Praise God Anyway

Introduction

Tragedies occur frequently. In this instant information age, we hear of tragedies almost the instant they happen. Hearing about such can result in being detached. Too much information about tragedies and we have to tune out some of them or our emotional state will take a real hit. Or we can respond with a sense of urgency that we need to do something. Maybe all you can do is contribute a bit of money (as in the tsunami in Japan) or maybe you pray or maybe you go to the place and find something to do (after Hurricane Katrina). But our questions to tragedies arise: Why did this happen? Why didn’t God stop this from happening? Why did so many have to die? What is God going to do now?

Legitimate questions. When some personal crisis occurs the same questions arise. But the questions often are asked with more intensity. We beg for God to reveal answers. We beg for God to intervene. We beg for God to be fair. And the answers do not come as quickly as we want. The sadness and inner turmoil remain. Everything seems unfair. In our emotional distress, we find it difficult to move forward. As we come to the end of Habakkuk, we find the same issues. Habakkuk dealt with the same issues. His connection with God did not keep him from dealing with tragedy nor from having questions about what God was doing.

We come to the end of our brief study. Chapter three is Habakkuk’s response to God’s second answer. It is a prayer. In our study today, we are going to discover that Habakkuk’s response is challenging. It demands that we look at life a bit differently. And it is a faith filled response. May our faith increase.

A Prayer

Habakkuk looks out over Jerusalem and he sees injustice and violence. He prays for God to deal with this evil. He begs God to set things right. God’s silence leads Habakkuk to be more earnest in his prayers. He cries out that his patience is wearing thin and he wants God to be more responsive. God answers. And the answer is not what he expected. God’s answer was that he was going to use the Babylonians to punish the evil. He was going to use a ruthless and violent nation to deal with Jerusalem’s evil.

This is too much for Habakkuk. How can God use a more evil nation to punish a nation that isn’t nearly as bad? This second question drives Habakkuk as he searches for answers. How can a holy God allow evil to deal with evil? Surely God is interested in good winning out. Surely God will not allow a more evil nation to take credit for something God is going to do. And God answers again. This time God’s answer is a promise. God’s answer is that Babylon will not last long. It will be evident that their idols are powerless. And with great power, God’s final words in Habbakuk are found in 2:20. “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silent before him.” Hush and watch what the holy God will do.

Now Habakkuk has one final thing to say. He offers a prayer. It is a prayer that affirms faith. It is also a prayer that acknowledges the greatness of God. It is also a prayer that is difficult to pray when things are not going well. Habakkuk begins this prayer in verse 2 aware of God’s greatness and praying that his greatness will be seen in this world. But notice the end of verse 2 “in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk knows that God is going to act. And he knows that God’s actions are going to result in death and destruction. But he asks for mercy. While God will punish, Habakkuk knows that mercy is necessary.

From verses 3–15, Habakkuk rehearses the power of God as seen in various events of the past. While we will not take the time to go through each one, there are allusions to God’s delivering Israel from Egypt and God bringing them triumphantly and powerfully across the Jordan River into the promised land. But the point is that God throughout Israel’s history has demonstrated power for the benefit of his people. He has been faithful. God has been consistent in caring for his people. There have been times in the past that something “bad” had to happen in order for the “good” to be experienced. So Habakkuk is admitting that God has acted before and needs to act again even though it will be painful.

So verse 16 begins Habakkuk’s summary. I’m afraid. I’m emotionally drained. I have no strength, but I will wait patiently for God to deal with evil. And then in triumph he adds — if everything that makes life liveable leaves — if the grape vines do not produce; if the cattle all die; even if there are no lambs to offer in worship, I will still praise God. My joy will still be evident because God is my Savior. In time he will lift me up and I will rise to greater heights.

Triumph

There are two lessons. First, suffering precedes glory. Habakkuk rehearses what has happened in the past. And it dawns on him that whenever God’s wrath has come, it was followed by God’s blessing. Egypt’s punishment was Israel’s deliverance. The forty years of wandering was followed by victory across the Jordan for a new faith-filled generation. Suffering precedes glory. Even as Habakkuk closes his prayer he knows that what the people are going to suffer through will eventually lead to new heights (v. 19). Jesus understood this principle when in John 17 he prayed that going to the cross would allow for his glory to be revealed. Suffering precedes glory.

This isn’t about coming out of suffering into better days. That is not always true. It is rather that in suffering we learn the importance of God’s glory being seen. For if God’s glory is seen then we win.

This is the realization that Habakkuk finally learned. He didn’t want the pain of suffering. He didn’t want the emotions that go with watching his beloved city fall. But what he wanted was for God’s power and glory to be seen and if that meant suffering came first then he was willing to accept that. He didn’t like it or want it, but he was willing.

The second lesson has to do with feeling like we have no say in what happens. Habakkuk pleads for God to do something and then when God does there is no negotiating. No bargaining. No mutual satisfaction. Some would say that we are only pawns in God’s chess game. While a chess game analogy falls apart at some point, to use this analogy fails to recognize the pawn’s role. The pawn is the first line of defense against an attack. A pawn is sacrificed in order for the game to be won. But even the pawn has the power to capture the king or any other piece on the board.

Someone says you don’t understand, “I feel completely helpless. I just want to have some say in the outcome. I want to have some control in how things turn out.” So did Habakkuk. He wanted some sense to be made of the violence and injustice. He wanted God’s response to make more sense. He wanted his voice to count for something. And when it was all said and done, Habakkuk in his faith knew that there was another way to look at things — no matter what happens his response was going to be joy.

Cyprian a third century bishop wrote the following to a friend, Donatus: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them.”

Our relationship with God has a no matter what quality to it. No matter what happens, we will trust him. Our faith and our joy are not found in good times but we find them to be real when we do not understand. We may be without food, health, and the basic comforts of life, but we will trust him. We may not understand, comprehend, or see life as fair, but we will trust him. We may not know the future or feel good about what is happening now, but we will praise him anyway.

No matter what — our faith, our joy, and our praise belongs to God.

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