October 18, 2005
In the spring of 1939, the British government commissioned a series of propaganda posters to prepare their country for the threat of war. They wanted to motivate and encourage their country for the difficult days they were about to face. The Ministry of Information eventually settled on three simple designs. The first two posters had a victorious tone and were widely distributed in the fall of ’39. They encouraged their countrymen to stand up in the face of danger. They simply read:
Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory.
Freedom Is In Peril; Defend It With All Your Might.
The third poster was never released. It had a slightly different tone, so they decided not to display it unless the Germans landed on British soil. But because that never happened, the third poster was never seen. It quietly faded into oblivion.
That is, until the year 2,000, when the owners of a secondhand bookstore in Northeast England were opening a box of used books they bought from an auction. They found one of the few remaining copies of the third poster. They liked it so much that they decided to frame it and hang up. It simply read, “Keep Calm & Carry On.”
Needless to say, this little poster has done quite well. This 20th Century relic has found a home in the 21st Century. The poster is literally everywhere. We even have our own version of the slogan in our children’s ministry. There is literally nothing flashing about the design, and yet, modern people find it very compelling. Why is this? What makes the simple phrase so intriguing to us?
Here’s a suggestion: Most of us realize that life is extremely fragile. We know that our lives can change in a second. We saw this on September 11. We woke up to a normal Tuesday morning, but we were living in a different world by lunchtime. We know that if something happened this afternoon, our country could be at war tonight. We see hurricanes coming out of nowhere to slam into the coast of Mexico… when will it be our turn to pick up the pieces? We know that a phone call or a knock on the door or a diagnosis could change our lives in a second. Life is fragile and we know it. What we don’t know, however, is how we would respond if everything does fall apart. Would we cave? Would we despair? Or would we keep calm and carry on? Many of you are there right now. Your world has changed. Perhaps you’re trying to pick up the pieces. And maybe you’re looking for a better way to respond to the tragedy you have faced.
This is the question that Habakkuk answered in the third and final chapter of his short prophecy. How should the people of God respond to tragedy? If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to turn to Habakkuk chapter 3. The easiest way to find this book is to locate Mark’s gospel and go back 6 books. Scott Andrews is on the second leg of his 2-week vacation, so we’ve taken a brief break from the gospel of Mark to study Habakkuk.
If you missed last week, let me try to summarize the first two chapters of Habakkuk. It is essentially a 4-part conversation. Habakkuk was frustrated that his country was turning away from God, so he began this book by voicing his complaint to God. Where are you? Why aren’t you doing anything? God responded by assuring Habakkuk that he did have a plan. It was unbelievable. God was raising up the Babylonian Empire – a very brutal and wicked nation to judge Judah. As you can imagine, this frustrated Habakkuk even more. How could God use a VERY wicked nation to judge a kind of wicked nation? It wasn’t right. So, he climbed onto a watchtower to wait for God’s response.
God’s response in chapter 2 transformed the frustrated prophet. The key verse in the entire book – and some have even said the entire Bible – is Habakkuk 2:4. Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. God essentially told Habakkuk not to worry about Babylon. Because they defied God, they would be judged. Instead, he encouraged Habakkuk to have faith.
This response completely changed Habakkuk. Nothing else had changed: his country was still a mess and Babylon was still coming. But Habakkuk was a different person. He was prepared to face the worst. And so, in chapter 3, he penned one of the greatest statements of faith that our world has ever known. Let’s read the entire chapter:
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
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 Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
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 Cushan in 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. Selah
You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters 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 thigh to neck. Selah
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 trampled 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 quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.
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,
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.
PRAY
There are three distinct movements to this prayer. Habakkuk will begin by asking God to work in his own day like he had in the past. He will then remember God’s work in the past. Because of this, he will rejoice in God no matter what happens in the future.
- Habakkuk requested for God to work in his own day (1-2).
- Habakkuk remembered God’s work in the past (3-15).
- Habakkuk rejoiced in God regardless of the future (16-19).
I promise I didn’t go looking for the 3 R’s. They found me. More important than the cute alliteration is the content. Habakkuk’s prayer is bold, it is historically informed, and it shows us how to have faith in the midst of calamity. Let’s dig in.
