Singing in the Pain (Part 1 of 2)

Maybe you've participated in what's known as a trust fall, where you fall backwards and you're trusting that there's someone there who will catch you when you fall. Well, today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg challenges us to think about who or what we're trusting in to catch us when we fall. We're going to read this morning from the prophecy of Habakkuk, and chapter 3, 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. God came from Taman and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light. Rays flashed from his hand, and there he veiled his power. Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels.

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. I saw the tents of cushion and affliction, the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 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? You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and writhed, the raging water swept on.

The deep gave forth its voice, it lifted its hands on high. 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. You marched through the earth in fury. You threshed the nations in anger. 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 neck to thigh.

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. You trembled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters. 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 wait quietly for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.

Though the fig trees should not blossom, nor fruit beyond 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. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the deer's.

He makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster with stringed instruments. Thanks be to God for his Word. Let's just pause and ask for God's help, using a familiar but old Anglican prayer. Lord, what we know not teach us, what we have not give us, what we are not make us, for your Son's sake.

Amen. Well, in these particularly challenging days, I suppose it was only a matter of time before we looked at Habakkuk. Probably, like me, you will have turned at least to the closing verses of Habakkuk as you have been contemplating the difficulties and challenges that are before us. Very few of you, I think—and I'm speaking now directly to our own congregation—very few of you will remember that we studied this, this book, together in the month of November in 1983.

Many of the congregation were not even born or around. So few will remember that. Some may actually recall that we went back to Habakkuk in June of 2008—and, interestingly, just weeks before, Lehman Brothers, which was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States, just a matter of maybe eight or nine weeks before Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy.

And here we are now, twelve years on, and that economic collapse arguably pales before the current global catastrophe. And certainly every morning that we awaken, the vast majority of media is focused again and again on these things. And perhaps, like me, you've been finding yourself saying, I need to make sure that I'm reading my Bible so that when I listen to this, I have a sense of framework whereby I can understand and apply these things. I do read the newspapers, as you know, and like you, I pay attention to them in some measure. This last week, the Times of London reported the results of a survey that they had conducted, or someone had conducted, with two thousand British adults. And they were assessing their reaction to life under quarantine and tying it to personality traits that these individuals were most associated with. And they broke it down into five categories. They said that certain people, in responding to the circumstances, might be defined clearly as pragmatic realists.

In fact, that was the largest number in the British population—some thirty-one percent. Secondly, nervous dependents. Thirdly, resentful pessimists. Fourthly, deluded optimists. And fifthly, skeptical troublemakers.

Now, as I read that—and I didn't read it out to my wife, because I was frightened that she might identify me as one of the five and not the one that I wanted to be—but I found myself saying, I wonder really where I fit in terms of such a designation. And then I said to myself, I wonder where Habakkuk would fit in one of these categories. Now, the fact is that all that we know of Habakkuk is contained in these three chapters. None of the other prophets actually make mention of him.

And the exact time of his writing is also something that we cannot speak to with any degree of dogmatism. The only indication that we have of the timing is when in verse 6 of chapter 1 he mentions how God was raising up the Chaldeans. And I think it's quite obvious, though, that in the writing of this prophecy, in these three chapters, he writes as one who has been exercising the office of a teacher. He has been exercising his prophetic ministry. And he's been doing so in a context of moral declension and spiritual declension on the part of God's people.

They have, if you like, given indication of the fact of their obstinate rebellion, of what Calvin refers to as an irremediable wickedness. And it seems to be that it is in response to that that he delivers this oracle. You will notice the oracle that Habakkuk the prophets saw.

That's how it all begins. Now, what I want to do this morning is not try and fit him into one of the five categories, but simply acknowledge that he, like each of us, is essentially a work in progress. And so, I'm going to take a high-level flight over the whole three chapters, giving something of an outline by way of a sketch and assigning to each of us the responsibility of homework on our own. I thought that we might view him, first of all, questioning and complaining, and then, secondly, listening and thinking, and then, thirdly, praying and singing. Now, the temptation is to go immediately to the praying and the singing, but the praying and the singing is set within the context of what precedes it.

