and glad to be here and just trust the Lord to help us this morning and Do just by way of announcement would like to mention we do have our prayer cards back on the table as you go into the Fellowship Hall on the left and if you'd like to take one help yourself brother Raymond is my pastor he has his prayer card back there and And so if you take one, pray for us, all right? And we've also got the Babistero publication. It's a publication Brother Raymond's been a part of since 2003. And myself and then another young preacher named David Bain just came on board this past summer, and we're doing a lot of the writing, editing for it, and helping them to get that publication out quarterly. If you'd like to get a copy, we've got the previous copy that we put out back in April, and then we've got our most recent copy that just came off the press about two weeks ago. If you'd like a copy, feel free to take one. If you'd like to be put on the mailing list, get with me or Brother Raymond, get us your address, and we can add you to the mailing list, and you'll get that quarterly. And the purpose of that publication is to make both Native and non-Native churches aware of Native American ministry and what is going on, where there's needs, history of Native American ministry. A lot of rich history has been done in the country. I noticed on the brochure there, you've got a picture of David Brainerd, Isaac McCoy, both of those pioneer Baptists. Well, David Brainerd wasn't Baptist, but Isaac McCoy was, but missionaries to Native Americans. And so that's the purpose of that publication. If you'd like a copy, then feel free to avail yourself to that. If you want to take your Bibles and turn to Habakkuk, The prophet of Habakkuk. I found when you preach in these conferences, you'll go to the Old Testament and find one of these small prophets. You don't have to worry about anybody preaching on your text. So Habakkuk chapter number two. I want to read one verse of scripture, but then want to look at the whole book and by no means do we I don't expect to give a clear, concise exposition of the whole book, but I want to share a few thoughts with you from this book. If you would stand with us, and we'll reverence the reading of the Word of God together. Habakkuk 2, verse 20, the Bible says, But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before Him. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Let us pray. Father, we just bow in Your presence and we thank You for the privilege that we have to be here this morning to preach Your Word. God, I pray that You might fill us with wisdom and understanding. And Lord, fill us with the Spirit of God. Lord, I pray that You might grant power and unction to the preaching of Your Word. And may Your Word not return void. Lord, may You speak to hearts this morning. May You challenge Lord, may you refresh and may you revive thy work. May you encourage the saints of God this morning. And as we leave this place, may we leave, Lord, with a renewed vigor and zeal, not because of a fleshly emotion, but because of your Word that standeth true. And, O God, may we look unto the written Word this morning, and in it may we see the living Word, our Christ. Lord, I pray that you might minister to us in the only way that you can. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. I want to preach this morning on the thought, the sovereign is sitting in his sanctuary. The sovereign is sitting in his sanctuary. One preacher said it like this, he said, has it ever dawned on you that nothing's ever dawned on God? And I like that statement because that's true. And you understand this, God's not seated upon his throne and wringing his hands this morning. When Obama got reelected, God wasn't up there thinking, oh my, what am I going to do now? I hope I've got a plan B. But you understand that God is in control. And I know most of you here this morning do. I guess I could be preaching to the choir. But we serve a God in heaven that's sovereign. He's sovereign over all the affairs of man. And this morning, I want us to look at Habakkuk. And this is an interesting book, Prophets. And we find that here in verse 20, this is, in my opinion, the hinge of this book. Before this, we find Habakkuk is in turmoil. I mean, he's having a rough time. And he's saying, God, there's sin everywhere. And God, why don't you fix it? And God, why don't you send revival? Why don't you grant repentance unto your people? God, I'm a prophet. I'm ready. Give me the message. I'll stand and preach. I'll see you move and work. I'll see your people come and gather back together around the things holy and sacred. And Lord, we'll be worshiping you again. I'm ready. God says no. And he has a hard time with that. Now, how many of us this morning have a hard time with that sometimes? Now, we'll preach the sovereignty of God. God's sovereign. God's sovereign. But that's a whole other pill to swallow whenever it hits home. We'll preach He's sovereign in salvation. He's sovereign in the affairs of men. But what about the affairs of your own life? And when trouble comes or there's something that