkuk is right there toward the end
of the Old Testament. If you get to Matthew,
just flip back a few pages. You're not going
to be far. Far from it. Habakkuk chapter 3, verse
17. We'll read through these three verses, then
I'll pray, and then we'll get started. Though
the fig tree does not bud, and there is no fruit
on the vines, though the olive crop fails and
the fields produce no food, Though there are
no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will triumph in Yahweh. I will rejoice
in the God of my salvation. Yahweh, my Lord,
is my strength. He makes my feet like those of
a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights.
Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you
for this good word. And I pray, dear Lord, that
you would help us to seek you and rejoice in
you and trust in you just as Habakkuk did, even
when things in life aren't going good, aren't
going the way that we want or that we expect.
I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us
today, that you would help me to preach and teach
in a way that brings glory to you, that you take
away any pride or fear that's within me, that
you just would help us to hear from you today
and from your words. And I ask these things in
Jesus' name. Amen. Now, these verses out of context
are kind of hard for us to understand exactly
what's taking place here in Habakkuk. Now, just
reading these verses, you'd say, well, golly,
this guy's a farmer and things aren't going good.
He ain't got any food. His cattle's not doing
well. Things are bad. But that's not exactly
what he's talking about. He's not necessarily
just talking about his crops aren't coming in
and his... His animals aren't doing well. There's
a bigger picture that we need to look at in Habakkuk.
And the bigger picture is explained when we look
at Habakkuk chapter 1. If you want to flip back
a page or two in your Bible to Habakkuk chapter
1, verse 1, we see that the book of Habakkuk
starts out with a question, a question to God
about... Habakkuk situation, about God's people's
situation. In Habakkuk chapter 1, verse 2, he
says, How long, Lord, must I call for help, and
you do not listen? Or cry out to you about violence,
and you do not say? Why do you force me to look
at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing,
oppression, and violence? Or right in front of
me, strife is ongoing in conflict. escalates
this is why the law is ineffective and justice
never emerges for the wicked restrict the righteous
therefore justice comes out perverted all right
so we start to kind of look at Habakkuk and see
what's going on now things aren't going good
for God's people and and that's a common thing
throughout the old testament and the reason why
things don't go good for God's people is because
they don't walk in obedience to him. They don't
listen to him. They don't do what he says. When
they do that, then praise the Lord. Things go
good for them. When they stop following God,
when they start worshiping idols, when they start
living in sin, that's when things get bad. And
we see this whole like back and forth and up
and down. You want to see some good examples
of that, we're supposed to start looking at the
book of Judges in Sunday school, 945 on Sunday
mornings. We do that. You'll see lots of examples
of that up and down, of God's people being disobedient,
and God will send a good leader, and he'll lead
them back where they need to be, and then they'll
be disobedient. And so this is one of those phases
for God's people where they're living in disobedience,
and things are really hard for them. And in the
context of what's going on in this passage, God's
people are being overtaken, about to be overtaken
by the Babylonians. That's what's taking place.
We see that the Assyrians had come in before
that, and they had overtaken some of the northern
tribes of Israel, and now the Babylonians had
took over the Assyrians, and now the Babylonians
are also about to take over the rest of God's
people, and things are really bad. Things are
bad, and Habakkuk wants to know God. Why are
you allowing this to happen? Now, obviously,
Israel was not doing good. Judah was not doing
good. But nonetheless, they were doing better
than Babylon, at least. I mean, yeah, maybe they
were evil. Maybe they were wicked. But look at
these Babylonians. I think that's kind of the
point that Habakkuk was trying to make. And so
he's trying to make sense of what's taking place.
That here are God's people, and yeah, there's
some sin in their life, but why in the world
is God allowing all these bad things to take
place. And he asked God a question, and I don't
know how to back his heart. It doesn't seem as
though it's like a heart of anger and being mad
at God. Sometimes maybe that's where our questions
come from. I don't know that that's a good place
for our questions to come from, to question God
as though we doubt him. But I think to have questions
in and of itself is not a bad thing. To say,
God, why do these things happen this way, dear
Lord? I'm not questioning you. I just don't understand,
Lord. Why is this happening? And perhaps you've
asked those questions in your life. Maybe there's
something going on in your life right now, and
maybe that's your prayer. How long must I call
out for help, and you do not listen? Why are
these things happening, Lord? I'm calling out
to you. Things are really bad. Why don't you
intervene? Why don't you do something, Lord?
