"Praise the Lord Anyway" Lesson 155

Praise the Lord Anyway

The book of Habakkuk was written when Judah was making alliances with other nations. The King of Judah led the people back into idolatry and away from the Lord. Jehoiakim was evil, ungodly and rebellious (2 Kings 23:36-24:7, 2 Chro. 36:5-8). Shortly after Jehoiakim ascended to power, Habakkuk wrote his lament over the decay, violence, greed, fighting and perverted justice that surrounded him. God was bringing judgment on Judah through Babylon. Habakkuk had trouble understanding why God would use a heathen nation like Babylon to punish His people. He, like Job, cried out to God, wondering why God didn’t just purge Judah’s sins and draw them back to righteousness. In the second verse he asked God why He was ignoring his cry for help. Notice carefully that Habakkuk was not complaining on behalf of the people but because he was having to witness all the evil. He sounded fearfully resentful that God had called on him to prophesy. I love god’s answer; “Look! Watch! And be amazed and shocked! I will do something in your lifetime that you won’t believe even when you are told about it” (Hab. 1:5). God uses verses 6-11 telling just how He was going to do things but I don’t think Habakkuk was listening since he continued to complain.

Look and watch, which in Hebrew included the plural “you” meant that God addressed both the prophet and the people. Habakkuk had complained about being made to look at injustice, but both he and the people suffered from myopia. They were too near-sighted to see the broad picture that God had painted. God instructed them to get their eyes off the immediate havoc (themselves) and look out on the international horizons. They would have to develop a world view that included the nations and then they would be utterly amazed, astounded, bewildered and dumbfounded. Habakkuk still questioned why would the absolutely Holy One tolerate wrong and let His pure eyes look on evil. The beginning of chapter two, verse one; “I will stand like a guard to watch and place myself at the tower. I will wait to see what He will say to me; I will wait to learn how God will answer my complaint”, may at first seem arrogant, defiant and perhaps pouting a little bit. I see him as being a spokesman for God’s revelation. He waited for God’s message, not simply for his own satisfaction but standing ready to carry God’s message to His people. “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. 46:10).

God wasn’t ready for the message to be delivered but told his prophet to “write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets…….for the revelation awaits an appointed time and it speaks of the end” (2:2-3). For the rest of chapter two, Habakkuk writes down the woes that will come upon the rebellious people. God did not mumble! Although He would use the Babylonians to punish His people, reference to “the end” seems to signify the coming destruction of evil Babylonia. It also carried the broader fulfillment of the Messianic judgment in the fall of “Babylon the Great” at the close of the Tribulation (Rev. 17-18). Those in Judah were about to experience the awesome Babylonian invasion ad Captivity, but had great comfort and assurance of this prophecy. Their barbaric captors would themselves suffer divine judgment in God’s due time. Now just to bring the title of this study into play, I refer you to Hab. 3:16-18. What Habakkuk heard and wrote made his heart pound, his lips quiver and his legs tremble. Then he lists the entire calamity to come on them through the invading nation, thus bringing us to the words spoken against all hope; “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be joyful in God my Savior”! If your troubles are just a portion of Habakkuk’s and Judah’s, will you praise the Lord anyway?

I am willing to step out and say that I don’t have enough numbers in my head or words in my vocabulary to thank God for all the past blessings, to praise Him for my present daily supplies or to honor His Word for the promises for my future. Today I am going to try! Will you join me?

The praise at the top of my list is salvation. Paul wrote the letter in Romans to teach the Christian faith to the first believers in Rome. Sin paints an ugly picture in people and in cultures. Without God’s intervention, we have no way to deal with sin. Paul writes; “I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). He gave me breath and for this I praise Him (Ps. 150:6). His love for me is so great that He saved me from Spiritual death and delivered my soul from hell (Ps. 86:13). Jesus was born into this world JUST to take MY sins away (Matt. 1:21, Heb. 9:28, 1 John 3:5). Jesus’ death not only provided salvation, but also great confidence for Christians. If you are a child of God, claim your victory over sin. Be confident of this, no matter what happens, you are always His (Rom. 8:38-39). I rejoice that my name is written in heaven (Lk. 10:18-20). I have been made right (righteous) with God by my faith and have peace with God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). Righteousness, meaning to be right, begins with believing God. It sounds so simple but yet many times we disbelieve God. We think; “is that all there is to it to be saved”? Yes! According to the scriptures it is as simple as God can make it and as quickly as you can accept it (John 3:16, Eph. 2:8, Titus 2:11, Acts 4:12, 1 Thess. 5:9).

We may not always know what God is doing (Isa. 55:8-9) but we can always trust Him to do what is right (Gen. 18:25). We may not always understand His plan but we can praise Him anyway and trust that He has made the best plan for you and me (Jer. 29:11, Rom. 8:28). No matter how things may appear, God is still in control, therefore; “always be joyful. Pray continually and give thanks whatever happens” (1 Thess. 5:16). Circumstances may change but God never does (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8, James 1:17). He will always be god the Father and you will always be His child, therefore we can be thankful and praise Him anyway. Things may get bad here but this world is not our home (Phil. 3:20)! Praise the Lord, God has been good here, but the best if yet to come (1 Pet. 1:3-4, 1 Cor. 2:9).

How many times in the past week have you praised God because of the inheritance He has promised you (Eph. 1:13-14, Acts 20:32, Gal. 3:18, Col. 1:12, Heb. 9:15). We might also take time to praise Him for allowing us to bear fruits (Gal. 5:22), that we are predestined (1 Pet. 1:2, 2:9, Ps. 47:4, Rom. 11:7), that we have a safe place with Him (Prov. 18:10) and just because we are called to “praise Him anyway” (Ps. 100:4, 1 Pet. 3:12, Ps. 51:17, 2 Chro. 6:40) that He will hear and answer our prayers. Praise Him that He is with us always (Matt. 18:20, 11:28), that He has prepared a City for us in eternity (Heb. 11:16), He will heal us (James 5:14-15, Isa. 33:24, 1 Pet. 2:24) and that we might enjoy good health (3 John 2). Satan has no power over us (Acts 10:38, 1 John 4:4, Luke 13:16), we are strong in the Lord (Joel 3:10), we are redeemed (Col. 1:12-14) and we do not have to fear (Heb. 13:6). He gives us a merry heart (Pro. 17:22), we don’t have to worry (1 Pet. 5:7) and our Lord is faithful and will do what He promised (Rom. 4:20-21).

“The Lord is my strength, and He will make my feet like hind’s feet and He will make me to walk upon mine high places” (Hab. 3:19 KJV). Hind’s feet speaks of grace, agility and swiftness. High places speaks of the mountain tops where the deer are free from the dangers found below. Habakkuk is telling us that God enables him to rise above his circumstances and that god gives him the strength to stand above the battle and to enjoy precious freedom in the Lord! In other words, he is saying; “God turns my doubts to shouts! And he gives me peace in the midst of my problems”! That is what He did for Job (Job 1:20-21) and Paul (2 Cor. 12:9) and that is what He can and will do for you! Be a prisoner of hope (Zech. 9:12) and although your heart pounds and your lips quiver at the sound of trouble, rejoice and praise the Lord anyway (Hab. 3:16-18)!