hits and it seems as though it's devastating and you say, God, I didn't see this one coming. Maybe you've made a mistake. Now, maybe it's just me, maybe I'm just testifying of me, I'm telling on myself, probably all of you this morning too spiritual have ever been anywhere like that before. But if you have, remember, there's a God in heaven who's sovereign. One, there's a he was a black preacher in North Carolina. I never met him preaching on the radio. And he must it must be pretty popular outline because I've heard another preacher preach it as well. But preaching is only a black preacher can preach. And I hope this doesn't offend anybody. But he was, you know, he's preaching in a big way. And he had him to turn into Psalm, Psalm 23. He's going to preach on the Good Shepherd that morning. And before he started preaching, he said, I want all of you within the 23rd Psalm to put a dot. Just mark a dot. So they did. Well, then he started preaching. And I mean, you know, he's preaching and he he got to preaching in such a way, said, believe me, the Lord is my shepherd. Bountifully, I shall not want beneath me are green pastures beside me are still and he's just preaching like only he could preach. And that place erupted. I mean, you can hear it even through the radio. They're shouting and they're running and they're probably swinging from the chandeliers if they had them. And I mean, that place has erupted. And he's preaching on. And he finally gets to the end of his text. And blessed my cup runneth over, beyond me is everlasting life. And when he got to the end, it finally settled back down. And he said, all right, I want you to look back at your text. And they looked down and said, what do you see? And they all said a dot. You see, that's the problem. So many times, so often in our lives, we are distracted by a dot of discouragement. We believe in a big God and we say we serve a big God and He's a sovereign God and He's in control of all things in nature and in heaven and in earth, but yet we have something little, just as little as a little dot in our lives, a dot of discouragement, a dot of defeat, and it comes into our lives and it so affects us that we begin to believe maybe God's not on the throne anymore. We fail to see Him as the Good Shepherd. We fail to remember all the good preaching from the word of God that we've heard throughout our lives and how God has manifested himself to us through his written word. And then we just forget about it. How our problems become bigger than God. And as you look at the book of Habakkuk, you're going to find that's the case. He forgets about God's sovereignty. His faith begins to dwindle on the fact that God is in control. Now, some have outlined the book of Habakkuk like this. In chapter one, you see the prophet whining. Chapter two, you see the prophet waiting. And in chapter three, you see the prophet worshiping. John Phillips, though he may not be the most in-depth commentator, He does have a way of putting things and and making outlines. He put it like this. He said in chapter one, you see the prophet pouting. Chapter two, you see him doubting. In chapter three, you see him shouting. You know, a lot of us this morning, maybe you're right there where the prophet was and you're pouting. You're pouting about some injustice that God has put in your life and you don't understand why it's there. What opens in surrounding gloom, though, in the book of Habakkuk, closes in surpassing glory. And we find here that the problem the prophet faced is the same problem that many of us face today, and that is a problem of weakened faith in the sovereignty of our God. Now, I want us to notice, first of all, chapter one. The silence of God which caused the problem. The silence of God which caused the problem. Now, you understand, the book opens in the land of Judea and the chaotic upheaval is taking place and there's corruption on every hand from the palace to the pauper's house and sin is rampant. And you don't have to read very long before you see the picture of degradation and depravity and doom that is certain upon the horizon all throughout the land. And you understand that he is in a place where there's great and exceeding sin. Maybe even like it was in the days of judges where men did that which was right in their own eyes. Read in verse 2, O Lord, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that raise up strife and contentions. Therefore, the law is slack, and judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked doth compass about the righteous. Therefore, wrong judgment proceedeth." And I mean, he is really bringing his laundry list to the Lord, if you will. But God, all of this is going on, and there's sin everywhere. What are you going to do about it? And that's exactly what he hears. Nothing. Lord, our nation in America is going a way that is very wicked. And I dare say we are not a nation, a Christian nation anymore. And we have allowed all manner of sin to come in. And as it's been at least referred to already in the meeting, we no longer hold to Judeo-Christian principles in our country as a whole