Now let's take our Bibles, and we will turn to the book of Habakkuk, chapter 3. Habakkuk, chapter 3. I don't know, the interesting last few weeks and months. From the whole church, we thank you for your happy birthday. Happy birthday, thank you very much. I appreciate that. I will put that off to the side. Okay, thank you. Yeah, I told Linda yesterday that I'm going to skip birthdays. I'm going to stay young, but she said it doesn't work that way, Pastor. So, okay. Okay, back in chapter 3, over the past weeks and as we have seen things unfold in our country, things that we'd never thought possible, things that are somewhat discouraging, And it kind of gives the whole populace, as well as us individually, a real sense of insecurity, a sense of what's going to happen next, or a sense of helplessness, a sense of, my oh my, you see all these things happening, and you see people that are willfully wanting them to happen. whether it's in the area of sin and deprivation, whether it's in the area of politics, in the area of diplomacy, all the things that are going on in the world. And it's very easy to get very discouraged, as well as a feeling of helplessness, almost a hopelessness. And I can't think of a better person that went through all the changes and realized there was going to be a whole lot more changes than a person like Habakkuk. Habakkuk was a poet, he was a prophet, he was probably one of the singers, if not one of the main men within the temple. Because we see in his book, we see in chapter 3, it's called the Prophet's Prayer, or the Prayer of Habakkuk. And we see in this, and we see immediately, we see the term Shagayanoth. What is that? Shagayanoth was probably a musical term. And so we don't know exactly what it means, but it was an idea of setting things that let you know that this is now maybe, you know, now we're ready to start. But also we see the word sila, and we see that several different times in the book. We see it at the end of chapter 3, we see that he says, Selah. In verse 9, we see at the end of that verse, we see Selah. In verse 13, Now again, this is a word that has got some debate. Some people think it means rest. Others think that, and musicians like Frank Garlock and others who believe that it means moving to another key or whatever. But it was a sign that, of course, this was a psalm as well as a prayer. And there were several psalms, psalm prayers in the book of Psalms. In fact, they would put many of the psalms, that's what psalms mean is a song. And so many of that, they call it the Psalter. They would put those songs to music. We see also that at the very end, which really gives it all away, is that he tells us in verse 20 or verse 19, he says, to the chief musician with all the stringed instruments. So this was something that was a song, probably not a funeral dirge, It wasn't something that was supposed to be overly sad, but it definitely wasn't to be happy. He's not only called the poet and the prophet, but he's also a philosopher. He's called the philosopher-prophet. He doesn't talk to anyone but God. We don't see him preaching to anyone else, although he writes these things down for people to read and to sing. But we see that these are the inner thinkings of a very devout man. And of course we know in chapter 1 that he began with, Lord, I'm looking at my world. I look at my nation. I look at all the good things you've done for us, and yet I see wicked people, Lord. What are you going to do? We've got to get things straightened out around here. And Lord, please help us. And of course, the Lord answered and He said, well, one thing I'm doing, Habakkuk, is I'm raising up the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans had already won several victories, especially over Egypt and over Syria, and yet they weren't a world power as they would be just in a few short years. And yet God tells him that He's going to use the Assyrians to actually destroy the nation of Israel, but not its people. And Habakkuk has to think about that because, of course, everything the Jew thinks about is that Abrahamic covenant. Wait a minute, we're going to one day rule and reign with the Messiah, and yet, Lord, how are you going to do that if you destroy our nation? What's going to happen if you allow the Chaldeans to come in? And they're mean people, Lord. Here I'm talking about things that are bad that we do, but these people are worse than we are. And Lord, how can you use these very vile and vicious people to destroy us? And then again, Lord, how are you going to put it back together? You can imagine what a guy is thinking that my, you know, because of Abraham, our nation is going to last forever. Well, is the Jewish nation going to last forever? Yes, it is. But we have seen that as far as a nation, as far as the people together, they have not the ethnic group, they've stayed together. And one reason they have is because of the very promises that God promised Abraham. And that's what pulls them together. I was listening to a Jew on the radio the other day, and he says, I don't believe this, and I don't believe that, but there's something about that I'm a Jew that brings us together. I couldn't understand exactly what he was saying, or I can't put it in