THE SOVEREIGN LORD IS MY STRENGTH

In Matt 22:31, we read: “Have you not read what was spoken to you by God?” Isn’t it interesting that He does not say: Have you not read what was ‘written’ but instead says what was ‘spoken.’ Also, notice that he is not talking about something written long ago, but what God spoke to YOU.
In Habakkuk 1, we see that the prophet cries out to God, angry that people are not obeying the law of Moses. In vs 5 God answers him saying that He is raising up the Chaldean people. Then Habakkuk asks God how God could use the wicked Chaldeans to punish a less wicked people. But in Hab 2:3, Habakkuk is told that it will be alright in the end, and he is given the answer that the righteous will live by faith. ||||
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1). In Chapter 3:16, we see Habakkuk’s prayer of faith. He says he will wait quietly for God to work. Sometimes we feel discouraged when we see how much people need Jesus, and they do not even know that they need Him. We can also get discouraged with the laws our government passes, like the Abortion law and also like the one they are trying to pass to make euthanasia legal. But we must remember that God is still in control. We do not need to get worked up that wicked people are getting away with their plans. God is raising up His people. Habakkuk knows that he is in the middle of suffering and knows that God is in control, and he is willing to wait for God to act. He knows that as part of God’s judgment on wickedness, he too will undergo hardships.  ||||
Hab 3:17-19 is his response to God. 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.  ||||
The figs and olives and sheep that we read about in these verses are the staple food of Habakkuk’s days. So we need to understand the difficulty that Habakkuk is describing. Imagine that Auckland’s drought continues, and it becomes dry and all our crops fail. Then imagine that a second wave of Corona virus hits and we go back into lockdown. Imagine that the supermarkets do not have any bread or flour. With our own land being dry and flights and ships unable to come to us with food, and with no money, and even WINZ being able to offer assistance. On top of all this imagine that with a serious souring of the relationship between Trump and Kim Jong-un, North Korea threatens to target Auckland with a nuclear bomb. Habakkuk’s situation is comparable to something like that, but he says: I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength. That last phrase ‘GOD, the Lord’ reads as ‘Adonai Adonai’ and can be translated as ‘the sovereign LORD is my strength.’  ||||
How can Habakkuk rejoice at such a time? He has no food and he is going to be attacked by an evil nation. When Habakkuk says these words of faith, he is in the midst of his suffering, and still he believes.  ||||
We see this in Job in the Bible who trusts in the Lord even when he is still so unwell, in Joseph still in prison, in Paul has not seen Jesus return. Yet these men are able to be joyful in the midst of their suffering. The sovereign LORD was their strength.  ||||
He makes our feet like the deer. The way the deer overcomes great difficulties on the mountain with its specialised God-given feet. It is hard for ordinary people to rejoice in suffering, but God’s people with God-given “deer feet” can rejoice.  ||||
We have been promised Rom 8:28. This is the key. The wicked Chaldeans who are coming to take the food and attack were sent by God for a good purpose, to punish His people and for ultimate restoration. There is NO MEANINGLESS SUFFERING FOR BELIEVERS.  ||||
Maybe God is working in us to teach us humility. Maybe we are persecuted for righteousness sake. Maybe we are being tortured for Jesus’ Name. None of this is random meaningless suffering. Maybe the building fell and all our children died, like it happened to Job. Even that is not random. God has a good plan. This is the foundation that Habakkuk is standing on.  ||||
The Sovereign God gives us strength. He is good. He is worthy of our suffering. We know that justice will be done. The Sovereign Lord is our strength.