The third chapter of the book of Habakkuk, the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk was a prophet in Judah. Nearly seven centuries before the coming of our Savior, God raised up a prophet unto the nation of Judah. In God's wonderful providence and mercy, He never brings judgment upon a nation, but that He does not first send a prophet to call that nation to repentance. I find it interesting in the study of the ministry of Habakkuk, the Hebrew name simply means one who embraces. He is an individual that embraces with great confidence the reality of God, the reality of his glory, the reality of his mercy, his power, and his sufficiency. In the first chapter of this prophecy, we are introduced to something that at first would shock us, especially were we the prophet to whom these words were revealed. Judah had for a long season been in a spiritual decline, a condition very similar to the nation of America today. through the wickedness of Manasseh and his son Amnon, every conceivable idol was raised up throughout the land of Judah, even to the point that they would offer their children to Moloch. as a burnt sacrifice. It is nearly unthinkable to think of the incredible crime against humanity and against the God who created man existed in a nation with the heritage that Judah possessed. We find that in God's mercy, he raised up a young king named Josiah. And under Josiah, there were external reforms made in the nation of Judah, because it was during his reign that the book of the law was again found in the house of the Lord. And at the reading of the book of the law, there was repentance granted to the people, and they began to make external reforms. In other words, they would attend the house of worship, they would attend to the daily prayers, There would be public readings of the Word. The idols were dismantled. Some even were destroyed during the reign of Josiah. And it looked as though the nation was going to regain its prominence that it previously had. But we read the tragedy. that happened on an occasion when Josiah the king left the walls of Jerusalem to go out and battle the army of Necho, the pharaoh of Egypt. You see, they were going north to support the Assyrians who had fled Nineveh in 605 B.C., and they had fled for their lives from the armies of a man named Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar, who was a ruler of Babylon, had the greatest army the world had ever seen, and he just decimated Nineveh, he decimated Haran after Nineveh, and then he was going to a place called Carchemish. Well, the Egyptian armies were going up to reinforce the Assyrians to fight against Nebuchadnezzar. And in the process, Josiah took the armies of Judah to meet and fight the king of Egypt. And the Bible says he was slain. He was killed in that battle. Quickly after the death of Josiah, king of Judah, Judah began to embrace the religion that it had before Josiah came, thus telling us that the reformations that occurred in Judah during the reign of Josiah were completely external. There is a great difference between external reformation and internal transformation. External religion is what the Pharisees possessed. External faith was what the people of Judah possessed. But apart from internal transformation, at the very next opportunity, they would reveal that their faith in the Lord was only superficial. It was only for show. It was only to accommodate a particular image. The reason I'm spending time with this background is because I believe that in many cases in our own nation, we have succumbed to the same temptation. Everything is external. Everything is for what looks good. And there's very little attention paid to personal or private devotion and private religion. You see, it's one thing to bring your Bible to church, but how do you use your Bible during the week? It's one thing to pray in a building where there's other men and women of Christ, but how are you praying at home? It's one thing to have our children seated in our pews this afternoon, which, by the way, I'm so glad to see. But how are we training them in religion when we get them in the home when no one else is looking but the Lord? I believe, brothers and sisters, that we stand in need of the same type of transformation that was needed in the days of Habakkuk the prophet. Habakkuk was wondering why God was silent. Why it did not appear that God was concerned about the wickedness in the land, about violence, about the covetous spirit that had gripped the heart of the nation, how that everything revolved around the economy and the political scene. how everything was externally presented to cast the national leaders in the best light. All of these things you see and I experience on a day-to-day basis in our own country. Habakkuk was wondering how long this was going to go unchecked. God began to speak. And when God speaks, even E.F. Hutton listens. God was speaking to His prophet in chapter 1 and chapter 2. In chapter 1, He says, I'm going to bring a rod against My people of Judah. I'm going to do it. Some people say, well, God doesn't have anything to do with evil men. God doesn't