The hope of prayer

 Habakkuk 3:1-19; BCBC/IOUC; 3/27/2022; Rev. Paul Wang

 Introduction

In the face of the loss and destruction of the country and the displacement of the people, the prayers of the prophet Habakkuk were changed to songs of displacement.   In the Bible, in addition to the seventh Psalm when David was persecuted by King Saul,   it is here that Habakkuk used the tune of wandering when he prayed for Jerusalem.  Shiggaion means “confused, wandering”, and it may express the impermanence and unpredictability of life.  It can also refer to the content and style of poetry,   which is characterized by twists and turns, sadness, excitement and ups and downs.  Habakkuk is pointing out that when life encounters despair, prayer is the only way out.  Let’s look at the first point:

 Knowledge of wisdom

How do you view a sudden aggression? Chaldea appeared like a beast in the holy city of Jerusalem,  which caught people off guard. It is also a bit like today’s Russian-Ukrainian war,   and the mood of the Ukrainian people is difficult for others to understand.  First, the determination of the knowledge of God.  Prophets have a weak understanding of God,  should it be human nature?  There is no fear in love,  but now the prophet Habakkuk hears the name or word of God, and his heart is afraid!  As the residents of the Holy City,  it may never have occurred to them that one day it would be invaded, ravaged, and demolished by the Gentiles.  A prophet’s prayer should be full of lamentation, sorrow, and disappointment with God!  Say in prayer: Lord, have you neglected your people?  We are humiliated, what is your face?   Our churches are destroyed, crosses are torn down,  pastors are arrested, believers are persecuted,  are you glorified?  The forces of the Antichrist are still showing off their might in the world, even boasting about banning speech and taking pride in issuing a ban on beliefs!  The prophet experienced pain, but still praised God:  “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,  I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:18)”

Second, the definition of the source of suffering.  Habakkuk’s knowledge of God is full of wisdom, he said: “Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2) ”  This is the wisdom of our prayers to seek first his kingdom and righteousness.   Habakkuk asked God to show what he had done,  not his own dreams and pride.   Habakkuk also knew very well the disposition and attributes of God’s justice and mercy, and he even asked God  “In wrath remember mercy.”   Who else but God can do this?   Even anger has compassion,  only He can!  This is the hope of our prayers!  For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;  weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Finally, the persistence of worship and praise.   When people still worship and praise God in the midst of suffering, it is testing their spiritual life. How could the glory of God be only on the Temple Mount?   Even if Jerusalem was captured by the Chaldeans,  God could come from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran.  The prophet Habakkuk was trying to recall what God had done in the past years, and God had shown him that God’s glory covered the heavens and the earth filled with praise.  God is omnipresent and is not limited by human time and space.   The Russian army is crushing the territory, the artillery fire is high, and there are countless casualties, but it does not affect the Ukrainians kneeling on the snow and praying,  expressing praise and thanksgiving to You.  The armed police are tearing down crosses,   and the brothers and sisters of Sanjiang Church are praying with tears, even praying for those wicked people who tear down our spiritual homes, asking God to forgive their evil deeds. Let’s look at the second point:

 The life of worship

Worship is not just about singing hymns and praises, but more importantly, living out faith and reliance on God.  Prayer and worship, like a pair of twin brothers, cannot be separated from each other.  First, the vision of the firmament.  Teman was south of the Jordan River,   and the exact location of Mount Paran could not be found.  How did the prophet see this picture?  Habakkuk even saw the glory of God covering the heavens and filling the earth with praise.  Even the heavens have seen that the prophet’s feet must stand on the firmament!  God allowed Habakkuk to see the splendor of God through the sunlight and experience the power of God. Who can make him see where God stands, measuring the earth?   Today, more than 3.5 million refugees have been displaced in Ukraine.   Would anyone still say that “dispersing all the people” is a myth?   This is the testimony of the Holy Spirit with our hearts that we are children of God.    We can even be with God in prayer, walk with God, and even stand above the firmament to watch God’s power!  The Prophet saw: “The mountains saw you and writhed.  Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. (Habakkuk 3:10)”  The Bible says that the spiritual man can see all things, and even through prayer he has the vision of the firmament.

Second, stay calm in a disaster.  It may not be easy for people to experience the test when life is calm. In recent years,  all who have eyes can see,   just as Habakkuk saw in those days: “Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. (Habakkuk 3:5) ”  The COVID virus has been ravaging the world for more than two years, and the earthquake has not stopped.   It has been more than a month since Russia invaded Ukraine.  Will chemical weapons and nuclear weapons also appear next?   In Ukraine, known as the granary of the world, food production is invaded and famine occurs worldwide, which should be a high probability event.    Maybe mass death is imminent, can you still be calm and secure?

Finally, the Lord is faithful.  The prophet Habakkuk chose to believe in God, why? Because he experienced God’s promises in prayer, he heard God say to him: “You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.  You split the earth with rivers; (Habakkuk 3:9)”  Just as God’s choice of the twelve tribes of Israel is immutable, so is God’s choice of all who believe in Him through His Son Jesus Christ. Do you believe it?  Let’s look at the third point:

 The children who love God

Because God is love, and those who are loved by God will love Him.  The Chaldeans have already attacked the city, and it is possible that the children of God will die in the next second.  Will anyone insist that God is love?  First, believe in God’s salvation.  To love God is to believe in the great work of salvation He has done for us!   The Lord sits enthroned over the flood.  We experience God’s wrath because of sin, and see him angry at rivers and angry at oceans! We also see in wrath God strode through the earth and in anger He threshed the nations.   As the last day draws near, God’s righteousness will increase, the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.  O people of Jerusalem, God has raised up the Chaldeans against you because of your iniquity.   Just as today because of your Ukrainian sins, God has raised up Russians who are more vicious than you to attack you, bomb you, and destroy you. The purpose is to save you!

Second, understand the will of God. God treats Ukraine well.   There are granaries on the ground and gold beneath the ground, but the people on it live like beggars. For more than 1,200 years, Ukrainians have been wearing the halo of “Kievan Rus” on their heads, and it is difficult to hide their inner pride.  They have the same roots as Russia and Belarus, but they are too eager to fry each other.  Today’s big fight has accumulated more than a thousand years of grievance.    If these three brothers can understand God’s will, they should know that God’s will is love and loving one another.  They are not only brothers in tradition, blood, and culture, but also children of God, and they are all Orthodox Christians.  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, is it possible to rejoice in God?  Is it possible to care about God’s salvation?

Finally, rely on the power of God. It is a miracle to choose to rely on God because of God’s love,  and to choose to let go of your own strength and turn to rely on God’s strength because of your faith in God!  Habakkuk said:  “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:19)”  Fast and steady power is rare, right?   Listen quickly, think fast, but speak slowly.  This alone is not easy,   it is necessary to obtain the power of the Holy Spirit!  You must look up to God in prayer!

 Conclusion

Well, thank the Lord!  Our hope in prayer is inseparable from the knowledge of God’s wisdom,  living out the life of Christ in worship, and becoming children who love God.

Let us pray……

 

Habakkuk 3:1-19

1. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.[a]

2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.  His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.

4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.

5 Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.

6 He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble.

The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed—but he marches on forever.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?  Was your wrath against the streams?  Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?

9 You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.  You split the earth with rivers;

10 the mountains saw you and writhed.  Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.

11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.

12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.

13 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.  You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.

14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.

15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.

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.

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,

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,  I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.