Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20090920.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Habakkuk: Handling The Problem Of An Evil World In A Good God's Universe
Part IV: Trusting An Overwhelmingly Sovereign God In A Very Troubled World
(Habakkuk 3:3-19 ESV)
  1. Introduction
    1. If we are anxious over the formidable evils we face, we do so out of a lack of respect for God's greatness!
    2. Habakkuk's interaction with God gave him a glimpse of that sovereignty, and he applied it in Habakkuk 3:3-19 to hope in God's final sure judgment to find great personal peace, a great lesson for us today:
  2. Trusting An Overwhelmingly Sovereign God In A Very Troubled World, Habakkuk 3:3-19 ESV.
    1. Habakkuk's response to God's revelation that He would judge the vile nation that would be allowed of the Lord to invade Habakkuk's own sinful nation of Judah was a prayer (Habakkuk 3:1-2) followed by a song of praise (Habakkuk 3:3-15) as applied to Habakkuk's heart that was troubled at his world, Hab. 3:16-19.
    2. Having viewed Habakkuk's prayer in our last lesson, we view his song of praise and its application for solace in his troubled world, finding great application for us in today's world, Habakkuk 3:3-19:
      1. Habakkuk 3:3-15 describes a vision the prophet received from God about His surpassing power and thus overwhelming sovereignty over Habakkuk's concerns over his troubled world:
        1. The vision of God in Habakkuk 3:3-15 is presented in the likeness of "the awesome features of a violent storm," Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Habakkuk 3:3.
        2. Thus, God's violent entrance (Hab. 3:3a) followed by His overwhelming appearance (Hab. 3:3b-7) is applied in awesome divine acts in Habakkuk 3:8-15; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1518-1519.
        3. Those actions are not directed at nature (Hab. 3:8-11; the questions in Hab. 3:8 expect a negative answer), but at Israel's evil foes where God delivers her, Hab. 3:12-13. [Some hold the descriptions of God's acts recall His past deliverances (the crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan (v. 10); Joshua's long battle (v. 11); the defeat of Egypt's chariots at the Red Sea (v. 15), Ibid., p. 1520-1521]
        4. Specifically, Habakkuk saw God metaphorically pierce with his own arrows the heads of the warriors of the nation [of Babylon] that would invade to try to destroy him, Habakkuk 3:14-15.
      2. Stunned at this vision of God, Habakkuk recorded his initial response in Habakkuk 3:16 as follows:
        1. On the one hand, the prophet claimed that what he heard in God's vision made him tremble with fear (3:16a), his lips quivering at the sound of God's glory (3:16b), and the whole vision left him weak in his skeletal structure and trembling in his legs, the most powerful parts of his body, Hab. 3:16c.
        2. Nevertheless, knowing this great divine power would eventually be applied to destroy the dreaded Babylonians who would invade his land, Habakkuk declared he would quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon the Babylonians who were about to invade Judah, Habakkuk 3:16d!
      3. Developing this initial response into a full application of faith in God's Habakkuk 2:4b call that he trust in God to survive Babylon's invasion, Habakkuk trusted in God amid his troubled world, Hab. 3:17-19:
        1. Habakkuk 3:17 suggests the destruction about to occur to Judah when Babylon invaded: the fig tree would not blossom, the grape vines would not produce fruit, the olive trees would not produce their yield of olives, the fields would produce no crops, the flocks would be cut off from the fold and there would be no cattle in the stalls. Thus, Judah's whole way of life would be utterly destroyed.
        2. However, Habakkuk would yet trust in God as He had directed him in Habakkuk 2:4b, for God was to be trusted as overwhelmingly sovereign as portrayed in the vision (Habakkuk 3:3-15) to turn the tide against Babylon! Thus, Habakkuk would (1) rejoice in his Lord, taking joy in the God of His deliverance from Babylon, Habakkuk 3:18. (2) Indeed, he would trust that God, his personal Strength, would make his feet like the deer's feet so he could nimbly tread upon his high places (Habakkuk 3:19a,b), a metaphorical picture of bounding and triumphing in the inner man over the trials of the coming invasion, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1521-1522.
Lesson: Habakkuk's vision of God's overwhelming sovereignty applied to his concerns gave him reason to hope in God triumphantly over the dreadful threat of the Babylonian invasion that concerned him!

Application: May we handle overwhelming concerns we face by shifting our gaze from what concerns us to the overwhelmingly sovereign God Who will deliver us, and so trust in Him and obey His Word!