reign over the wickedness. He's only concerned about the good. Have you heard any of that lopsided preaching or teaching? I'm going to tell you it's unbiblical. The God of this Bible is sovereign over good and evil. And Nebuchadnezzar was raised up by an almighty good God. And yet he was an evil man. But God was going to use him to accomplish a noble end. Psalm 76, verse 10 says that the wickedness of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder he will restrain. That's the sovereignty of God. The God of this Bible is sovereign, friends. The God of this Bible, according to Psalm 115, verse 3, rules in the heavens. He sits upon the throne of the heavens, and He does whatsoever He has pleased. That's the God of this Bible. Now, in the second chapter of Habakkuk, God begins to explain. He doesn't have to, but He does for the benefit of His servant. He begins to explain the inner workings of His plan. You see, He's not only going to bring Nebuchadnezzar down to be a rod for the children of Judah. Remember, they came down in 605 B.C., and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem. They took the golden temple that Solomon built and took all the gold and the silver and the precious stones back to Babylon. They took the sons of Judah and made them slaves, and the daughters of Judah and made them concubines. They took the kings and the rulers of Judah and had them beheaded All of this was done because they rejected, they rebelled against Jehovah God. They did this, and as a consequence, they suffered that type of judgment, very severe judgment, and would be in Babylonian captivity for 70 long years. God revealed this to Habakkuk and his contemporaries, which included Jeremiah. Now we come to chapter 3. In chapter 3, we are introduced to the hymn of Habakkuk. That's what I want to title our message tonight, the hymn of Habakkuk. Chapter 3 begins and ends with a reference to a musical instrument. An instrument that was common in Judah in that day, a stringed instrument that was played while this chapter or while the words of this chapter were either sung or liturgically repeated by the congregation. And in this hymn, we find there are three essential things. that God's people must remember when their nation is under judgment, must remember when there's bad things happening all around us and in us, must remember in those times when, as we'll find in a moment, we experience the day of trouble. The first thing that I notice about this hymn is that there is a prayer for mercy. A prayer for mercy. Listen to verse 2, "...O LORD, I have heard thy speech." In other words, I understand what you're about to do. You're going to bring in this rod Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, but then you're going to turn around and rebuke Babylon. You're going to overthrow Babylon also. I understand that. I have heard thy speech and I was afraid. Have you ever been afraid? Have you ever been presented with trouble that you don't understand? And presented with circumstances in your life that you can't explain? Presented with such a situation that it brings fear to your heart? I think we have. In fact, I know many of us have. And listen to what he said. Listen to this prayer for mercy. O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years. Make known in wrath, remember mercy. Here's his prayer. He's not appealing for justice. He's not appealing for getting what he deserves. I want you to notice this with me. He's appealing for mercy. And He says, in the midst of the years that you bring this judgment in my life, in the midst of the years that you bring these evils around me, in the midst of those years, sin revival. Now, the word revived is a very interesting word. It's a word that's been badly abused in recent years in connection with religion. But the word specifically means to quicken, or literally, to preserve alive. To preserve alive. He's calling upon God to once again manifest His presence, not in judgment, not in wrath, not in indignation, but remember us in mercy. It is very significant that we understand God's mercy this afternoon. It's significant that we understand that when God would place the stone law of Moses in a box that was called an ark, an ark that was overlaid with gold, when He would place the stones that God wrote His law on and gave to Moses inside that box, He would not leave it open. He would put a lid on that box. And what was that lid called? The mercy seat. It was here that God would demonstrate His willingness to cover the indignation of the law against His people. by his mercy. And it was upon the mercy seat that the high priest would enter once a year at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, that God's high priest would appear with blood, and he would sprinkle the blood of the Lamb, the sacrifice, on top of the mercy seat. Isn't it interesting? He didn't sprinkle the blood on the candelabra. He didn't sprinkle the blood on the table of showbread. He didn't sprinkle the blood on the laver. He didn't sprinkle the blood on the table of incense. He didn't sprinkle the blood on any of those things. He went