I Will Joy in the God of My Salvation

Today’s Passage – Habakkuk 1 – 3 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Revelation 13 – 16; Psalms 136 – 140; Proverbs 28)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Deuteronomy 32:4

Read the “0928 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither [shall] fruit [be] in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and [there shall 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, and he will make my feet like hinds’ [feet], and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk 3:16-19)

Habakkuk, whose name means “to embrace” or “to wrestle,” was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah during the reign of King Jehoiakim, and possibly began in the reign of Josiah.

He was contemporary with Jeremiah, and followed closely behind Nahum and Zephaniah. His prophetic ministry began either shortly before or after the death of King Josiah who was the last good king that the southern kingdom of Judah had. Habakkuk wrote just prior to the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, which started in 605 BC, and was consummated in 586 BC.

The northern kingdom had been conquered and taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The southern kingdom of Judah experienced periods of revival through Kings Hezekiah, and Josiah, but after Josiah’s death at the hands of the Egyptians in 609 BC, the nation was in very bad shape spiritually, and was ripe for the judgment of God (see 2 King 23:28 – 24:6;2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 22).

In chapter three, vs. 16 – 19, Habakkuk declares that even though God will destroy Jerusalem, he will continue to trust and rejoice in God.

“Hinds’ Feet” carries the idea of surefootedness, which enables the deer (hind) to travel safely in the mountaintops. Habakkuk started this book complaining to God from a deep valley, and he concludes with a song from the mountaintop; yet his actual situation had not changed. He just got alone with God and God assured him that He had everything under control. His circumstances hadn’t changed but he had changed. That’s what God wants to do through the situations and difficulties of your life and mine.

There will be times when the people of God will have to endure very difficult times, sometimes through no fault of their own. Good people often suffer because of the consequences of the decisions of others. There were some righteous people in Judah, such as Daniel and Ezekiel and, no doubt, many others, who would lose some of their family and friends, not to mention their homes.

What can we do when faced with life’s difficult circumstances:

• We can pray.
• We can seek God’s will and wisdom through his Word.
• We can trust that He knows what He is doing.
• We can be sure that God will be with us every step of the way.
• We can walk by faith.