Please take your Bibles this morning. Let's go over to Habakkuk chapter 1, the Old Testament book of Habakkuk and chapter 1. I know that many of you in this room are wrestling with the events of this last week, especially here in our country, and it certainly seems as if a flood is coming through upon us. And that's exactly what we would like to address in God's providence in the message this morning, just as we did in last Sunday morning's message. I believe we find real answers here. Scripture tells us all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. And it's profitable, dear friends, for days just such as these. And so we come to Habakkuk chapter 1 as Habakkuk is wrestling here with the violence that is occurring in his own nation. When you stop to consider the events of this last week in our country, you realize just how well prepared we are for the words that we're going to hear from Habakkuk this morning. You say, in what sense? Well, he cried out to the Lord about violence and iniquity and grief and strife and contention and the turning aside of justice. I'd just like to ask you, does that sound really familiar from this week in the United States of America? With decisions being made even by our own Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the violence that is occurring in our streets, does this sound really, really familiar? It ought to, and this is, I believe, one of the reasons that we turn to Habakkuk this morning. And notice, if you will, what we find here in Habakkuk 1, beginning in verse 12, as Habakkuk now responds to the Lord in prayer about the fearful events that are getting ready to come upon their nation. He says in verse 12, Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die, O Lord. Thou hast ordained them for judgment. O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on iniquity. Wherefore, lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he, and makes men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. They take up all of them with the angle, that is with the hook. They take them all up with the hook. They catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragnet. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad. Therefore, they sacrifice unto their net, and they burn incense unto their dragnet, because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? I will 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. Shall we pause to pray together? Lord, we are wrestling We are wrestling with the events that occur in our nation. We are trying, Lord, to learn how to take hold of God, to embrace our God, as the name Habakkuk means to embrace. And yet, Lord, as we try to embrace, we find ourselves wrestling in a wrestling match, just as Jacob wrestled with God. Dear Heavenly Father, I'm crying out to you this morning that you would show us your mighty, glorious ways, your majesty, your amazing power. You are indeed the eternal God, the holy God, the mighty God. All of these things, Lord, are under your control. and you are bringing them about. So dear Heavenly Father, I cry out to you this morning for your dear people here that all of us would learn what it means to take hold of God, to embrace you by faith and to truly see you as you are. And in those ways where we think we know God, And yet, God responds in a way that makes us wonder if we really know God. And I pray today, dear Heavenly Father, for a renewal in our hearts and minds. Lord, teach us to think differently. Help us to understand you in a new way. Just as Jesus went to the disciples walking on the water and they cried out, it is a spirit, and you said, Be of good cheer. It is I, Lord, show us yourself in these storms. Help us to see you in majestic ways. Father, I ask for all the praying people in this room that as I try to preach the word, as we sang a few moments ago, that they would pray with all their power. that we would be cleaving and still believing, and that we would be able to minister to the sick and sorrowing, but most of all, that we would truly see our holy God today. Lord, help us, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. You see in this passage that Habakkuk is crying out to the Lord, first and foremost, out of frustration about the violence in his land. We learned much about this in the first two messages, and you can read about his complaint there in Habakkuk chapter one, verses two through four, and it reads like the headlines in our paper today. I don't know how many times this has happened to me. that after preaching a message from God's Word, trying to proclaim God's revelation, it is as if God wraps reality around His revelation, and it is astounding to us. Undoubtedly, you did, as I did, thought, when you saw the events of this ensuing week, you thought about the book of Habakkuk, and that's a good thing. It is the right thing for you and me to go back and revisit God's revelation to see what is here. So Habakkuk is frustrated. He's frustrated with the strife and the contention. Did you see the announcement that the Black Panther group is planning to visit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana today? And those of you in this room who are of any age who remember any of the riots that occurred in the 1960s know that sounds very, very familiar. And you remember those days, and you remember the strife, and you remember the contention, and you remember the inhumanity of men to men. And dear friends, when you wrestle with this, you have to stop to think what is happening. Most of you know about these events. In this