First, Habakkuk requested for God to work in his own day. The first section begins with a simple inscription: A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. We’re trained to blow past these introductions, especially when they say shigionoth, but this line is crucial for our interpretation of the text. Let me explain:
First, we’re told that this is a prayer of Habakkuk. If you will remember, chapter 1 begins with the burden of Habakkuk. He was frustrated that God wasn’t listening to his prayers, so he lamented. I suggested last week that the people of God are invited to lament. We can come to God with our burdens and our tears. But I suppose we need to finish this train of thought. While it is comforting to know that the biblical authors constantly cried out to God, you should also know that almost every lament ends with praise. In chapter 1, Habakkuk carried a burden; in chapter 3 he composed a prayer. There is a time to lament, there is a time to sit quietly, and there is a time to stand up and praise God. This book began with a burden, but it ends with a prayer. Habakkuk is a changed man.
Second, the inscription is important because it was written according to shigionoth. And you’re thinking: how is that important? We’re not really sure what a shigionoth is, but we do know it is some sort of musical instruction. Habakkuk 3 is a song and we know that because it closes with a note to the choirmaster. It also has musical notations throughout. This is significant because Habakkuk was not simply writing out a personal prayer here. He wasn’t journaling to himself. He was giving the people of God a song to sing. In other words, he wasn’t writing out his statement of faith; he was writing our statement of faith. He was giving his people something to hold on to and something to sing as they walked to Babylon. This was a brilliant strategy because music has a way of getting into our bones. Melodies can move us in ways that sentences can’t. One author said that music has a privileged channel into our imaginations. This is why we gather every week to sing. It is an important element of our worship.
Unfortunately, we have lost the tune to Habakkuk’s song, but we do have the lyrics. When Habakkuk begins his prayer in verse 2, he will humbly ask for two things.
First, he wants God to show up once again like he did in the past. In the midst of the years, revive your work – make it known again. What a great prayer. God, we have heard and we know that you have done great things for your people; we need you now more than ever. Will you please come and make your great name known once again? He wanted his own country to experience the powerful work of God. He had heard the great stories of God; now he wanted to experience the stories. He wanted God’s presence to be known in his own day. Do you ever pray this prayer? Habakkuk invites us to pray this.
But as soon as he asked for God to show up, he quickly added a second request. Habakkuk knew that when God showed up, he would come in wrath. He was keenly aware of God’s power and holiness. His perverted country could not stand in the presence of a holy God, so Habakkuk said, In wrath, remember mercy. God, I’m asking you to come, but when you come, please be merciful to us.
Many modern Christians want to take away God’s wrath. We are quick to say that the NT is a God of love, not wrath. I understand this impulse, but if you take away God’s wrath, you have moved on from biblical Christianity. I don’t think Habakkuk liked the doctrine of God’s wrath any more than you and I like it. But at least he acknowledged it. When you acknowledge the real and burning wrath of God, you can make a simple statement like Habakkuk: please be merciful to us. We know that you’re holy and we know that we cannot stand in your presence, but would you be merciful to us?
If you can’t say this prayer – in wrath, remember mercy – you will never understand the gospel. You see, it is on the cross where God’s wrath and mercy met. On Good Friday, God’s wrath came to our planet in all of its fury. He didn’t hold back. But every bit of it was centralized on the head of Jesus. In wrath he came, but in mercy, he poured his wrath on his beloved Son. In wrath, remember mercy, God.
This leads us to the second point in our outline. He had just asked for God to move in his own day like he had done for previous generations, so now he will remember God’s work in the past. In verses 3-15, he will reanimate these past actions of God in stunning poetry.
I will be honest: this is a confusing section. The picture that Habakkuk paints of God is unusual to modern minds. Let’s read verses 3-5 again:
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
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.
What is Habakkuk doing here? Whenever I have read Habakkuk chapter 3 in the past, this section seemed to be out of place. I like the first few verses of this chapter and I love the last few verses, but why does he spend the bulk of this chapter describing God in cryptic and unfamiliar language? What is he talking about?
Habakkuk is describing the exodus and the Canaanite conquest. There are little clues in the text that help us identify these stories. But he really isn’t retelling the story of these events. Instead, he’s re-singing the songs about these events. If you carefully read through the OT, you’ll find that the Israelites would often compose a song of praise after a major event. For instance, in Exodus 14, Israel passed through the Red Sea. But in Exodus 15, Moses sang about it. In Judges 4, Deborah defeated the Canaanites, but in Judges 5, she sang about it. Let me read two excerpts form these victory songs.
Deuteronomy 33:2
“The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.
Judges 5:4
“LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom,
the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water.