exact words that he did, but it was the idea that I just know I'm a Jew, and that's part of it. And so he still practices getting together with Jews at times. Isn't it interesting how God has done that? I like what Benjamin the Israeli said. He was a prime minister of England. He was one of the only Jews that has done that. But he said, I can tell you one reason that I know the Bible is real. He says, with two words, what are the two words? He said, the Jew. and how that God has kept God, His promises together. But you can imagine now, a man who sees his nation, he says, well, our nation can't ever cease to exist because, and our people can't exist because, you know, God has promised us this land all the way from the Mediterranean, all the way over to the Tigris-Euphrates River, from up close to Turkey, all the way down to Egypt. That's going to be our land. So how can God destroy us? And so he didn't understand all the things that God was going to do. And of course, that has been true throughout. And with us today, we're looking forward to the rapture. And we want to see it come soon. And yet we see a world that is really just denigrating our Lord and our God, and it's becoming against the law to be a Christian and to preach against unrighteousness and sin. In fact, in parts of Canada, as well as probably in the United States, if they can get away with it, things where it's hate crime to even preach against the sin of adultery and the perversions that come after adultery and all those things. In fact, many people today, and I've got a son, at least one son, maybe a couple, that are working in different places, and they are saying that people are coming up to them, knowing that they're Christians, and they're asking them questions about the sins that they're living in. And they're wanting them to say something about the perversions, or about same-sex marriage, or abortion, or homosexuality, all those different things, because they know that they can get them fired. And so they're looking at all this, and we say, Lord, we know that we're waiting for you to come, but what happens if you decide to really hurt our nation? And then we look at it and we see the rise of China. What can the world do without the United States? I don't know, but God can figure it out. He did without us for 18,000 years, or whatever. He did it for a long time anyway before, and He'll do it after 250 years we've had or whatever together here in this world. I better be careful with my numbers. Politicians get messed up whenever they start talking about numbers. But there again, we look at it, and he was just really looking at it from, Lord, what about this dot in history? And you're telling me these great movements are going to happen, and it's going to swallow us up. And how are you going to do it? Or what's going to happen? After all, you have promised us certain things. And then we see that whenever we're in great questions about that, then we look at, you start off with what you know. And we have to come back and we'll see that he does this at the very beginning as well as the end. If you turn to, well, if you look back in chapter one, if you remember, he said that from everlasting to everlasting, you're God in verse 12. So he begins with, okay, Lord, You are here before I ever got here. You'll be here way after I leave this earth. You were here before Israel was here. You'll be here after Israel is here. So everlasting, everlasting, you're God. And we're not going to die. We're going to be with you. But you have appointed judgment. So I've got to get straightened out, Lord, that this whole world is in your hands. As we look at the book of Revelation in Sunday School this morning, how that we see that he's the first and the last, he's the everlasting, from everlasting to everlasting, he's God. And how that he was the creator of heaven and earth, even in the judgments, God was still telling us that he is the creator. And so we get back to the fact that it is he that has made us and not we ourselves. Our times are in his hands. These are things that I know. Jesus loves me, this I. No, for the Bible tells me so. And so we can go back to the most simple, to the most complex idea. Whatever it is, we know that God is in charge and that I don't have to understand everything in order to know that in the end, things are going to come out the way that He promised. And that I know that whether death or life or things present or things to come, nothing can separate me from the love of God. And so these are things I can know. These are the things I can reassure myself. I know that He will lead me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake because He's my shepherd. So we go back to the things we know. And then, of course, we see that in chapter 2, verse 1, we see that I'm going to stand, I'm going to ponder these things. And this is a great thing for us to do. In fact, I want to take some time. I want to get away from the radio, the television, the Internet. I just feel like I need to just ponder some of these things like Kovacic did. Remember, he says that he went up, he said, I'm going to stand on the watchtower of the rampart, I'm going to get up someplace away, and Lord, I'm just going to wait on