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

Habakkuk was a prophet and a contemporary of Jeremiah ministering right before Babylon destroyed Judah, his name means “wrestling,” and he had a number of questions and complaints for God. What is recorded is actually a dialog between the prophet and God. Habakkuk argued that God’s ways were unfathomable and even unfair, he represented the godly in Judah, and he no doubt gives voice to some of our complaints as well. Yet Habakkuk teaches us much about worship. Shane Hipps wrote an interesting article called, “Praise That’s Premature.” Worship is often equated with joy and celebration. It’s a kind of pep rally to inspire thanksgiving and excitement about who God is. While this is a legitimate aspect of worship, it is incomplete. Because grief is an unpleasant emotion we tend to deny our suffering in favor of celebration, authenticity and integrity in worship means expressing both lament and praise. Each element completes the other. Without lament, praise is little more than shallow sentimentality and a denial of life’s struggles and sin. Without praise, lament is a denial of hope and grace, both of which are central to our life of faith…” He points out that the psalms and books like Habakkuk employ a narrative arc, a movement from grief and lamentation to celebration and joy. Chapters one and two contain the pain and the problem while chapter three reveals the praise. So today we start with the pain, where we see what to do when the pain keeps us from praising.

• Declare your questions.

Contrary to some Christian critics it’s not wrong to ask questions, or even complain to God. The Book of Job and much of the Psalms express serious questions to God. Psalm 10:1 begins rather abruptly: “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” God, you may be powerful and you may be personal, but why can’t I sense your presence? Like the psalmist I too have felt the frustration at the seeming aloofness of the Savior, and like the psalms out lives can be saturated with questions. Psalm 13:1: “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Psalm 44:23-24: “Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?”

In Habakkuk 1:3 the question asked is: “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?” Habakkuk is charging God with being both indifferent and inactive. The truth is that when tragedy leaves you teetering, it’s not unspiritual to declare your questions to God. He’s big enough to handle your cares and your cries. What do we do when we are faced with an avalanche of agony and God seems to be playing “hide and seek”? If we feel like we shouldn’t question God we keep our concerns bottled up. It’s in these times that we resort to fake spiritual smiles, suppressing instead of expressing. Yet when we get real we incorporate our sorrow, pain, and grief into our worship and the hurts are ushered into God’s presence with honesty. The word question has as its root the word “quest.” If you’re on a quest to understand, if you’re serious about seeking answers, then don’t hesitate to declare your doubts.

• Describe your complaints.

After declaring his questions to God, Habakkuk next gets specific in describing his complaints. His main issue is that it doesn’t seem fair that God would use a wicked people like the Babylonians to punish God’s people. Habakkuk spells it out in 1:13: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” Today most of our questions seem to be centered around the scales of fairness because there is an almost in born balance when it comes to justice and fairness. The problem is that we want to view fairness from the familiar view of self instead of the Savior. Yet if fairness was centered solely around self, there would be no Salvation because salvation isn’t fair. What are your complaints, today would you cast them upon Christ being conscious that He cares?

• Deepen your commitment

As a result of being honest with God Habakkuk is now in a position to move to the next step in the praise process. In Chapter 2:1 he says: “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” Habakkuk is prepared to hear God’s answer even though he’s not going to like what God has to say. Today if we are prepared we too can learn from this process. Don’t stop at throwing out your questions and complaints, turn to the Lord. God answers Habakkuk not with answers but with anchors. Often answers just lead to more questions but anchors give us something to hold onto. In verse 2, God tells him to “write down the revelation.” Anchor number one is the Word of God because His word will not fail. God reveals the second anchor in verse 4, which is quoted in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. In the midst of the mess of life, when problems are pummeling you, hold on to this: “But the righteous will live by faith.” In other words, “God tells Habakkuk to hold on to Him, because He knows what He is doing.” When our faith is anchored to the Word of God we will hold onto Him we will be able to handle what comes our way. Ruth Bell Graham, Billy Graham’s wife once said: “I lay my ‘whys’ before your cross in worship kneeling, my mind too numb for thought, my heart beyond all feeling. And worshipping realize that I in knowing you don’t need a ‘why.’”