straight to the mercy seat. Why? Because this was an illustration that God's holy wrath that is deservedly poured out against sinners could only be satisfied by the blood of a sacrificial lamb in mercy. It would literally cover our sins. He says, remember mercy. In Numbers 14, verse 18, Moses would write, Great are thy mercies. He would use the word magnanimous. He would use the word magnificent to describe the quality of God's mercy. And the same is found in Isaiah 54 and verse 7. I love what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2 and verse 4. After he describes the depravity of man, in verse 4 he says, But God, who is rich in mercy... Do you see that? He emphasized the attribute of mercy pertaining to God in relationship to the salvation of His people. In Psalm 86, verse 5, David said, Thou art plenteous in mercy. I love what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1, verse 3, when he said that He saved us according to His abundant mercy. All of these descriptive adjectives are just trying to present in the human mind the concept of the immensity of this mercy that comes to us from a sovereign God. So the Bible says the mercy of God is great. It's rich. It's plenteous. It's abundant. And it's always with the directive to save. Paul used that in Titus 3, verse 5, when he said, After that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. Had He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. How do you have eternal life today? It's through God's mercy. The Bible teaches us that God's mercy is reserved for the penitent, for the backslidden sinner who turns from a life of sin and degradation to serve the living God. I get that out of Luke chapter 15 when I'm studying the story of the prodigal son. When he's over there in that pigpen, you remember that? He's going down the road, but he's going down the road the wrong way. And one day the Bible pointedly says, he came to his right mind. And what was his thought? You know, his thought was, you know, in my Father's house. In my Father's house, even the servants. He breathed, you know what I'm going to do? He's talking to himself. I'm going to go back to my Father's house and I'm going to confess that I have sinned. And I'm going to ask Him to make me as one of the servants in my Father's house. Oh, you know the story well, don't you? Well, as the son was coming home, the Bible says, when he was yet afar off, the eye of his father saw him coming. What kind of eye was that? That's the eye of mercy. When he came near and began to make his confession, the father didn't even let him finish. He just embraced him. What kind of arms are they? Those are the arms of mercy. He kissed him on the cheek. What kind of kiss was that? It was the kiss of mercy. He placed a ring which was symbolic of sonship on his finger. What kind of a ring was that? It was symbolizing mercy. He put shoes on his feet. What was that? It was mercy. A rope on his back. What was that? It was mercy. He killed the fatted calf and called all the friends and neighbors and said, Come and rejoice because the son that was dead is now alive. What was that? What is that the story of? A picture of? It's a picture of God's mercy. There's a distinction made in the Scripture between mercy and grace. Most of us know the definition of grace, do we not? It's God giving unto us what we do not deserve. But the definition of mercy is God keeping from us what we do deserve. Habakkuk is giving us a wonderful pattern. He's saying in times of trouble, in times of distress, in times of sorrow, in times of shock, in times of sudden calamity, the very first thing that God's people need to do is pray for mercy. There has never been a revival among God's people apart from God's mercy. Never. In fact, if you would, turn with me very quickly back to the language of David again and the Psalms of David in Psalm 85. Listen to what he says. He says in verse 6, he said, "...Wilt thou not revive us again?" Are you going to remain angry? Are you going to remain in judgment against us always? Will you not preserve life among us again? Wilt Thou not revive us again, and Thy people may rejoice in Thee? And then in verse 7, what do you say? Would you read this out loud with me, verse 7? Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation. Isn't it intriguing that David realized that there could be no revival apart from mercy? Habakkuk, that dear prophet to whom God revealed His program and His judgment, The very first response of his heart was to petition God, to pray to God for His mercy that would bring revival. The second point in this hymn of Habakkuk is his praise for God's power. He begins to go through an historical account of God's dealings with Israel. Listen to this. In verse 3, he says, God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran, Silah. This is describing the wilderness out of which God brought the nation of Israel into the land of Canaan. Now notice what he says, Silah. This is like a hymn, a song. This is a rest note in the song of Habakkuk, Silah. Then he says, His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His what? His