you, and I'm going to listen. And you can see what he does here, because his viewpoint starts changing. He starts waiting on God, and he starts getting on that eagle, and that eagle raises him up. And he starts soaring with the eagle, rather than being down on earth. They that wait on the Lord shall mount up on wings of eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. That was a promise of a fellow prophet by the name of Isaiah. And so we see that he is saying, I need to get out of my little time warp, and I need to see things as God sees it. And all of a sudden, as he's waiting, God starts speaking to him. And God tells him, he says, write a vision now, Isaiah, in chapter 2, in verse 2. He says, I'm going to bring it about, and I want you to put it on tablets because it's going to age well. I saw again this past week where a statement that one of our generals made hasn't aged well. I mean, it hasn't come out well at all because it's just the opposite now, two or three weeks later than when he said it. Well, God tells Habakkuk, he says, write it down because it's not going to change. And you're going to see, and people later on, in fact, 3,000 years later, there's going to be a preacher that's going to understand better than you do. And so, because he's going to look back at what you are writing down. So it's aged him quite well. And so he tells us, he says, write a vision, and make it plain on tablets, and that he may run who reads it, and for the vision is yet at an appointed time. Now then he goes and he says the one thing about it, he says, whatever happens in verse four in that great passage, where he says there's two ways of taking it. There's, to the proud, his soul shall not be upright in him, but the just shall live by faith. Great statement in all the Bible as we looked in how this repeated again three different times in the book of Romans, the book of Hebrews, and the book of James, where we see that God says that the just shall live by faith. And then we see, as he says, indeed the transgressions. And so here God is dealing with him. He says, yes, there's a lot of bad things going on. The Chaldeans do. And he gives five different woes. And we remember those, the extortion, the extreme violence, the drunkenness, and how that you would take advantage of people's drunkenness, and all these different things. And then Habakkuk looks at it, and he says, whoa, wait a minute. Now, Lord, this is bad. And yeah, these people are really bad. They're corrupt. But so are we. We're just as bad as they are. And so he sees all these things that are happening. But what is happening is he is now realizing that it's not national, it's not personal, it's not social, but this is just the way man is and that God is in control of it all. And no longer is he looking and judging nations, and he's saying we're better than they are, or that God shouldn't use those people or whatever else. But he all of a sudden realizes that the problem is sin. The problem is sin in the world. The problem is sin with one another. But notice the prayer of Habakkuk, and notice again in chapter 3, now verse 2, O Lord, I have heard your speech. I'll tell you, I was terrified. I mean, I really, I mean, I saw all this and it just boggled my mind about what you can do. But notice now he prays, oh, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make it known. And then another great statement that you see in the book of Habakkuk, in wrath, remember mercy. in wrath, remember mercy." Yes, Lord, You are going to deal with us. And You have promised, and one of the promises was to us that if we walked with You, You would bless us. But if we did not walk with You, Moses said, I'll lay before You blessings and cursings, life and death. Choose life. But unfortunately, Lord, we have chosen death. We have chosen the problems and the curses that are now upon us. And we deserve these different things. But oh Lord, in wrath, remember mercy." That word mercy is a fantastic word. It means, it doesn't mean just holding back punishment. It means loyal love. The word of mercy is loyal love. Lord, in spite of it all, love us. And so, and what does David say over and over again in the Psalms tell us over and over again? His mercies endureth, how long? Forever. And so he was saying, Lord, what I've got to concentrate on is not your wrath, but your mercies. Jeremiah, as he was weeping over Jerusalem, he remembered God's mercies. As he, in chapter three, that lovely passage, his blessings, they fell not. And so we see now, as all great prayers in the Bible, he goes back and gets a perspective. But in his poet way of doing, he doesn't bring them out exactly like Moses or David or Daniel. Whenever those great prayers, Solomon, they prayed, they would go back and they would look at the history of Israel. And of course, most of them, they would always begin with the Red Sea Crossing. and how God brought them out of Egypt and established them. Then they would go over and they would deal with the Sinai, where Moses had been given the law, and God had created a nation. And they would go through how God had blessed them when they had done well, and He had delivered them. And then He would talk about some of the things, and they would