anymore. And it'd be easy for us to say, well, God, what are you doing about this? Lord, my church, I mean, we come and we're faithful, but we're not seeing growth and we're not seeing people say, God, what are you doing about this? Lord, my home has got some problems in it and there seems to be contention with the children. Or maybe there's problems that go beyond even the physical realm and it's spiritual problems. God, what are you doing about this? And you say, God's not answering. He's just been silent. And that seems to be what comes into the mind of Habakkuk. He here in this portion of Scripture, he feels a little thrown out. I mean, like God's thrown him under the bus. He just, God's not speaking to him. God's not letting him in on what's going on. I mean, he's the prophet. He's the preacher. He should, if anybody, be let in on what God's doing. Why hasn't God spoke to him? I mean, in a sense of back at saying, Lord, the more I pray and the more I plead and the more I preach, the worse it gets. Amen. Many of you ever felt like that? The more you pray and beg God and what seems like the prayers hit you in the top of the head before you get them out of your mouth. You don't ever see the answer to that prayer, the answer that you want to see. Seems like God's being silent. There's times when you have burdens and it seems like God's just not listening. Sometimes we get easily discouraged or distracted that God in our life, no matter how big or how small it is, to you it's a God and that's all that matters and that's all you can see and that's all that you're focused on. And God is being silent. You understand that's where Habakkuk is. But one thing about it, and like one man said, The teacher's always silent during the test. Did you ever have a class where during the test the teacher was teaching you or giving you the answers? There's a few I wish were like that. When I took Greek in Bible college, I really wish it was like that. It's still Greek to me. But there's times in our life when God's silent. And I believe when He is silent, because He's wanting us to learn something, either about ourselves or about Him. And He's silent here, and the teacher's always silent during the test. Now, one thing about a test, you better pass it, because if you don't, you've got to take it again. So, you know what the best thing to do during times of testing? Be still. The Bible says it, be still and know that I am God. Be still. Just be patient. Tribulation works with patience, does it not? Be patient. Just wait. God's in control. Now I'm telling you this is a hard pill to swallow. And even me and my wife, we've been married two years, November the 5th. Got it right. But we've had some things in our own lives where we've been forced to say, why God? Why are you making me wait in this area? Why are you making me to be patient in this area? Lord, why aren't you speaking to me? I need to hear from you, God. I need a word. And all the while, we're forgetting God's sovereign. He's in control. He'll let it play out in His time. Sometimes God is not silent because He doesn't care. He's silent because He does care. And the only way we'll learn what He wants to teach us is if we're silent, Or he's silent and we're still. That's the only way we'll learn. Sometimes I wonder, maybe you do, maybe you don't, I don't know. Sometimes I wonder, and the brother even alluded to it this morning, some, you know, especially as young preachers, and I know Brother Harold said it last night, you think when God calls you to preach that every door ought to open for you, and if it does, they're going to experience revival. I mean, that's just a given. It wasn't long God taught me otherwise. But, you know, sometimes and even still this is a desire and I don't think it's an ungodly desire, but even still when you go to conferences, you go to church services, there's times when you wish God just move in. There's times when you say, oh, God, would you not revive your people again? Lord, would you not stir us in a way, not fleshly emotions? Oh, but God, give us a spiritual zeal and give us an overwhelming passion and desire in our soul that when we leave this place, we'll leave differently than when we came. There ought to be times when we come and we want to experience God's presence in a meeting. where the Holy Spirit of God steps down and walks among the people of God, ministering in only a way that He can. Revealing to us Christ from Scripture in only way that He can, as was alluded to already. It's not the ability of preaching. It is the person of the Holy Spirit that reveals truth and that reveals Christ. And even for all those of us that are saved, if we are to see Him, if we are to know Him, if we are to worship Him, it must come through aid of the Holy Spirit. Say, oh Lord, why don't we have more services where there's shouting or worship weeping or people just falling to their knees in awe of who God is. Revival, even in our church or in our community or nationwide. Lord, why isn't there more of this? Why isn't there a coming down of the Spirit of God and ministering like we'd like to see? Why? Why? Why