praise. The earth was full of His praise. What he's describing here, I believe, is the Shekinah glory of God that was the manifest presence of God in the midst of His people. In Exodus chapter 48, when they completed the work of the tabernacle, God anointed that tabernacle by His own presence. Remember, the cloud came down and so did the people. When God comes down in power, so do the people. Men go down. According to Exodus 48 and 1 Kings chapter 8, when God's power came into His house, men fell on their faces. That's the Shekinah glory of God. It is the mighty, invincible, incomparable power of God. He begins to praise Him for His power. He says in verse 4, "...and His brightness His brightness was as the light. That's brighter than the sun. I believe that's the light that Saul of Tarsus met in Acts chapter 9 on the road to Damascus. That light that was brighter than the noonday sun, that's the glory of Christ. He says the whole heaven and earth was filled with that glory, and He came down in great power. and great power and authority. And he had horns coming out of his hand. That's talking about his power. And there was the hiding or the veiling of his power. And then he begins to chronicle how he led his people out of the land of Egypt, across the Red Sea on dry ground. I want you to understand it's the power of God that gave water out of the flint rock to the nation of Israel. It is the power of God that brought them manna from heaven. It is the power of God that gave them victory over the Amalekite army. It was the power of God that was manifested in Mount Sinai when the whole mountain trembled and there was thundering and quakes in the top of the mountain. It was God's holy power that was revealed from heaven in short glimpses all through the wilderness experience of the children of Israel. And later, when the children of Israel crossed into the land of Canaan, it was the power of God that divided the Jordan River so they could walk across on dry ground. It was the power of God that brought down the walls of Jericho. It was the power of God that dropped down those giants that were in the land. It was the power of God. that was with Israel so that they didn't lose one battle. Habakkuk remembers to praise God for His power, the ability of God. It's interesting to my soul that David said in Psalm 79, verse 11, that God's power is great. He says in Psalm 62, verse 11, Power belongeth unto the Lord. That's the kind of power. If we could use the word, enablement. When we're talking about the power of God, we're talking about God's ability to enable His people. This is what is involved in the song of Habakkuk. He's acknowledging that we have no strength of our own. But He's acknowledging our dependency upon the strength that can only come from God. In 2 Chronicles 16, verse 9, we read that the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout all the earth to show Himself strong in behalf of who? All of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him. It's as though The eyes of God are looking for that people that want to be serious about the work of His kingdom. It's describing God looking for people that will really trust Him, that will really believe Him. I read a story about a man one time that in the night, He fell off of a cliff. And there was a branch sticking out of the cliff, and he was holding on to the branch, and he's calling out for help. Somebody help me! He said, Somebody help me! Nobody was around. But all of a sudden, just about as he was going to give up, a voice out of heaven said, I will help you. He said, Who is that up there? And the voice said, I am God. He says, God, can you help me? He said, I will help you. But you must trust Me. Do you trust Me? The man hanging on the branch said, oh yes, I trust you. I believe that you are able. Because you're God and you're able. He says, do you believe I can help you? He said, oh, I believe. I believe you can help me. Will you obey Me? Oh yes, whatever you tell me, I'll obey you. He said, let go. In South Georgia lingo, he said, say what? He said, let go of that branch you're hanging on to. You know what he said? Is anybody else up there that can help me? You know why? Because he really didn't believe God. And as the story goes, when the daylight began to dawn, he could see that there was a shelf six inches under his feet. And he just let go and there was no danger. I wonder how many of us here this afternoon are hanging on to some kind of a limb, some kind of a hope in the dark. That's the way Habakkuk was. Everything familiar to him, everything comfortable to him, everything that he ever valued was being taken away. And he's hanging on for dear life. And he's saying, is there anybody that can help me? That's Habakkuk. And that's you and me. And you know what? When we praise God for His power, listen to me carefully. When we praise God as we ought, see, it's easy to praise God in the sunshine. It's easy to praise Him when everything's going good. when everything in our understanding and in our life is smooth. It's easy to say, boy, look how good the Lord's been to me. I tell you, it's wonderful