talk about how they had gone into sin. But they knew their history. And folks, one of the things that we are seeing that is deliberate in our school system today is people are trying to destroy our history if we don't have any basis. America, God has shed His grace on thee. And of course, even Thanksgiving is no longer Thanksgiving to God, it's Thanksgiving to the Indians or whatever else. All those different things. What is Thanksgiving? Who are we thanking? And of course, there's no God, so why do you want to get into it? So we're seeing a whole destruction of history because if we don't have the foundations, the people perish. The Bible tells us, you know, where there's no foundation. I mean, what's going to happen? And so we see that our society, much like Habakkuk's, the kids didn't know anything about the history anymore. Many of them didn't even know who Moses was. They were off into other gods. Many of them didn't know who Abraham was probably. They just knew they were all thrown together and whoever these people were, they really didn't do much. Or they were slave owners. And by the way, they were. And so all these other things that they can talk about. But we see that he says, Lord, our people are so far out of it, Lord, that they don't even realize. But now he says, Lord, you came to Timon, to the Holy One and Mount Paran. Now that whole area there, he goes back to where Moses was on the other side of the Jordan, and he's telling them about the blessings and cursings. So he goes back to that area there, and that is the area where Moses was the one who set him forth before they went into the land, the new generation. He went back through the book of Deuteronomy. It gives us four different messages that he went through, and he talked to them about what God had done for them. And so, Lord, You're that same God. And we need to get back to where Moses taught us, and about the nation that we were to become. Notice that he says in chapter 3, verse 2, the second part of that, he says, His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And so God did all this, His brightness, and notice He talks about His glory, and the things that He did. His power, in verse 4, was hidden. People didn't see it until He brought forth. But also before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His feet. So He, remember all the things that happened to the Egyptians, and other things, now that God caused problems before the people, or to the enemies. He says He measured the earth. Notice now, he's making God bigger. And God is now not some little God that comes down and takes care of your crops, or He doesn't give you just a small battle. But no, He's out there, as we saw, as God deals in the book of Revelation. You've got an angel that has got one foot in the ocean and another foot on dry land. I mean, that's a pretty big angel. He's changing the perspective. And so he said, he's getting up now above the earth and he's seeing things as my thoughts are above your thoughts and my ways are past your ways. And so here is Isaiah 55. Here we see that he is seeing, he's getting the mind of God. And he's not dealing with the trivial now, he's dealing with the great things that his God is doing. He says, he looked, and notice in verse 4, he stood and measured the earth, and he looked and startled the nations. And yes, God does that. He still has control of the nations. The mountains were scattered. You think, oh, that's crazy. Well, I'm old enough to remember a place called Mount St. Helens. And there's going to be a lot of other things like that. So he's talking about things that people have seen. The Midianites trembled. Notice in verse 8, the Lord, O Lord, You were displeased with the rivers. Did God manage the rivers? Yes, He managed both the Nile and the Jordan. All these different things. Now, He's not giving us specific instances. He's just kind of alluding to them. Notice in verse 9, the last phrase there. He says, you divided the earth with rivers. Yes, that was you who did it, Lord. Whenever we went to see our children out in Missouri, we crossed over that great Mississippi River. Now that whole river changes the whole topography of the United States. What a tremendous impact that river has, and yet God can alter it when He wants to. So He's making God bigger and bigger. Notice He says in verse 11, He alludes to to the great battle that Joshua had when he said, the sun and the moon stood still in their habitation. And of course, if you know the story and if you knew your history as a Jew at this time, you would know he was alluding back to Joshua in that long day where God extended the day for the battle to be won. And so he says in verse 12, notice the poetry, you march through the indignations. In verse 13, for you went You went forth for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. Lord, you were the one who blessed us. You were the one who met our needs. And so he goes on and he talks really big. He makes God our creator. He makes God everything in life. The hills, everything belong to him. And so he says, in verse 16 now, as a result of this, as a result of really thinking about who God is, without faith it is impossible to please Him. They that come to God must