August 22nd, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

A Lonely Job

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Opening Prayer

Abba, Father, I praise You for the intimate relationship I can have with You. Speak to me now through Your Word.

Read Habakkuk 3:1-19

[1] A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth. [2] LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. [3] God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. [4] His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. [5] Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. [6] He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed- but he marches on forever. [7] I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. [8] Were you angry with the rivers, LORD? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory? [9] You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers; [10] the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. [11] Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. [12] In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. [13] You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. [14] With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. [15] You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. [16] I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. [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. [19] The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“The call to follow Jesus is a call to radical difference–a call to live in alignment with the character and values of a holy, just, and merciful God” (Steve Bradbury). That can mean standing alone.

Think Further

In one sense, Habakkuk’s role as a watchman before God was a lonely one. Yet, we can see from these verses that as he tried to plead about troubling issues, he stood within the community of faith. Verses 3-16 may have been a psalm used in the temple, for the passage collects various themes and idioms which we find elsewhere (Psa. 18:7-19; 68:1-18; 97:1-7). We can discern here the value of ensuring that we are deeply grounded in the communal worship of God and nourished by the profound spirituality of the Christian heritage before and as we venture forth to explore challenging and sometimes new issues that, as Christians, we face today. Euthanasia, the ecological situation, homosexuality, international governance, the growth of China and India as superpowers, living in a pluralist country alongside people of many different faiths, global world markets–these are only some of the challenges we need to explore with God (we each have our own list). We will only do so in ways that honor God by being sustained by the Scriptures, the historic Christian faith and our own Christian faith communities.  

This is one reason why we need to engage caringly, expectantly, prayerfully and openly with the Bible, and through the Bible with God. Sometimes we shall gain surprising insights which will help us critique the challenges we face and then construct valid Christian responses. Sometimes we shall be left as perplexed as when we started, but we will have come close to God and we will be transformed, becoming part of the answer for others, not by what we say but by who we are. So it was for Habakkuk. As he waited patiently for the day of calamity, rejoicing in the Lord in the face of desolation, God made his feet like a deer’s (16-19).

Apply

Reflect on Paul’s words, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). Now, rejoice in the Lord!

Closing prayer

Lord Jesus, when I think of standing alone for You, I remember Your suffering on my behalf. You were rejected that I might belong; You died that I might live.

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