isn't there immediate answers to prayer? God, I'm praying for something and I know it's your will and you haven't answered it yet. Why, God? Why? Why? Because God's wanting to teach us something. Don't worry, after the test has taken the lesson taught, we might find that we have more ground to shout on than we realize. We might find more calls for worship than we originally thought. God is teaching us through the periods of silence, just like he teaches Habakkuk the prophet here. Now you say, can it get worse, preacher? I mean, I've been praying, I've been serving God, I go to church, I tithe faithfully, I even pay my taxes, which I don't like to do, but I do it anyway, and I submit to the authority that's over me, and Lord, I'm doing everything just right, and you're not speaking to me. You're silent. Can it get any worse? You say, maybe God's indifferent and He doesn't care. He's forsaken you. He's abandoned me. And could it get any worse? Glad you asked. Yes, it can. It can. You ain't hit rock bottom yet. Let me say there are some things worse than silence. One thing worse than God being silent is God answering. It might not be the answer you want to hear. Might not be the answer I want to hear. God, and you know, I've not been in this nearly as long as most of you have, but it seems like God never answers the way we expect Him to. Now, I've heard stories and God's blessed me. I'm extremely blessed. But I've heard stories of preachers and there's a need and they'll pray and they'll go to the mailbox and open it and there's a check for X amount of money just for the need they had. That's never happened to me. I'm still waiting on it to. I'm hoping some rich person will send me a check. I can get to do that. It hasn't happened to me yet. And I'm saying it won't because we serve a God who's able to do so if He wills to. But a lot of times the answers to our prayers are not what we expect. They're not what we think they will be or what they even should be. So we see the silence of God which caused the problem. But now in verse 5, we're going to see the statement of God that compounds the problem. It's getting worse. It's going downhill from here. Notice in verse 5, he says, Behold, the Lord speaking, Behold ye among the heathen and regard and wonder marvelously, for I will work a work in your days which you will not believe, though it be told you. For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and more fierce than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far, and they shall fly as eagles that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence. Their faces shall suck up the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand, and they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them. And they shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over and offend, imputing this his power unto his God." Here's God speaking. I think if I was in Habakkuk's shoes, I'd have just assumed the Lord had been quiet. Because he didn't get the answer he was expecting. You know what he thought he was going to hear God say? Yes, you're right, Habakkuk. And you know what? I'm going to give you a message and I'm going to grant repentance and my people Israel are going to gather back together. You're fixing to experience revival on a national level. God is going to move in your midst. That's not what God says. He says, in fact, I'm going to take a nation that's more wicked, ten times more wicked than Israel could ever think about being, that is violent and fierce and abhors even my own name, and they are going to be used to judge Israel and to bring judgment upon the land. They're going to wield my sword of wrath upon my people. And then when I'm done with them, I'll judge them too, because they're going to do it out of a sense of pride. but I'm still going to use them. You understand that's not what we like to hear, is it? God's answer only compounds the problem. His problem was the sin of Israel and the wickedness of the nation, and he wanted to see God rebuke them and grant repentance and change the atmosphere of the nation. God has a totally different plan. And it almost seems inconceivable that God would use a nation more wicked than Israel to judge Israel. just seems inconsistent with God's sovereignty. You know, sometimes it's that very way for us. Lord, these other preachers, they compromise the gospel and the Word of God and teaching and truth and they forsake it and they throw it out and they bring in the bands and they bring in the concerts and they bring in the puppet shows and videos or whatever you want to point to that they're using today. Lord, they have the people and they have the crowd and they have the approval. Lord, what are you going to do for us? Be faithful. Virgins said this, he said, the church that men most love, you can be certain that's the church God most abhors. Now, I know he's not authority, but he's a pretty good source. And I tend to agree with that statement. You find a church that everybody's flocking to, probably something not right. But that's how we are. You know, I've already said, well, I