believe that He is. How big is your God? Is He the Creator of the heavens and the earth? Is He big enough to solve your problems? Is He big enough to solve our problems as a nation? Does he control the nations? all these different things that He is bringing forth. One of the things that as you study history, you think you know what God did until you start realizing just how deep that goes. And I was mentioning in science school, but a book that I read recently that actually was one of the audio books, and it was about the code breakers back in World War II. They needed some people desperately to break some of the Japanese codes and the German codes and so forth. And they started going for, for one thing, some of the college girls coming out to teach in different schools, in elementary and so forth. And they would tell them just to come to Washington. And when they would get to Washington, and then they would be told that what they would be doing, or after they would pass a series of tests and so forth, and said, and if you tell anybody, we'll kill you. That's basically it. So they were afraid that, you know, you're past the point where you don't know what's going on. If you even let anybody know, and they would, one lady was talking about how that, She was walking down the streets of Washington one time, and it was raining. And a man and his wife went by and picked her up. And when they picked her up, they asked her, well, what do you do here? And she said, well, I work in communications. And she had a little badge on it that said Q on it. They said, well, what do you do? He says, well, I fill ink wells and sweep the floors and all that. And he kept pressing her. What does that Q mean? Well, that means communications you know the Navy can't spell and all this kind of stuff. And he kept pressing her. And then whenever she was getting out of the car, she looked at his overcoat and underneath were several stripes. And he was a high commander. And she was just testing to see if she was going to say anything, and in fact for 50 years after the war was over, those girls never were known. And there were, at the end of the war, there were hundreds of them. But what was so interesting was the girls in there, there were some men mixed in there, but it was so interesting how they had a gift of just looking at things and figuring out patterns. And if they could pick out one or two letters, then they could start unscrambling. It was like those cryptographs you see in the paper, but those are meant to be solved, while a code is not, you know, whatever, Whenever a nation sends out secret papers, they don't want it to be found out. And so they would spend weeks and hours, hours and weeks and sometimes months just trying to figure out the code. For instance, they found out two letters of a Japanese code back in the early days of 1942. And those two letters, they figured they kept repeating. And they found out, now, what do those two letters mean? And so they said they were realizing the Japanese were ready to do something. And they were amassing a fleet and so forth, but they couldn't figure out where that fleet was going and where they were going to strike. And they thought maybe they were going to be bombing San Francisco, our Navy was shot pretty well. Our carriers, one was badly damaged, the other one was sunk. We only had one or two left and they had five or six. And they just, I mean, so what were they gonna do? And where were all this mass troops and everything going? And they figured out those two letters and then they sent a letter, they had the people at Midway just right to Midway, which is an island out in the Pacific between Japan and Hawaii. And they had them send a code or send a letter out or send a radio transmission out saying, you know, we need more water. on Midway. We don't have enough water. And so they found out. So what the Japanese did was the Japanese think, oh, this is just a message that it really doesn't matter. They sent back to their commanders and said, TF needs water. Well, right then they knew what TF was. And then everything came to be that where the Americans were sitting there waiting on and the Japanese didn't even know it. But that was just two letters. But then they started figuring out, and they kept figuring out, and it wasn't long before they were reading the letters before the people in the field were getting them. In fact, at the end of World War II, when the Japanese were surrendering, They got the message from Tojo and others before Truman did, and they had to sit on it. Can you imagine a whole bunch of about a thousand people knowing that the war was over and the Japanese were surrendering, and you know it before the president knows it, and you can't say a thing about it? How would you like to be like that? It's just amazing the things that you find out about those people. But the thing that alters that is you start realizing there were a lot of things that were going on where I like to say the battles and who did this and who did that, and there were all kinds of things that were going underneath that I knew nothing about until, what, 75 years later. And then they happened. And the same way here. You have Habakkuk looking at all this, and