Psalm 122: 1-9

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” And now here we are, standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a well-built city; its seamless walls cannot be breached. All the tribes of Israel—the LORD’s people—make their pilgrimage here. They come to give thanks to the name of the LORD, as the law requires of Israel. Here stand the thrones where judgment is given, the thrones of the dynasty of David. Pray for peace in Jerusalem. May all who love this city prosper. O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls and prosperity in your palaces. For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “May you have peace.” For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.

Decisions direct our lives and the decision to worship doesn’t just direct it deepens our lives. The decision to respond to the invitation to worship means that:

• Go

David was invited to go and to spend time with God and he went. So why do some decide to stay instead of go. We’ve all met people that, when invited to worship, have all kinds of reasons for not going: “It’s my only day off to sleep in.” “I don’t have to go to worship God.” “I have to work.” “I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious.” “Those people are all hypocrites, there’s no way I would go there.” The list of reasons is endless. But maybe a better question would be to ask, why GO? As David says yes to the personal invitation of praise he discovers what worship can do.

• Glad

David didn’t just respond to the invitation to go he went with gladness. So often our going is accompanied by a grudge instead of gladness. As His children we forget that we “get to” instead of “have to”, praise really is a privilege. How we respond to the invitation of praise often depends on whether we see it as important or an interruption. What is it that you do that is more important than praise? The sad reality is that for most of us our lives are interrupted by praise instead of our lives being intertwined by praise. Think about those moments when you abandoned yourself to praise, when your soul soaked in the Savior. This hurried world leaves our hearts hungry for more of those simple moments to step into the stillness with Him. David’s heart was glad to be invited, to leave the mundane for the majesty of God.  The truth is that what we thirst for is found in time at His feet. You know a person’s priorities by what they gladly and willingly do not by what they are paid to. Will you responding to the invitation to praise and who will you invite to praise?

• Get

David discovers the strength in the structure of Jerusalem as he says that it is a well-built city, its seamless walls cannot be breached. This is because the architect of the city understood how all the pieces of stone and masonry were to fit together. There are no loose stones, no leftover pieces, and no awkward gaps in the walls. All the pieces fit together compactly and with harmony, each doing what it was made to do. Jerusalem was the center of Hebrew worship and reminded them of the foundational realities of their faith. It was the symbol and sign of God’s presence in their world and just like the structures of the city itself, they knew that only through God would all the various pieces of their lives fit together. It reminded them that ultimately their lives and their stories were shaped by God because He was with them. Worship reminds us that God is here with us and it is God who makes sense of our situations. It is His sacrifice that provides the structure to secure our lives. Just when nothing in life seems to make sense, when our week and our world feels like its crashing down, when we feel like a loose stone ready to fall out rather than one that fits perfectly in its place in the wall, we come to worship. Without worship, something is missing, we are incomplete and unfinished. We find direction and purpose for our journey when we come to the place of praise. It is there that we are reminded that God saves, that He heals and redeems. God fits the pieces together in ways we never could so that our lives are, “built well”, seamless because of His salvation.

• Give the Gift

David’s praise included praying for peace and prosperity not for himself but other people. Peace and prosperity is what the world seeks and what we who have come to praise have. We have the privilege to share the gift of God’s peace and prosperity, but if we don’t go we have nothing to give. The peace sought in these verses is much more than the mere absence of conflict, its completeness something the world can’t provide. The psalmist was not praying for his own peace and prosperity but interceding for others, praise should lead us to pray for other people. So who do you need to intercede for today, will you pray for their peace, prosperity, and protection? Because, for people to find peace of mind and peace with others, they must first find peace with God.