And maybe that's our prayer sometimes. I would
venture to say that every one of us in this room
have felt that way. Regardless of what the situation
is, we felt like, man, I don't understand why
these things are happening in the way that they're
happening. And so Habakkuk, he asked the Lord,
okay, Lord, why are these things happening? It
appears as though these bad people are getting
away with bad things and no justice is being
served. Isn't God a just God? Why would he allow
these evil Babylonians to overtake God's people?
Why would he allow evil people to get away with
evil things? Maybe we ask that same question
today. After all, the Bible says there's nothing
new under the sun. Habakkuk wrote these words.
Over 2 ,000 years ago. But they would apply to
every people at every time. We see evil people
all throughout history. We see evil people now
that do evil things. We see evil leaders and
evil empires, evil countries of people that do
horrible things to other people. And it appears
that nothing bad ever happens to them. And we
say, well, God, why do you do that? Why do you
allow all this evil to happen all the time and
you never address it? And that was Habakkuk's
question to God. Now, I won't read the whole
book today, but that's good homework for you.
It's really short. You can read through it in
just a few minutes this week. But you see this
interaction between Habakkuk and God. You see
kind of a communication going on. Maybe in some
ways, similar to what we see in Job, we see that
same thing here in Habakkuk. And Habakkuk asked
a question to God, and I'll summarize God's answer
as best I can in a short period, but go back
and read it and make sure that I'm not getting
it wrong. But when Habakkuk asked this question,
what God essentially tells him is, is Habakkuk,
sometimes I use people to accomplish my will.
I use empires, even evil empires like the Babylonians,
to accomplish. my will. Now, there are certainly
Christians throughout the years who have held
the view of deism. Maybe you've heard of that
word before. You don't have to remember the word,
but the view essentially means this, that God
created everything and then just stepped back,
that God made the world, he spun the globe, gave
it a good spin, and now he's just sitting back
and watching everything take place, and wherever
the chips may fall, they may fall. But I don't
believe that that's what the Bible teaches. I
think this passage and plenty of others would
teach other than that. I think this story shows
us that God is involved, and that's what God
tells Habakkuk. He says, look, Habakkuk, I'm
the one in control, and sometimes I use one nation
to bring justice or to bring punishment on another
nation. We see that all throughout the Scripture.
What God is not doing, he's not... condoning
the evil actions of the Babylonians. He's certainly
not condoning that. No more than he condones
the evil actions of any empire that overtakes
another empire or another group of people and
does other things. But God does use nations sometimes
in the context of this story to bring about his
judgment, to get people's attention. Sometimes,
plenty of times in the Old Testament, God did
things to get His people's attention. And they
were often really tough things. Things that may
have ended in a plague or the death of a lot
of God's people are being overtaken by their
enemies. Now, I don't suspect that God would
desire for His people to be under those evils.
But sometimes God has to do things to get His
people's attention. And so when God is there
and He intervenes and He's protecting His people,
then then there's no harm that can come from
the enemy. But it's when God's people begin to
reject him and deny him and turn their back on
him, it's when God removes that protection that
there is no hope for us against the enemy. Now
these are questions and these are ideas that
are hard for us oftentimes to wrap our heads
around as human beings. I like to think of it
like this. Like we're playing checkers and God's
playing chess. Like we just got two different
color pieces, and you can go this way or you
can go that way. And you got two options. And
we look at the world and the conflicts and the
evil and the problems, and we say, well, here
it is right here. This black one jumped out and
read one. That's the move. Why wouldn't you take
the other opponent's checker? But God doesn't
work that way. The moves that we think are obvious
that this is the way God should handle evil in
the world. There's evil nations in the world.
There's evil people in the world. I'll tell you
what I'd do if I was God. I'd just strike them
all down with lightning right now, and that would
solve the problem. But yet, that's not how God
works. We see evil empires still today. We see
evil people still today. We see conflict among
nations still today. Why are there wars? Why
do bad people get away with these things? That's
the question that Habakkuk was saying. God, hey,
look, we're not that great. But the Babylonians,
why are you allowing them to do all these things?
Why are you allowing them to get away with it?
And God says, hold up, Habakkuk. This is the
way it needs to be done. I'll deal with them
when the time has come. But right now, the Babylonians
are an instrument of judgment against you guys.
But hang back, hang tight. Everything's going
to work out. They're going to get what's coming
to them. There's no sin. There's no evil that's
going to go unpunished. And so maybe in our life,
kind of shrinking this down to a more personal
level, it certainly applies even today among
the nations, among empires, among people at war,
that I believe God still works in the same way.