he's wondering about all of it, and he can't figure it all out, and yet we know that God is dealing with others like Jeremiah. He's dealing with Daniel and Ezekiel that are coming up. And yet we also know that there is that spiritual warfare that is going on where Satan is fighting. And so all these different things that are going on, and Habakkuk is realizing, hey, this is bigger than I am. And I can understand it. And so it is today. Oh, I'm looking forward to the Lord Jesus coming. But I look at my government, and I look at this, and I look at that, and I look at the different mechanisms of man and government and the the different things that we know and then the things that we don't know about, then you find out all the espionage that's going on, and yet you don't even know anything about the spiritual warfare that is going on beneath it all. And this is where Habakkuk is. He says, my, there is a lot more than meets the eye, and I cannot understand it at all, and how can I even figure out what's going to happen in the future? But I do know, and that's the great thing about it, Habakkuk knew that one day the Messiah was going to come. So he knew the last page. He knew who was going to win, but he didn't know how they were going to get there. I know that, folks, I know that same thing. I know that my Lord Jesus is coming again, and He's gonna set His feet on Mount Olives, and He's gonna rule from Jerusalem, and He's gonna rule the world, and the Jews are gonna be right there in the land as He promised. And we're gonna, as fellow servants, we're gonna rule and reign with them forever. I don't understand all that, but I don't have to. because is my God in control? And so he's getting all this in his mind. He says, there's all kinds of things I don't understand. I mean, I'm looking at people and I get mad at people because I look to see what they're doing and their sin, I look so bad. And yet there's a God in heaven that doesn't miss a beat. And he's realizing all these things work together for good to them that love him. And can I really believe that? And so after he goes through all this, he says, I saw and I trembled. And my voice quivered. Rottenness entered my bones in verse 16 of chapter three. And I trembled in myself that I might rest in the day of trouble. When he comes up to his people, he will invade them on his troops. Oh God, I don't want to see that. I don't want to see my nation fall. But Lord, I don't understand it all, but notice what he does. In one of the great passages in all the Bible, though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail, in other words, all the crops 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. That's pretty bad, isn't it? Last night, I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'm starting to stock up a little bit on food or whatever because we're understanding that our distribution system is going to start falling apart if it keeps going the way it is today. We're hearing this word over and over again, unsustainable. You know, so I'm not panicking or anything, but it's interesting how I'm kind of throwing an extra roll of toilet paper in the ring or whatever else. All these different things we've already experienced, and we realize they can come again. But you know, we can't stop them. But I know a God, even if all these things happen, if there's no food, if the crops fail, if there's all kinds of problems, what am I going to do? What are you going to do if people forsake you? What are you going to do whenever you want that job and you don't get it? Or that car and you don't get it? Or that whatever you do have falls apart? What's going to happen if you lose a loved one? He says, if all these things happen, but notice again another great verse, verse 18. Yet, that's a great word. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. I will joy in the God of my salvation. What a blessing. The Lord tells us to rejoice evermore. Now that doesn't say be happy, but it says that I am going to find my joy in the Lord. And all things give thanks in Christ Jesus concerning you. Can I give thanks? Now that doesn't mean that I go out and say, thank you, Lord. And if something bad happened, my loved one died. No, that's not what he's saying because people think you're kooky. Well, I would too. I think you're kind of crazy if you did that. But we can say, Lord, I can thank you. My father knows best and I trust in his care through purging more fruit I will bear. Can we sing that song? The man who sang that song was losing an eye when he was first having a child and not knowing what was going to happen to him, or what was going to happen, was he going to be alive until they found cancer. He didn't even know if he was going to be alive. And now, 50 years later, he's now suffering again. But I'm wondering, the one thing I see on his face, and he was a friend of mine, every time you see a picture of him, he's still smiling. And that's what a blessing it is to me, because I get down every once in a while, especially when I listen to too much news. But can I rejoice in the Lord? He makes no mistakes. He knows the end of each path that I take. Does my Father know best? Can I trust in His care? And so here we see that he says, I