to be alive. It's wonderful to know the Lord. It's wonderful to serve the Lord. But when the darkness comes, When the nights of toil begin to break into our soul, when circumstances are beyond our control, and things happen that we don't understand, and there's no way we can explain, what then, pilgrim? Are you still able to cry out in the storm, and in the rain, and in the night, and in the affliction, and say, Amen? Let's see. Be the God that gives and the God that takes away. What then, pilgrim? Will you let go? Habakkuk said something that just stirs my heart this afternoon in verse 16. He said, When I heard these words, when I heard what God was up to, when I heard what God was doing, when I understood His program and His plan. Notice, he's being very honest. 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 He's saying, God is doing something I can't explain. God is doing something I don't agree with. God is doing something I didn't ask for. God is doing something that is mysterious and veiled. I cannot understand it. But he says, I will rest in the day of trouble. Why? because he was praying for God's mercy, because he was praising God for His power. But thirdly, he was hanging on to the promise of God's sufficiency. is the acknowledgement of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5, when he said, We are not sufficient of ourselves, our sufficiency is of God. You see, that's why this hymn is so important to us, because it pertains to the day of trouble. It pertains to a day when the dark clouds billow. It pertains to a day when we are tested, when the nature and character of our faith is going to be examined. And it's not examined in the daytime. It's not examined in the good times, in the smooth and easy times. Our faith is always tested in the fire. It's always tested in the furnace. It's not comfortable. It's not pleasing. It's not what we would want. But that's characteristic of the way God deals with His people. And during those times, our stomach quivers. During those times, our legs lose strength. During those times, there's a rottenness that enters into our very bones. What are you hanging on to? It needs to be the promise of God's sufficiency. There are many of you that have read to your children Pilgrim's Progress. If you haven't, you ought to. But one of the most stirring parts of that story was when Pilgrims... Remember when Pilgrim and Hopeful was walking on the King's Highway to go into the city of Celestial? And remember they got weary in the journey and got sleepy? And it looked like it was fixing to rain. They were looking around and they saw a tree in a pasture that was off the path that it looked like a good place to rest. And they went over there and they fell asleep under the tree. And when they woke up, there was a big old giant standing over them. And the giant's name was Despair. Giant Despair. laid hold on Christian and laid hold on hopeful, and took them to the castle of doubt, and threw them in the dungeon and locked the door. And every day the giant would come to that cell and beat them mercilessly. Wouldn't feed them. There they were, Christian and hopeful, in the cell, being beat to death. And the giant told them, tomorrow when I come, I'm going to kill you. As they lay there in their misery and their blood and weak for hunger, Hopeful whispered something in the ear of Christian. Hopeful said, Remember the key. Christians said to Hopeful, there's no key. There's no way out of this dungeon. There's no way out of this cell. There's no way to escape death. The giant of despair is too great. The castle of doubt is too strong. There is no escape. But Hopeful keeps whispering, try the key. He said, what key? Hopel said, the key that the evangelist gave you when we began our journey. Where is that key? Oh, I remember, said Christian. It's next to my heart. It's in the vest pocket of my vest. And he pulled out the key. The first time he had ever used that key. The first time he had ever thought about that key. And he asked Hopeful, will this key fit the lock on the gate of the jail cell? And he looked on the key and there was one word written on the key. And that word was promise. And Christian got up and he put the key into the lock and he opened the door. They escape two things. They escape death by the hands of giant despair, and they escape death in the dungeons of the castle of doubt. I don't know where you're at today, but I'm telling you the same solution that was arrived at in Habakkuk's day will work for you and I. when we claim the promise of God's sufficiency. Not only is His mercy great and His power great, but also His promises are great. According to the language of 2 Peter 1 and verse 4, it is exceedingly great and precious promises that deliver God's people from the castle. from the castle of doubt. I want you to see this in Habakkuk 3, verse 17. We're about to conclude our remarks, but he says, "...although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, and the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls." You know what he's describing? He's describing destitution. He's describing famine. He's describing when everything goes wrong. He's describing the worst circumstances that could ever encompass about God's people. He's describing the valley, friend. He's describing the dungeon. And notice the three-letter word that begins verse 18, will you? in spite of the giant, in spite of the castle wall, in spite of the locked doors, in spite of my limited understanding. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. There are three quick points I want to make about this promise of God's sufficiency. Number one, we need to remember that God's promises and God's sovereignty is what preserve us in all affliction. That's what David said in Psalm 23, verse 4, when he said, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Why am I not afraid? Why will I not fear evil? For Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23, verse 1 says, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Right? Right? What is he saying? He's saying that when God is your supply, you will always have enough. Let me say that again. When God is our supply, we'll always have enough. Listen to the promise. Isaiah 43, verse 2. Listen to what He said. When you pass through the waters, they're not going to overthrow thee. When you pass through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Why? Because I am with you. The next time you're studying the book of Daniel and you come to chapter 3 when the three Hebrew children are cast into the fiery furnace, you know that story? All of you children, you know that story? They threw them in the fiery furnace. Were they burned? Huh? Did they smell like smoke? Huh? This means no. This means yes. Huh? Were they left in the furnace forever? No. Okay, you know the story. No. Did they come out? Did they come out huffing? Or did they come out walking? They come out walking, right? Because they were free. The only thing that was burned up in the fire were the things that bound them. But how many came out of the furnace? Huh? Did one come out? Oh, no. Did two come out? Did three? Three? Huh? No. There were four in the furnace. I'm trying to make a point. There were four in the furnace. Three came out, right? You know why? It didn't say that the fourth one came out. Because He's still there for you and me. He's still there. And He's saying to you and me, don't be afraid. In the day of your trouble, don't know fear. And the reason is because I'm still here. The reason is, is because I'm still in control. The reason is because I am God and I'm going to work My will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And I'm going to get glory to My name. But I want to give you something that when you are experiencing the darkness, when you are going through the valley, when you are being in the furnace of affliction and the waters of adversity are flooding your soul, when all these things around you are happening that you cannot explain or understand. I want you to pray for my mercy. I want you to praise me for my power. And I want you to believe my promise is real. I want this to be your case. tonight, this afternoon. And I want to rejoice with you in the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, listen, the Apostle Paul said, I have a thorn in my flesh. You know, a thorn hurts. A thorn is painful. I've got this thorn and I want you to take it away, Lord. I want you to take it away." Three times the great apostle says, Lord Jesus, take this thorn away from me. I'm at the end of my rope. I can't go one step farther on. It's all over. I'm ready to quit. I'm ready to give up. But Jesus says, I'm not going to take the thorn away. But I'm going to give you something that's better than the thorn. I'm going to give you something that's better than the taking away of the thorn. I'm going to give you grace. My grace, 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, My grace is sufficient for thee. And My strength is made perfect in what? Weakness! It's when we come to the end of our strength that we begin to realize the sufficiency of His. Amen? Do you know that? And you know what Paul's response was to that? Wow! It blows me away. His response was, in that case, you know, if you're going to get more glory out of my suffering and my pain, if you're going to get more glory out of that, then in that case, bring it on! You know what he did? He embraced the thorn. He embraced it! He said, give me that thorn and not just that thorn. Give me another thorn! Because if God is going to be glorified through this, let it be. Let it be. That's what Jesus did upon the cross. When they put the crown of thorns on His head and beat it into His skull, He said, let it be. When they drove the nails into His hands and His feet, He said, let it be. Why? Because there was greater good and greater glory that could come out of that weakness. That could come any other way. Brothers and sisters, the hymn of Habakkuk is a textbook illustration on how we are to deal with our trouble. And in the day of that trouble, listen to me, I'm going to close, but in the day of that trouble, we need to rest in His unchanging, unfailing promises. Let's pray together.