And so, first of all, here we find him questioning and complaining. Now, depending on the version of the Bible that you're using—perhaps some with a King James version, which was what I was brought up on—it may read for you, instead of the oracle that Habakkuk the prophets saw, the burden that Habakkuk the prophets saw. Or, if you like, the problem, as God gave Habakkuk to see it, so that what he delivers here is a burden that has been laid upon him.

The prophetic role, not only in Habakkuk's life but in the prophets right across our Scriptures, is essentially to declare God's perspective, his judgment, the ultimate victory of his purposes, and in a world that disregards him. We must remember that when we turn, for example, to this, that this is also covered when Paul writes to Timothy, and he says to them, All Scripture was breathed out by God. So what we're looking at here is the Word of God. It has been breathed out by God. We've spoken in the past of the dual authorship of Scripture.

It has been breathed out by God. It has been spoken by Habakkuk. And clearly, he does not fit, certainly, the last category.

We do not find him as a skeptical troublemaker. If you will read this on your own, perhaps later in the day, perhaps you will agree with me, that Habakkuk comes across as a man, obviously, of spiritual character, a man who has a genuine concern and love for his people, and a man who has an all-consuming zeal for the glory of God. And when he describes the fact at the beginning of the second chapter that he is keeping watch, the fact is he's keeping watch in more ways than one. Now, we're looking at this under the heading of complaining and questioning. And this we find ourselves dealing with in chapter 1. I say again to you I'm only going to highlight this. I'm not trying to expound the whole three chapters. How long, O LORD—verse 2—how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear?

His concern is such that it appears to be past the point of recovery. Why do you make me see iniquity? Why do you idly look at the wrong? Destruction, violence are before me, strife and contention arise. In other words, things are not looking good at all. And then in verse 4, he basically sees the world as being upside down. It is in a state of real turmoil.

It is, if you like, out of control. The law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted. Now, we can let it just simply settle in our minds, and we understand exactly what's being said. And that is where he begins.

Here are the first of his questions, or the beginning of his complaints. He's going to come back to it in verse 12, when he says, Are you not the everlasting God? Well, Lord my God, my Holy One, we shall not die. You are the one who has ordained them as a judgment.

This I don't understand either, he says. Now, the same one who voices the question is the one who voices the answer. And in verse 5 you will notice that now he is the mouthpiece of God's answer. God has spoken to him. He has listened to him, and now he speaks to him. Look among the nations, he says, and see, wonder, and be astounded. You're not gonna hardly believe this, is what he says to him.

For I'm doing a work in your days that you would not believe if I told you. And then it becomes clear that what God is going to do is he's going to use an unholy people in order to chastise his holy people. He's going to execute his judgment by raising up a bitter and a hasty nation. Habakkuk knew something had to be done. He knew that it would be God who must do it. But he wasn't prepared for the way in which God's plan would be worked out.

Let me just repeat that. Habakkuk knew that something must be done. He knew that God must be the author of what was to be done. But he wasn't prepared for the way in which God's plan was to be worked out. Well, we've referenced that, haven't we, in the hymn that we have just sung?

That was the great mystery for Calper in that hymn. I know that you're a good God, I know that you're a sovereign God, but I don't understand this. That's really the spirit with which Habakkuk comes to this. God is going to use an unholy instrument to achieve his purpose. Now, as you read this through on your own—and I'm confident that you will—you realize that it leads inevitably to the fact that Habakkuk is going to have to think this out. And you will notice that he says this at the beginning of chapter 2. I'm going to have to think about this and listen to God. I'm going to take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower.

Well, just exactly what this means, I'm not sure. Certainly there are times when it is good for us to get up to a high place and look out over the panorama and ponder things. We know also that the psalmist speaks of how the name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run into it and are safe. In Psalm 18, in verses, what, 28 and following, we read these words, For it is you, O God, who light my lamp. The Lord my God lightens my darkness.

For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord proves true. He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. So, if you like, when, along with Habakkuk, we look on the circumstances of life and it becomes the occasion of questioning and complaint, the Word of God, if you like, is the ladder up which we climb.