sing in the choir and I play the piano and I study every week and I come and I preach, Lord. But we're not seeing what we'd like to see. You're blessing them, and they're wicked, and they know they're wicked, and they're choosing to do wrong and go the way of the world. And God, we're doing right, and we're standing for truth, and we're being faithful. And God, it seems as though you don't care. It almost seems inconsistent with His sovereignty. Notice when Habakkuk calls to the Lord over the sin of Israel and the dilemma he was in, he gets this. silence of God that caused the problem, but then the statement of God that compounds the problem. The answer of God seemed to be inconsistent and God's going to use evil means to bring about a good for his honor. Now, God's sovereign, so he has the right to do that, doesn't he? And we don't have the right to question him, do we? Now, we're going to get to that in just a moment. It's interesting, Isaiah chapter 10, if you'll go back and study that chapter, God's speaking about the nation of Syria, which was a part of the Chaldeans, and God literally calls them the rod of His anger. He says He's going to use them to smite Israel. And then after that, He's going to smite them because they're a proud and a wicked people. God's going to use them to receive glory for it, and then He's going to judge them and receive more glory for it. Because He's going to be glorified in everything He does. And like I think it was said last night, that's why He rose Pharaoh up and glory to himself. He's sovereign. Now somewhere between chapter 1 and chapter 2, the prophet decides he's going to step back and stand still. I don't know where it happened, but somewhere there he has a change of mind, change of heart. He's going to stand upon His watch. He says in verse 1 of chapter 2, I'll stand upon My watch and set Me upon the tower and will watch to see what He will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am reproved. I'm just going to wait, God. It's kind of like He's saying, I'm going to let God be God. Very noble of Him, isn't it? I'm going to let God be God. Good day in our lives when we learn to let go and let God have His will and way in our lives, because He's going to have His will and way in our lives whether we want to let go or not. And we can either come along happily, trusting in His sovereign will for our lives, trusting in Him, or we can be drugged along. But either way, we're coming along. Better to learn the lesson early on. There's a sovereign God sitting in His sanctuary this morning. And so now we come back to verse 20. By the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him. And like I said before, this is the hinge of the book. This is where it begins to turn. The table, the tide, if you will, turns. It's the climax of the book, if you will. But what is to follow is a great crescendo of glory and praise to God. We see a shift here in chapter 1 and 2. All we see is the prophet do a lot of talking. Any of you ever like that? You got a problem? And maybe you're not talking out loud. Some of you, maybe you are. Maybe you're driving down the road and talking to yourself. People are riding beside you looking. Man, that guy's crazy. Maybe you're talking in yourself, within your own soul, your own heart. You're just battling it. You're just talking to the Lord. Lord, why is this going on? You notice, I've been there before, and you notice when it's times like that, you're the one doing all the talking. You're just talking and talking, and the more you talk, the more you realize you're right. The more you side with yourself, the more you bring up arguments and points to prove what you're trying to get across to God. And we see that's what the prophet's done. He's done a lot of talking. Lord, you see the sin. You see Israel. You see judgment that's coming. And now this is how you're going to do it. You're going to fix it like this. And what does God say? He says, shh, I'm in my holy temple. Let all the earth be silent. Now, that's not the answer He wanted. Lord, our church is in an uproar. And we're having problems. And the deacon board is calling a meeting behind the pastor's back. Lord, I'm doing all I can. Bills are coming up and children seem to be wondering and going, Lord, what are we going to do? Lord, shh. The Lord is in His holy temple. Are you catching what I'm saying? Lord, the wicked prosper and they're blessed and I barely make it. I'm having to work three jobs to make ends meet. The Lord is in His holy temple. We see the silence that caused the problem and then the statement of God, shh. That compounds the problem, but then lastly, Notice the sovereignty of God that cancels the problem. And this is one thing about it. And that's why, maybe some of y'all heard that statement, prayer changes things. I don't agree with that. Prayer changes people. The person that's praying. Changes your outlook. Changes your point of view. You begin to see things how God sees them and not from your own point of view any longer. Begins to change your heart and you begin to get in line with what God's doing. You