|
habakkuk 3
Haystack bible commentary"Stacks and stacks of commentary...."
|
==Habakkuk 3:1:
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on Shigionoth.
==Habakkuk 3:2:
|
"LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."
|
It is supposed that the prophet Habbakkuk was contemporary with Jeremiah, and that this prophecy was uttered in anticipation of the Babylonish captivity. Looking at the judgments which were speedily to come upon his nation, the soul of the prophet was wrought up to an agony, and he cried out in his distress: "O Lord, revive Thy work." As if he had said: "O Lord, grant that Thy judgments may not make Israel desolate. In the midst of these awful years let the judgments of God be made the means of reviving religion among us. In wrath remember mercy."
|
You might sometimes hear a Church or evangelist announce: ‘We’re going to hold a revival.’ That’s an impossibility. You can hold a series of special meetings which is what is often meant by revival, but that isn’t revival as the bible teaches it to be. Revival isn’t a work of man; it’s something God does. It’s given from above; not manufactured below.
Duncan Campbell: ‘It takes the supernatural to break the bonds of the natural. You can make a community mission-conscious. You can make a community crusade-conscious. But only God can make a community God-conscious.’ Duncan Campbell’s succinct definition of revival is: ‘A community saturated with God.’
You can’t revive the world; only the church can be revived. What do I mean by that? You may get back from holiday and find your prized houseplant badly sagging so you give it some water and it perks up; you may doze off in front of a lovely warm campfire, and wake up to find the fire’s almost died. So you gently fan the red embers and add a bit of fuel, and fire builds up again; you may pull somebody unconscious out of a river with barely a pulse no breath in them. So you give him the kiss of life and it kick starts everything back to normal.
What’s common to each example here, is that there’s life there to be revived. It’s not a case of life being given, but life already present being restored; rekindled; re-animated. Can’t revive the world – it has no spiritual life – you can only revive God’s people.
We can also see that revival is never deserved; it can’t be claimed as a right. Ch 3 v 2(c) ‘…in wrath remember mercy.’ God shows mercy in revival when judgement is actually deserved. What tremendous hope this instils. If God works, it’s because of His mercy, not because of our goodness. Therefore, God can restore us at any time, no matter how bad the times. The basis of Habakkuk’s prayer is God’s glory and honour. As Matthew Henry put it: ‘[Habakkuk] does not say, remember our merit, but, Lord, remember [your] own mercy.’ --Peter Bines
Duncan Campbell: ‘It takes the supernatural to break the bonds of the natural. You can make a community mission-conscious. You can make a community crusade-conscious. But only God can make a community God-conscious.’ Duncan Campbell’s succinct definition of revival is: ‘A community saturated with God.’
You can’t revive the world; only the church can be revived. What do I mean by that? You may get back from holiday and find your prized houseplant badly sagging so you give it some water and it perks up; you may doze off in front of a lovely warm campfire, and wake up to find the fire’s almost died. So you gently fan the red embers and add a bit of fuel, and fire builds up again; you may pull somebody unconscious out of a river with barely a pulse no breath in them. So you give him the kiss of life and it kick starts everything back to normal.
What’s common to each example here, is that there’s life there to be revived. It’s not a case of life being given, but life already present being restored; rekindled; re-animated. Can’t revive the world – it has no spiritual life – you can only revive God’s people.
We can also see that revival is never deserved; it can’t be claimed as a right. Ch 3 v 2(c) ‘…in wrath remember mercy.’ God shows mercy in revival when judgement is actually deserved. What tremendous hope this instils. If God works, it’s because of His mercy, not because of our goodness. Therefore, God can restore us at any time, no matter how bad the times. The basis of Habakkuk’s prayer is God’s glory and honour. As Matthew Henry put it: ‘[Habakkuk] does not say, remember our merit, but, Lord, remember [your] own mercy.’ --Peter Bines
==Habakkuk 3:3-19:
God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows. Selah
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
15 You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people,
He will invade them with his troops.
17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls--
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows. Selah
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
15 You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people,
He will invade them with his troops.
17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls--
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.