Date: 11/06/22

Sermon Title: A Prophet's Amazing Gratitude

Context: Habakkuk 3:16-19

(Hab 3:16) I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.

(Hab 3:17) Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes 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,

(Hab 3:18) yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

(Hab 3:19) The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Preaching Note  

The Prophet Habakkuk was a prophet who proclaimed the word of God in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC. Most Old Testament scholars believe that the book of Habakkuk was written between 612-587 B.C. In 722 B.C. the Northern Israel had already been destroyed by the Assyrian king Sargon II, while the South Judah waged a breathtaking tug of war between pro-Assyrian and anti-Assyrian factions to survive. In 612 B.C., Babylonia destroyed Assyria. The hegemony of the ancient Middle East passed from Assyria to Babylonia. Babylonia overthrew Israel in 587 B.C. Habakkuk was a prophet who was at work just before Israel was defeated by the Babylonians, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and was taken into captivity in Babylonia.

    Habakkuk asks a question as God's people, Israel, come under the control of the Babylonians, who worship foreign gods. ‘What is God’s justice? Why is God silent when the wicked swallow up the righteous? Why are you using the evil force, Babylonia, as God's instrument?' (Hab 1:2). “Why do you make me see injustice? Why do you only see evil as it is?” (Hab 1:3). “The wicked threaten the righteous, and justice is perverted.” (Hab 1:4). 

    God answers Habakkuk's question. Now it seems as if the wicked will triumph, but in the end they will be judged and justice will prevail. “Even if it is slow, wait for that time. It will surely come. It will not be late.” (Hab 2:3). “Look at the proud man with a full heart. He is not honest. But the righteous live by belief (faith).” (Hab 2:4). Those who live faithfully to the end will live, and the wicked will perish. Habakkuk realizes anew God's power and love from God's answer. And he rejoices and is happy in the existence of God and what he will do. Sighs turn into pleasure, joy, and gratitude.

    Today's Bible text begins like this: “I hear that sound and my intestines are twisted. My lips tremble at that sound. My bones rot from the inside. My legs tremble. But I will wait patiently for the day when the people who invade us will suffer calamity.” (verse 16). The prophet Habakkuk hears a ‘sound’ (verse 16). The voice is that the Lord is coming to save His people (verse 13). It is the sound of striking the head of an evil people (verse 13). It is the sound of uprooting the wicked people (verse 13). It is the sound of the Lord's arrow piercing through the commander of the army (verse 14). It is the sound of the Lord coming on horseback, treading the sea, stirring great waves (verse 15).

     He hears that God is coming to save, but Habakkuk's intestines are twisted (verse 16). My lips tremble (verse 16). The bones rot inside (v. 16). My legs tremble (verse 16). This is because there is a large gap between the hope of the sound of salvation that we have heard and the reality we are currently facing. I am convinced that God saves me, but I have to live in a time of hardship now. Habakkuk waits patiently for the time of salvation in this place where the gap is large (verse 16). Because we believe in God's love and power. 

     Habakkuk is currently living in a difficult time. There is nothing to eat. The harvest season has come, but there is no fruit. There is no fruit on the fig tree (verse 17). There is no fruit on the vine (v. 17). There is no harvest from the olive tree (v. 17). There is no harvest from the fields (v. 17). There are no sheep in the cage. (v. 17). There are no cows in the stalls (v. 17).

     But Habakkuk rejoices in the Lord (v. 18). I rejoice in the God who saved me (v. 18). Habakkuk's proclamation of pleasure and happiness in God resolutely in the midst of fruitless suffering is 'a wonderful thanksgiving from a prophet. Habakkuk rejoices and is happy in God because he believes that God will ultimately judge the wicked and save those who live faithfully.

    Habakkuk is living a difficult time in front of a fruitless reality. But he doesn't give up and succumb. It is because he firmly believe in God who judges the wicked and raises the faithful. Habakkuk confesses in verse 19: “The Lord God is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of his deer, and rush up the ridges.” Because of this confession of faith, Habakkuk was able to have a spirituality of gratitude even in difficult circumstances. Because Gratitude is faith and spirituality, the Apostle Paul emphasizes giving thanks in everything. “Thank you for everything. This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).