say, Lord, alright, I'm going with you now. Not my way, but thy way. Your will be done. And that's what takes place here. At some point, the sovereignty of God has now become real in the prophet's life again, and he's beginning to see things how God sees things, and no longer are there questions or statements or speaking. He's become silent in the presence of God. He recognizes, yes, God is still sovereign. He's still on His throne. He cannot be impeached. Politics don't sway Him, and religion doesn't sway Him. Temporal problems we might face. He just says I've been my holy temple The only answer that the Lord ever really gave her back it if you study the whole chapter that I can see Pretty much boils down to this. I'm God. I'm in control. Just sit back and Let me have didn't give him explanation didn't tell him why he's doing what he's doing. He didn't have to he's gone Sometimes we want to know though. God. Just tell me I want to know what's going on Well, would it do us any good if he did tell us? When we can't hardly wrap our minds around superlapsarianism and infralapsarianism, you really think God's going to tell you what He's doing and you're going to get it? I highly doubt it, friend. I highly doubt that I'm going to get it. Just sit back and let God be God. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not taking out human responsibility by no means. I'm just saying that our attitude towards the problems we face should be I'm going to keep being faithful. I'm going to keep preaching the Gospel. I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep witnessing. I'm going to keep telling folk about Christ. I'm going to keep reading the Word of God. I'm going to keep praying. I'm going to keep doing what I know is right based on Scripture. And I'm going to keep serving Him because He's worthy. And let Him take care of the outcome. Because He's God. God is sovereign. This isn't just religious talk. You know, God's sovereign. I find a lot of people say God's sovereign. They don't even know what that means. You know, I think we talked about some yesterday. Well, he's sovereign in servitude, but he's not sovereign in salvation. He's sovereign in the church affairs, but he's not sovereign in this. It's not just religious speech, though. It is truth. We speak of the sovereignty of God. What does it mean to say God is sovereign? Well, good biblical definitions found in Psalm 115. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Definition of the sovereignty of God. What does the sovereignty of God mean? Well, it means supremacy, kingship, the authority of God. A.W. Pink said to declare that God is sovereign is to declare the Godhood of God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that God is indeed God. Say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, doing what He wills in the armies of heaven and in the affairs of men, so that none can stay His hand, or saying to Him, What dost thou? To declare that God is sovereign is to declare that He is indeed Almighty, the Possessor of the heavens and the earth, and that all power belongeth unto Him, so that none can defeat His counsels, and none can thwart His purposes, and none can resist His will. Say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the governor among the nations, setting up kingdoms and overthrowing empires and determining the courses of dynasties as He pleases. Say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the only potentate king of kings and the Lord of lords. I can trust a God like that, can't you? Begin to see sovereign this morning. Not just theoretically, not just based upon what somebody has told us, not just based upon the circle we run in, based upon God's Word, based upon His character, based upon who He is. The Word of God says the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. The Lord reigneth in His clothes with honor and majesty. He maketh the cloud His chariot, and rides upon the wings of the wind. He measured out the waters in the hollow of His hand, and He meted out the heavens with just a little span. And you understand, He comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and He rayed the mountains and scales and hills in balances. When you say God's sovereign, what do you mean? I mean, He sitteth upon the circle of the earth. And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." He's sovereign. You can trust a God like this. He's sovereign. He's a God that walked on the billows and touched the seas to sleep. He's a God that healed multitudes without medicine and charged nothing for His services. Never wrote a book, though all the libraries of the world cannot contain all that has been written about him. He's never written a song, but there has been more songs and things written about him than there ever has been songwriters. He's Auburn. He's sealed more hearts, never claimed to be a heart doctor. He's held more minds and he's never claimed to be a psychiatrist. He's opened more blinded eyes and never claimed to be an optometrist. He's made deaf ears here and never claimed to be an audiologist. He commands the greatest army, yet