last week near Minneapolis, a black man was shot and killed by police officers during a routine traffic stop. The man was legally armed. According to the Business Insider article that I read, the race of the police officers was unknown at that writing, but the man had been pulled over more than 52 times in recent years for various infractions of the law. His untimely death, as you know, has created a furor in this nation. And then down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a convicted felon refused to comply with the orders of two policemen. And though they found out that he was armed and in the ensuing struggle, they shot and killed him. And then the unthinkable happened. In Dallas, Texas, on Thursday evening, you and I were shocked to hear about during a peaceful protest, just a protest where people were being very respectful. They were being respectful. The members of the community were being respectable. The police were actually being very respectful. In fact, the police were actually taking pictures and tweeting and sending out messages about there's a peaceful protest here and there's no cause for concern. Everything is under control. And in, according to one article in the Washington Post, it said that Dallas, Texas is one of the premier community policing cities in the country. Eugene Robinson said the great irony of Dallas is that it is something of a model. In the midst of that respectful protest, A lone sniper opened up and killed five police officers, wounded seven more, and it's my understanding it was also a woman, making eight. who was also wounded in that. Now, as you know, the media is making much of this in an almost continual video loop of these violent events. They're continually keeping this before the public, and it's people who are writhing in agony, and they're making these statements, followed by a word from our sponsor. You have to remember the media is in the business of making money. You have to remember that the way they are talking about some of these events are actually designed to try to capture the attention and hold you through the commercial break. But nevertheless, it is very clear that there is something afoot in our nation and you and I need to pay very close attention to it. You see in Habakkuk that you have a prayer of God. Habakkuk's name means to embrace. Folks, these are weighty matters. This is heavy stuff. That's why the very second word in Habakkuk says the burden of Habakkuk. If you went forward to Habakkuk chapter three, you would find that he said, when I heard this news, my whole body trembled, my voice quivered. So these are not just cutesy little niceties that we can just say, well, it's really not that big of a problem. No, this was really serious stuff. But isn't it a joy to know that God in his wonders gives us wonderful answers to those things. If you were to outline the book of Habakkuk, you would find that it is a prayer of frustration. As I alluded to a few moments ago in Habakkuk chapter one, verses two through four, he's very frustrated with the problems in his nation. And so God answers, but the way God answers terrifies the prophet. He tells Habakkuk, here is what's going to happen. What's going to happen is I'm going to send in the brutal Chaldeans, an invasion of a pagan nation, and they will decimate this area. Habakkuk's thinking, whoa, whoa, whoa, Lord, that's not what I had in mind. Lord, I was praying for revival, not removal, and yet the Lord in his providence told him that is exactly what's going to happen. How would you respond to that if you knew and you received definite, certain word of God's judgment to be poured out upon your nation? How would you respond? That's the central question we're going to try to answer this morning in the message. But you can see how Habakkuk here was full of fear. As I alluded to a few moments ago, he trembled when he heard the news. And so the passage we're looking at this morning is Habakkuk's prayer, his prayer out of fear or his fearful prayer where he cries out to the Lord and wants to take hold of God. The Lord answers. He shows him exactly what he will do. And then virtually all of Habakkuk chapter three is given over to another prayer. And that prayer is a prayer of, well, how do you think it would be resolved? Knowing what you know about the word of God. If you go to the Lord about your frustrations and he answers in such a way that it scares you and you are fearful, what do you think it is that the Bible is always appealing to us for? What is it that we are supposed to do as a result or to know or embrace as a result? And you see, if you get to the end of Habakkuk chapter three, you see that Habakkuk is saying, look, though there is a terrible invasion and famine in this land. If you read it later this afternoon, if the vines don't produce, if the olive tree and the fig tree and there's no cattle, and I mean, it's just terrible. The kind of terrible situation that Jeremiah alludes to in the book of Lamentations. Here's what Habakkuk says. Though all of those things happen, yet I will joy and rejoice in the God of my salvation. What's he appealing for? He's appealing for faith. He's appealing for trust. And so this prophet Habakkuk, whose name means to embrace, goes to the Lord about his frustrations, hears the fearful news, cries out to the Lord out of fear, but ultimately it's resolved in his faith. It's exactly the same pattern for you and me. Now, look, there are a number of authorities who tell you, look, you have to go through these steps of grieving. Kubler-Ross