When Habakkuk began his poem with these words, God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran, his audience would have known exactly what he was doing. He was re-singing the victory march of God. These songs were deeply important to the Israelites. It gave them a very strong and powerful image of God to hold on to.
So, now we know what’s happening, but let’s take a step back and put it in context. Why would Habakkuk sing a victory song here? He was joining a long line of victory poets, but he hadn’t won any battles. In fact, he was on the brink of the most embarrassing day of Judah’s history. How could he sing a victory song? How could he sing of God’s triumphant march from the south when Babylon was preparing their triumphant march from the north?
We get a clue of his motivation in v 13. Toward the end of the poem he says these words:
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
Habakkuk was remembering God’s salvation throughout the years. He had spared them before; he would spare them again. He was trusting in the goodness of God.
This leads to the third part of our outline. Habakkuk rejoiced in God no matter what the future held. In v. 16, Habakkuk ended his victory song and came back to reality. He was deeply shaken. He had just considered the awesome work of God in the past. God had split the earth and shaken the nations. He was terrified. Listen to his response in verse 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.
The vision of God had made him sick. His body trembled. His lips quivered. His bones turned to jelly. His legs failed him. Why did he have this reaction? He saw God’s power and it made him tremble. This is what it means to fear the Lord. Sometimes we take the sting out of the fear of the Lord. We say that it’s a reverent respect. I suppose that’s technically true. But when the biblical authors spoke of the fear of God, they talked about their bones rotting away.
In verse 16, Habakkuk was shaking at the reality of God’s power and holiness. I am convinced that this is the key to Habakkuk’s faith. When he came back to reality, did you notice that he hardly cared about Babylon? He simply said, I’ll just quietly wait for them to invade us. Wait a minute! Habakkuk, don’t you remember that the Babylonians are fierce. They’re faster than leopards and more ferocious than the evening wolves. They sweep through the earth like wind. Yes, but God shakes the earth with a look. He makes the eternal hills tremble.
I’ve lived in the mountains most of my life, but I’ve never made it to Wiseman’s view until this weekend. I was blown away. It makes you feel really small to think that Table Rock and Hawksbill have been imposing themselves on our landscape for centuries. But as we were standing there taking it in, Habakkuk’s words came to mind:
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.
With a look God melted the hills. In that moment, God felt really big. And suddenly, the problems in our world felt really small. ISIS didn’t seem as powerful. As Jesus said several centuries later, Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Habakkuk feared God. This prepared him for the dark days that were soon to come. Let’s read this powerful statement one more time:
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,
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.
Can you imagine a stronger statement of faith? Even if I lose everything, I will rejoice in God. He is my strength and salvation. This was quite a statement for Habakkuk to make. He was living in an agrarian society. Let’s reword this for our day: Even if the market crashes and my house forecloses, even if the grocery stores run out of food and the gas stations run out of gas, even if I get the phone call or the diagnosis, I will rejoice in God.
How could Habakkuk have joy? How could he dance on the heights like a deer when Babylon was coming to destroy them? He responded in joy because joy is the fruit of faith. When your confidence is in God and God alone, you will have joy. We have nothing left to fear when our faith is in the God who shakes the hills.
One of the reasons that we have a hard time praying vv. 17-19 is that we have placed our faith in results instead of God. If you or a loved one have ever suffered through cancer or some other terminal illness, you know how easy it is to place your faith in results. If the MRI comes back clear, you had faith. If it was bad, you need more faith. We somehow think that a greater level of faith will give us greater results. But that’s not the heart of Habakkuk’s prayer. He doesn’t place his faith on results. He doesn’t have faith in the crops and produce. He has faith in God. And this led to his joy.
Life is far too fragile to place our faith in results. Besides, that isn’t what the world is looking for. Our health and wealth doesn’t impress the world. They can get rich and healthy just fine without God. What we need – and what our world needs – is the type of faith that can stare adversity and calamity in the face and say, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Everything is falling apart, but I will rejoice in God. That’s what we need and what the world desperately craves.
I imagine that there are some of you here that want to have this type of faith, but you’re not sure how to cultivate it. If you’re looking for that type of faith, I want to invite you to remember the resurrection. Habakkuk found strength by recalling the Exodus. We get to look back to the resurrection. The empty grave can give you the strength to face anything. What if our nation falls? This isn’t our home anyway. What if we get the phone call or the diagnosis? This is not the end.
The hope of the resurrection enables us to skip through the most difficult days like a deer skipping across the heights. Let’s stand in prayer.
END with Romans 8.