He still allows one nation to come to power for
whatever reason, to bring about judgment. On
another nation, for whatever reason, and even
if these things don't make sense to us, God knows
what he's doing. But on a personal level, how
many conflicts are there in our life? Things
that we go through in our life that the obvious
move would be for God just to grant my request.
I'm really struggling right now. It's hard for
us to make ends meet. I really want a job. I've
applied for a hundred jobs. Here's a job that's
available right here near me. God, why won't
you give me this job? And we think, this is the
job that God should give me, and He doesn't give
us the job. We keep searching, and we keep seeking,
and we keep applying. It's because God knows
what's best for us, even if we don't know what's
best for us. We're playing checkers. We're looking
one move ahead. God, he's seeing a million moves
ahead. He's seeing moves in everybody's life.
He's seeing moves in the whole world. And he
knows how every decision that is made and everything
that he allows to take place is going to work
for the good of his kingdom. And we don't understand
that because we don't see that. But the realization
that Habakkuk comes to is... I have to just trust
God. And that's a hard thing to do. Because maybe
sometimes we have questions in our life. Maybe
they're about things in the world. Maybe they're
about wars and fighting and conflicts that we've
seen in our life or that we see right now. And
we don't understand why that they're going on
the way that they are. Maybe we have those kind
of questions. Maybe we have other questions and
say, why God? Why do you allow good... Christian
men and women to suffer with great sickness and
you allow evil people to live a healthy life.
Like these are the kind of questions that we
have. I think it's normal. It's just natural
for us to have these questions. We just don't
understand because in our mind we think that
all the most godly people should be taken care
of the most with the least amount of problems
and all the evil people should have all the worst
things in the world happen to them and that's
just not the reality. You say, well, if I was
God, that's how I'd do it. Well, maybe you would.
But then again, maybe you wouldn't be a very
good God. Because here's the thing about God
is He's perfect in everything He does. And that's
the way that He choose to do it. I can't explain
it to you. I'm not God. If He explained it to
us today, we probably couldn't understand. And
maybe there are things in our world or things
in your life that you say, God, how long will
I cry out and you not listen? God, are you going
to do anything? Do you care? Do you realize that
there's injustice going on? God realizes. God
realizes everything. He realizes every question
that we have, every fear that we have, every
concern that we have. God, realizes and recognizes
everything that's going on. And that's what he
tells Habakkuk. He says, I got this under control.
This is the way it needs to be. I'm going to
take care of the situation. I'm going to take
care of the Babylonians. You just got to sit
back and wait and let me do what I need to do.
And that's a good message for us today. And that's
a hard thing to do. We are not waiters. We are
impatient, probably more so now than ever than
any other time in history. We do not like to
wait on the Lord. But I got news for you. The
Lord, He is patient, and He takes a long time
to work. You read through stories in the Bible,
and very seldom do any of them unfold quickly.
A lot of times they are years, they are decades,
they may be hundreds of years of something going
on. God doesn't move as quick as we would like.
To God, time is not as we view time. And it's
hard for us to wait on the Lord because we don't
understand why he allows things to happen, when
he allows them to happen. So what do we do? We
wait on the Lord. And that's not an answer we
like. But sometimes that's the only answer. Well,
this situation I'm in is so bad, what do I do?
Well, you have to wait on the Lord. And Habakkuk
realizes that. And that's what leads us to those
verses we started at, at the end of the book
of Habakkuk. Habakkuk comes to the realization,
God, I know of you. I know who you are. I know
what you do. I've asked you this question. You've
answered my question. And so God, even though
things are as bad as they can be, even though
the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit
on the vines, though the olive crop fails and
the field produces no fruit, though there are
no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
what he's saying is things are really bad. Things
are really bad, even though things are really,
really bad. And that might be true for you today.
There may be things in our world, that are really,
really bad. There may be things in your life
that are really, really bad. And Habakkuk says,
God, even though things are really, really bad,
in verse 18, yet I will triumph in Yahweh. I
will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Even
though things are really, really bad, Habakkuk
says, God, I'm going to trust in you. I know
that you're going to lead me to victory. God,
I know that you are my deliverance, that you
are my salvation. So God, even though I don't
understand why you're doing things, I know you're
good even though things are so bad right now.