is the one who designed this, this pattern. Now, to my memory, it's probably about 30, 35 years of age. The process where they say, well, you have to go through, what is it, denial? Then you have to go through anger, and if you don't go through those steps, they said, then you're not really grieving. Well, you really have to question what is the authority behind those steps. Just because somebody says you ought to go through that, does that mean you really ought to go through that? What I'd like to lay out for you is Habakkuk's pattern here. Look, every one of us is different. It may be that you find yourself in Habakkuk this morning as you work through this and as you think through this and think, well, you know, I really have experienced those kinds of frustrations with people and with things. And I have been a little bit afraid, especially after last Sunday morning's message, which seemed so heavy and it just seemed like an excavation of a nation rather than a restoration. It was like more about removal than revival. Sure, that's exactly the kind of thing that we wrestle with. But isn't it wonderful to know that what the Lord is really appealing to us about is for our faith. The central verse in Habakkuk is found in Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4. We'll probably spend a couple of messages on that and you know it and will recognize it immediately from your New Testament. Habakkuk chapter 1, chapter 2 and verse 4. The Lord says, behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him, but see if you recognize the last phrase, but the just shall live by faith. the just shall live by faith. Just as the Lord was showing Habakkuk, the embracer, that he had to live by faith, so he was individually pointing to every single person in all this mass of people, almost like a school of fish, as we'll see here in just a few moments. But the point was, and still is, The Messiah. He's the only one that can make any meaning out of this mess. It's the Messiah, folks. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel is that the just or the righteous shall live by faith. So I think this becomes somewhat of a test case for us today. So let's ask some questions and see if we can look more closely at this prayer here in Habakkuk chapter 2. Question. How can you face your deepest fears? Habakkuk had gone to the Lord with his deep frustrations, and he's met with deeper and even deepest fears. So question, how do you face your deepest fears? How should you respond when the God you know does not respond like the God you know? Has that ever happened to you? Wait. This is the God that I know, this is the God that I have exalted, but he's not responding like the God that I know. What do you do in a situation like that? How can you make a direct appeal to God about these recent tragic events in our nation? What's the best way to approach God as you make your appeals to Him? And what should you do after you have prayed, after you have committed your soul, poured out your soul, in the words of Psalm 62, you poured out your soul unto the Lord, what should you do then? I think it's very helpful that you and I would go back to revisit what it means to really know God. Josiah Long and I are reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer right now. If you've never read that, I strongly recommend it to you. I remember saying years ago that next to my Bible, it's probably one of the finest books I've ever read. And I, after beginning to reread it, I think I know exactly why I said that, because it's a wonderful book about what it really means to know God. How do you turn this knowledge about God and turn it into fellowship with God? The book Knowing God by J.I. Packer would be a tremendous help to that. But notice here what Habakkuk does and the way he makes this appeal. And so let me just raise the question again. How would you appeal to God if you received word of his divine destructive judgment upon your nation? which of his characteristics would you want to appeal to? If you knew his wrath was coming, which one of his characteristics would you want to appeal to? And I think most of us in the room would say, well, I'd want to talk to him about his mercy. And by the way, when you get into Habakkuk chapter three, Habakkuk does appeal to him about his mercy. He says, Lord, in your wrath, remember mercy. And so it does come, but here's the interesting thing. It doesn't come first. Which characteristics of God would you want to appeal to about? If you knew your nation was under judgment and there were believers and Christians, how would you want to appeal to them? You say, Lord, I want to appeal to you about your mercy, your grace, your love, your kindness, your favor. Is it interesting that none of those occur here? In fact, what he does do in verse 12 is really kind of fascinating because look at it. He says, Are you not from everlasting? And we're going to see before the end of the message why that is such an important note, an important point that he is raising there. The eternal God. He says, Are you not from everlasting? Oh, Lord, my God. He's referring there using the covenant name of God. But notice he uses it personally, he says, my God, oh Lord, my God, mine holy one. You remember in the book of Galatians, when we stopped to emphasize our Lord Jesus Christ. Here Habakkuk, the embracer is saying, this is my God, this is my holy one. And notice what he says here. He says, O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment. O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. So question, which three characteristics of God were foremost in Habakkuk's mind when he wanted to appeal to God about this really fearful news? Answer, he is the eternal God, he is the holy God, and he is the mighty God. It's interesting when you stop to ask, well, why did he refer to him as the eternal God? Moses actually touches on this in Psalm 90. Remember the passage when he says, a year for a thousand years in my sight are but as yesterday and a watch when it is passed. watch in the night. It's interesting in that same context that Moses said this in Psalm 90 verses 2 through 4. He said, before the mountains were brought forth, you see how he's stressing God's eternal nature and his eternal plan? Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou has formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting that is as far as you can think of in one direction before the foundation of the world and long past into eternity when you can conceive of it from everlasting to everlasting thou art God but here's what's fascinating he says Lord you turn men to destruction and you say, return you children of men. Folks, that's fascinating if you stop and think about it. He's exalting him as the eternal God. And in the midst of that, he is saying, Lord, you've had to visit men's sin upon them. But in the midst of that, the eternal God says, repent of sin. Turn you at my reproof, turn back to me. And then he says, for a thousand years in thy sight, or but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. He appeals to him not only as the eternal God, but the holy God. Do you remember what holiness is? What does it mean to say that God is holy? Well, first and foremost, it means God is separate. He is totally other. If you apply this in creation, you would say God is the creator and everything else is the creation. He is totally separate from his creation. As I pointed out to you before, one author said that the lowliest earthworm has more in common with the highest archangel than the highest archangel has in common with God. Yes, the lowly earthworm is much more like the highest archangel. Why? Because God is holy. He is separate. He is the unique, there's only one like him, and Habakkuk's going to appeal about that in just a moment. He is the unique one. There is none like you, Lord. He is the unique and perfect spirit in whom all things have their source, support, and being, we could say from Romans 11, 36, which says, of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. It's interesting, in the Westminster Catechism, they defined God in this way. They said, God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. you begin to start to wrestle with and grasp with, this is the God that we speak of. It is true that when the scriptures apply his separateness, they apply it in terms of his purity and his righteousness, and that's the way we ordinarily think about it. But this is the way that Habakkuk is thinking about How do I wrestle with God as Jacob did? How do I wrestle with him like Moses did? It tells you in Hebrews chapter 11, as seeing him who is invisible, how do I wrestle with God? And so what he's doing is he's reminding himself. He's reminding himself of the nature of God. Look folks, I've watched a lot of people go through a lot of troubling times. I've watched people in their agony and in their loss. It's been especially enlightening to hear which scriptures came to their minds and what was it they remembered about God. Were they acknowledging Him in all their ways? It's been especially fascinating to me to fellowship with preachers and theologians who've gone through this to ask, how did they wrestle through that? You see, when you're in this kind of trouble and you go through this kind of tribulation, man-centered teaching just isn't going to do it. If you have a really deep wound, then a cutesy little band-aid just isn't going to take care of it. You have to have the healing balm of God's Word and of God's nature. That's exactly what Habakkuk is doing here. He's going down to the core. We would say down to the bedrock. He goes to the Word of God to find the God of the Word and say, Lord, I have to understand this. I am trying to embrace it by faith. Lord, please help me here. Understand. You're the eternal God. All of your plans are set and you are in charge of all things. You're the Holy One. You see where he's going with this? He's getting ready to ask, Lord, why in the world are you going to use those brutal, vicious Chaldeans? What's going on here? But before he does that, he wants to lay the foundation. Now, there might be some people who would say, well, Look, it is true that God is eternal and it is true that he's holy, but he just doesn't have enough power. Not according to what you find in verse 12. You see, in verse 12, Habakkuk calls him the mighty God. He has all of the power necessary to ordain His will in the words of the text. It's not just that He just sort of sits by passively and just sort of tolerates things. No, look at your text carefully there. He says in verse 12, He says, Almighty God, thou hast established them or ordained them for correction. Thou hast ordained them for judgment. And so Habakkuk's really wrestling with this. Now, he is, note this very carefully, he is not protesting the fact that his nation's going to be judged. He's not protesting that. In fact, that was implied in his earlier prayer. In Habakkuk chapter one, verses two through four, he says, Lord, you've got to deal with this, okay? So he's not against the Lord chastening and