will rejoice in the Lord. Oh, a joy in the God of my salvation. Lord, keep me near the cross. Help me to remember that that's the most important thing in all the world, was what you did for me and what you did for mankind there. And everything revolves around that cross. And Lord, I want a joy in the fact that you saved me and you gave yourself for me. So the Lord stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, finding as He promised, what? Perfect peace and rest. So it doesn't matter what's going to happen in the future. I want to trust the Lord. I just keep trusting the Lord as I walk along. All these songs that we sing, though the storm clouds darken the sky or the heavenly veil, I just keep trusting the Lord. He will never fail. But at times I need to get away from the world and get my mind back on Him. Do I not? And so sometimes it's good to just turn off the radio and television and not try to get an answer from God, but just say, Lord, I want to remember how big you are. I want to remember what you've done for me. I want to remember what you've done for my nation. As we saw in Psalm 73 last week, Lord, who's in heaven but you? I mean, Lord, if you're not my Lord, then what will I do? So if heaven's not my home, what will I do? So Lord, I don't know the end from the beginning. All I know is that you know the end from the beginning, and at the end, I'm gonna be with you. And you've promised me all kinds of great things. And so we see this great, he says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet, and he's quoting Psalm 18 here. And when I walk with Him, I will walk on the high mountains or high hills. He says, I'm going to soar with the angels. I want to get up on those mountains and look down on what God is doing. I don't want to stay down in the valley of the shadow of death. No, I want to mount upon the wings of the eagles. I want to walk and not be weary. I want to run and not faint. And so folks, the key to getting through these days is just staying closer to the God. Every time that there's a problem that comes up, it's a time just to wrap our arms around him and say, Lord, I'm hanging on and I'm gonna praise you no matter what happens. And the whole idea of praising and thanking God and realizing just who he is. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. I have a big God, do you? Now I forget Him every once in a while because I get my mind on my little men. I don't know who I am, on my little heart and what I want. And I've got to remember who He is and what He wants. And whenever my thoughts start lining up with His thoughts and my ways start lining up with His ways, then there's peace and there's comfort. and there's joy in the midst of sorrows and in the midst of challenges of life. Oh, how sad it is for those who don't know Him. There again, we go back to the great theme verse of all the book, and that is where He says, Behold the proud. His way is not upright in Him, but the just shall live by Do we believe God? Are you justified? Justified because the Lord Jesus has washed you whiter than snow because of His blood as you have repented and come to Him for salvation? And you've asked Him to save you? And as a result, you're walking by faith and not by sight. I have a big God, don't you? He's big enough to save me, and He's big enough to keep me, and He's big enough to deliver me. And one day, we'll all be able to talk about Him, because we'll see Him face to face. Oh, Lord Jesus, we come to You thanking You for Your Word. We thank You, Lord, for Habakkuk, the man that was like passions as we are, a man who had all kinds of problems as we are, but he learned, Lord, that no matter what happened, no matter how bleak the future, you're on the throne, and that you cared for him. You cared for his people. You cared for, Lord, for the nations. And even in your wrath, you remembered mercy. And Lord, we realize that we deserve your wrath. But we thank you, Lord, as Christians, that we're going to flee that wrath to come, that great day of judgment that is coming upon this world. And yet, Lord, we don't understand it all because it seems like a lot of it is already here. But we know that it isn't. Nothing compared to what will be one day to those who reject you. But oh, Father, we thank you that you're on the throne. that you, in spite of all the confusion that's going on in Washington, you have not missed a beat. All the problems and the filth and the terror that goes on in Afghanistan, yet Lord, we pray for your mercies upon the Christians there and that others would come to know you. We think of all the deception and the cruelty and the problems that are going on in China. And yet, Father, You know the end from the beginning. We don't have to understand it all to know that You're in charge and that there's nothing that escapes Your notice. We pray, Lord, for those Christians in China and Afghanistan. We pray for those in Israel and those here in the United States, Lord, those who have not bowed the knee to bail. Oh, Father, how we pray that You would use us until You decide to come. all that others would come to know you as a result of the testimony of those who walk by faith. Thank you again, Lord, for your word. In Jesus' name, amen.