God, I'm just going to trust in you. And listen
to what he says in verse 19. Yahweh, my Lord,
is my strength. So how's he going to get through
all this? I mean, things were really bad. Things
were really bad for God's people when the Babylonians
were coming in and overtaking them. How's he
going to get through all these hard times and
get through all this stuff with these evil Babylonians?
Well, he's going to do it with the strength of
the Lord, the same way that you're going to do
it. And that may mean us going to the Lord a
hundred times a day and seeking his word and
just praying to him and saying, God, I'm weak.
I don't know that I can do it. God, I don't understand.
Would you just help me? Would you give me patience?
Would you give me strength? He said, God, I'm
just going to trust in you and I know you're
going to be my strength. And he says, he makes
my feet like those of a deer and enables me to
walk on mountain heights. Now, I'm going to tell
you something cool. If you've never seen it before,
you need to go look it up on YouTube. But there
are certain species of deer that can climb mountains.
And it's not AI, by the way. It really is true.
On a separate note, be careful what you see on
the Internet these days. There's a lot of junk
out there that's a lie. And so be careful when
you start searching for stuff. When I was looking
for these deer that climb mountains, I found
some videos of some deer climbing trees. And
I was like, I don't think that that's right.
And sure enough, it was AI. But there are really
deer that climb mountains, and you can find those
videos of those deer, and it's incredible. You'll
see an almost completely vertical mountain, and
the deer just run up there, and they just jump
and run and hop around that thing, and I'm like,
what in the world are they even grabbing a hold
of? How can they climb this mountain? They don't
have no opposable thumbs. They've got hooves,
and they climb up that mountain. I'm talking
about... In no time. And that's the illustration
that Habakkuk uses here. He makes my feet like
those of a deer and enables me to walk on the
mountain heights. Now, it would look impossible
for a deer to be able to climb a mountain, but
yet they can, and they can walk comfortably on
the top of the mountain. And maybe there are
some things in your life today, some mountains,
so to speak, that seem impossible. They're so
high, and they're so steep, and you say, God,
how in the world am I ever going to climb this
mountain? Or you're going to climb it, because
just like Habakkuk, he can make you like a deer
that can do things that seem almost impossible.
Not only can you climb the mountain, but you
can get to the top of the mountain. So when we
look at the psalm that says, where does my help
come from? It comes from the Lord, the maker
of heaven and earth. The verse before that is,
I lift my eyes to the hills. I lift my eyes to
the mountains. Habakkuk had a mountain that he
couldn't wrap his head around of how he was overcome
what was before him. Didn't understand really
how God was working and why he was working in
the way he was. And he asked God about it, and
God said, well, hang tight. I'm going to take
care of it. And for Habakkuk, that was good enough.
He says, I trust you, God. Things are really
bad, but I trust you, and I know you're going
to help me to overcome what I'm up against. And
I want you to know that God will help you to
overcome what you're up against today. It's greater
than anything that's within you to overcome.
But praise the Lord, the Scripture says that
Through Jesus Christ, we can overcome the things
of this world. We can be overcomers. That he
who is within us is greater than he who is in
the world. God sent Jesus Christ to die on the
cross so that our sins could be forgiven. So
that we would have hope. So that we would know
that God's word is true. And there is victory
in Jesus Christ. And if we would trust in Jesus
Christ today and repent of our sins, we would
find that same strength. I wish I could give
you answers to all your questions about things
you don't understand, about how God does things
the way he does and why he doesn't, but I cannot.
And even if God told us, we still probably wouldn't
understand, and so we are left with a choice
to either trust God or not trust him. But I pray
that we would be those that no matter how difficult
our path may be, that we say, God, I trust you
because I know that you're good. Even if I don't
understand it, God, I know you're good. Let's
pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for your
good word. I pray that you would help us. Maybe
there are some in this room today, dear Lord,
that are just struggling and they're having a
hard time with whatever they're up against. Maybe
they just see the evil and the fighting and the
feuding and all those things that are going on
in the world, God, and they just don't understand
why they're taking place. I pray, God, that you
help us to understand as best we can, but with
what we can understand, I pray that we would
just trust you. God, you are good, and everything
you do is for the good of your kingdom. There's
nothing that takes place that you don't allow,
dear Lord. So I pray, God, that you would help
us to just be a people who would trust in that
truth, that God, even if things may be bad for
us, that we would still praise you this morning.
God, I pray that if there are any who do not
know Jesus Christ and have put their faith in
him and have found hope today that they would
trust him and find victory in him, that they
would climb those mountain heights. And I ask
these things in Jesus' name. Amen.