The Word of God ultimately is the source into which we look, because it is the Scriptures alone that provide the answer for all of the complaints and all of the reproofs—the complaints and reproofs that come to us from outside when our friends and neighbors say, Well, if you have such a wonderful God that you serve, can you please explain to me why things are as they are, or from the reproofs that emerge from inside our own questioning hearts? So Habakkuk is questioning, and he's complaining. But then we find him also listening and thinking. And particularly in chapter 2. And one of the interesting things about Habakkuk, although it is not an often-read book, it contains a number of very, very well-known statements.

And so I thought rather than range through the chapter, when we listen and we think, let's just notice three things to listen to and to think about. First of all, in verse 4 of chapter 2, Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. Now, what is happening there is that the contrast is being established between those who believe, if you like, that they can handle life and death on their own. This person regards the idea of bowing down before God as simply ridiculous, as unnecessary, and, frankly, unhelpful.

And he's prepared to scorn those who do. The righteous, by way of contrast, have a different guiding principle. Instead, then, of looking to ourselves to navigate our way out of our predicament, the righteous shall live by his faith.

In other words, by believing what God says, simply and solely, because God said it. You save a humble people, says the psalmist, but the haughty eyes you bring down. Now, if you know your Bible at all, you will know that, interestingly, this verse is picked up again in the New Testament on a number of occasions—in Hebrews and in Galatians and in Romans, and Paul in speaking of what it means to know God and to be in a relationship with God reaches back into this statement here in Habakkuk, making it clear that God gives his righteousness as a free gift of grace, that it is not something that we can earn, either by our good living or by our religious and good works.

No, in the midst of all of these troubles and trials, Habakkuk affirms this immense principle—the righteous shall live by his faith. And then in verse 14 of the second chapter, he encourages himself and he encourages the reader by making it clear that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. It's a quite remarkable statement, isn't it, given the predicament, given the rebellion on the part of the people, given the ensuing case for judgment and chaos that is to follow.

And in the middle of all of that, he makes this great statement. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. God will display his glory in executing his judgment.

He's perfect in his justice and his wisdom. And so, beyond even the initial demonstration of that in the seventh century BC, we are reminded here again of the ultimate triumph of God. If it seems slow, then we should wait for it, he says back in verse 3. When we go forward into the New Testament, Paul again makes this clear. Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess.

When the writer John describes the circumstances in the book of Revelation, he speaks in terms of every tribe and every nation and every people and every language. You see how this creates a radical insight that runs straight through all that is going on around? People say, Well, you know, our preoccupation with this and with that, and these are the great things. We must listen to science. We must listen to the educators. We must listen to the geniuses. Every morning that I awake, and somebody says, and the experts have said, and the experts have said. And of course, we pay attention to the experts. We're in great need of their insights. But do you as a believer this morning actually understand that whatever those circumstances may be, it is of immense significance that the right standing of a man or a woman before God is by grace through faith in Jesus, that the righteous will live by faith.

The Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through faith, and that we are to walk by faith. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. Alistair is going to continue this message tomorrow. Well, we hope you've been enjoying the Encore 2021 series, where we're revisiting some of the most requested messages from the past 12 months. Let me remind you, we have a USB that contains some of Alistair's most popular messages from the last 10 years. This USB is called 10 Years of Favorites.

It's our most comprehensive collection of Alistair's teaching, 123 messages on dozens of topics. 10 Years of Favorites is perfect for popping into the USB player in your car. You can listen while you're on your daily commute or on a road trip.

And the USB is only $5. You'll find it in our online store at truthforlife.org slash store. And while you're on our website, be sure to look for the devotional that we're recommending today. It's a book titled None Else, 31 Meditations on God's Character and Attributes. Well, the book None Else is a month long devotional that contains 31 short daily readings. Each reading explores a different attribute of God. Over the course of the month, you'll consider his wisdom, his unchanging nature, the fact that he's all knowing, the fact that he is a triune God. And because the devotional None Else specifically focuses on God, it's a great way for you to spend a few minutes with him at the start or the end of each day. Request your copy of the book None Else when you donate to Truth for Life.

You can simply tap on the image you see in the app or call us at 888-588-7884. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for joining us today. Be sure to listen again tomorrow for the conclusion of the message we heard today. When our questioning and complaining leaves us without answers, what do we do next? Find out why our silence can lead us to song. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.