never claimed to be a general. And he's fought and won more victories, yet he's never wielded a sword. He's the sovereign God of creation. He is the star, the morning star of astrology. The Rock of Geology, the Life of Biology, the Lion and the Lamb of Zoology, the God-Man of Anthropology, the Savior of Soteriology, He is the Revealed Word of Bibliology, He is the Christ of Christology, He is the Bridegroom of Ecclesiology, and the soon-coming King of Eschatology. And He is sovereign this morning. He is in control. He knows all things. Even that little dot that's in your life, that's distracting you. Well, got your mind off who He is. He's the harmonizer of all discourse, the healer of all disease. Herod couldn't kill Him, Satan couldn't seduce Him, death couldn't destroy Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him. He's sovereign God. He's the Son of God. He's Christ the Messiah, Jesus the Savior, our Lord and Master. The Word of God says He's Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Bright and Morning Star. He's our Shepherd, the Lamb slain. He is Almighty God. He's Wonderful Counselor. He's Prince of Peace. He's the Rose of Sharon. He's the Balm of Gilead. He is Jesus Christ. He's the Living Word. He's Sovereign this morning. So when we say He's Sovereign, that's what we mean. He's God. And Habakkuk can trust a God like that. We find all of a sudden Habakkuk, he goes from pining and he's turned to praising. He goes from whining to worshiping, from discouragement to delight. He's no longer pouting. He's begun shouting and praising God for who he is. Notice in chapter 3, verse 17, and we'll close. Now, he's accepted the fact that God is sovereign because in verse 17 he says, God, even if this happens, Listen, 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. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herb in the stalls." In other words, complete desolation. Yet, I will rejoice. The only way you can rejoice when things are this bad is if you know God is sovereign. You know He is sovereign. It says, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. So, everything is going wrong. Are you saved this morning? Well, you've got ground to worship God. He's sovereign. The Lord is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds feet. He will make me to walk upon my high places. It's interesting. He writes this to the chief singer. You find this at the end of verse 19. He says to the chief singer on my stringed instrument. Why is he writing to the chief musician, to the chief anchor? Why is he doing this? It's almost like Habakkuk is saying, I don't know what's going to happen. God, I don't know what you're going to do, but I know you're in control. So the best thing to do is either be silent or sing. It's either I'm just going to be quiet and stand still in the presence of God and watch you work. And as you work, I'm going to sing and I'm going to shout and I'm going to glorify and magnify the Lamb of God because He's worthy. That's what He's saying. Just worship Him now. Got my point of view corrected. My vision's right now. I'm seeing things clearly. God's sovereign. Let's just worship Him. You know, that's a problem with a lot of preaching and a lot of singing today. It's preaching about what God has done for us or what God can do for you. Or it's singing about what God can do and not preaching and singing about who He is. And that, my friend, is the ground for worship. And when you sing for who He is, the dots, they fade into the glory of His majesty. I want to end with the old hymn. It's not found in many William Cowper wrote it. And any of you that have studied anything about his life, you understand he battled Great Depression all of his life. He even tried to kill himself and God wouldn't let him. He was going to go to the Thames River and jump over and just drown himself. And God said no. One story puts it that a great fog settled and they couldn't make their way to the bridge. Another story has it that the cab driver just, or the cabbie just, wandered around and eventually took him back home. Whatever the reason, even you're not in control of your destiny, you realize that. But he penned these words in the title of a song, God Moves in Mysterious Ways. It says, God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds ye so much dread. are big with mercy and shall break and blessings on your head. Here's the last stanza. Deep in unfathomable minds of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and listen, he works his sovereign. The sovereign is seated in his singleton. Don't look at the problems you're facing in life. Don't look at people that maybe are casting doubt, judgment, accusations. Don't look at the circumstances. Look at the Lord. Get your eyes on the Lord. Now, I believe Habakkuk, in the course of this prophecy, he comes to that conclusion. God changes it. There's a silence that caused the problem, a statement that compounded it, but then God's sovereignty cleared it up. That's what we need, is to just trust in God's sovereignty when things begin to go in a way that maybe we don't think,