punishing, Whoa, the Lord was getting ready to do a removal of the nation rather than a revival of the nation. And so he's wrestling with it saying, Lord, how can you do this? We would say today, Romans 13, the powers that be are ordained of God. And you and I are wrestling with this and asking, wait a minute, how can this be? I mean, I'm trying to read my Bible. I'm trying to live for the Lord. I'm trying to honor Him. And look at the wickedness of our politicians. I mean, look at what is happening with the political choices that are before us, and Lord, you're the eternal God, you're the holy God, you're the mighty God, and this doesn't make sense to me. What do you do in a situation like that? Now folks, one of the most helpful perspectives in all the book of Habakkuk is this, that you do not see Habakkuk here beginning to rise up to protest in the streets. You don't see him making an appeal to the general public or to people. He makes his appeal directly to God. And I think this is very helpful for you and me. because I think in this passage we find four passionate prayer requests. I think there are four passionate prayer requests beginning with what we're looking at here in verse 12. Notice how he praises God in order to get the right perspective. That's very helpful. Now, I know I've taught you this before, but especially in your New Testament, When you read passages such as 2 Corinthians 3.18 that says, we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed, transformed, metamorphosized. We are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Bear in mind what Paul was showing the Corinthian church there. He was showing them, if you really want to see your mind change, you need to find God in the word of God. You need to look at him and fellowship with him and get to know him. That's exactly what Habakkuk is doing here. He's praising God. He's honoring God. And he is doing so in a passionate way because he is passionate for God's glory. Lord, You are unique. That really is what glory is all about. The uniqueness of something is its glory. The uniqueness of God is his glory. He says, Lord, you're the only eternal one. You're the only holy one. You're the only mighty one. So his passionate prayer here is for God's glory. Yes, even as he punishes the nation of Israel, or you might call it the nation of Judah. He knew what the Assyrians had already done to the Northern Kingdom Israel. And now he knows what the Chaldeans will do to his own nation. Question for you, are you ready for that? Are you ready for God to punish your nation and still to glorify Him as the Eternal One who brings His eternal purposes to pass, and the Holy One, and the Mighty One? I hope that you are. Because Habakkuk is not even wrestling with that, he's accepting it, because he is passionate for God's glory. But that first passionate prayer request there in verse 12 is that the Lord, for His own glory, would punish the rebellious nation. But then secondly, this is where it really gets tricky. Look, if you will, at verse 13. Remember in the exchange presentation, Jeff Musgrave actually used this verse to help all of us wrestle through how do you say that God is holy and cannot tolerate our sin? Look what you find here in verse 13. He says, Lord, now look, he begins to practically apply this theology, this view of God. He says, Lord, You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, that is, to behold it with approval. Lord, you in your holiness, you cannot even look on iniquity. Why? This is the title of today's message. Why, Lord, wherefore, or why do you look with favor upon them that deal treacherously and hold your tongue when the wicked swallows up or devours the man that is more righteous than he? That's what he's really wrestling with. That's one of the central questions in the book. You make men as the fish of the sea and as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. They take them up with a hook. They catch them with their net, their drag net. You see what? Habakkuk is really wrestling with here. He understood the correction of his nation. He did not understand the destruction of his nation or the swallowing up, as you see it there, the devouring. He was especially troubled by how the holy God could use a wicked weapon against his people. How would you respond when the God that you know doesn't respond like the God that you know? I think we have to be really careful here. Now look, in men's eyes, okay, let's just, let's just say, all right, let's just, we take a publicity poll here. We're going to take a poll. Okay. In men's eyes, who do you think looked like the more vicious people, the people of Judah or the Chaldeans? I think everybody in here would say, from what I'm hearing in the message, it was the Chaldeans. They were the more brutal. Sure. They were the more violent. They were the more vicious. They were the more wicked. By contrast, in men's eyes, the people of Judah, they almost look like kind and respectful. Now be careful how you think about this, because don't you think about your United States of America as, well, by contrast, kind and respectful and sort of nice when compared with the North Koreans or the Iranians? Isn't that the way that you and I think? You see, this is exactly the kind of thing that Habakkuk is wrestling with in the text. Lord, how on earth could you use people who are so wicked against your own people? Those of you in this room who had any influence from Dr. Bob Jones Sr. heard the statement It's never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right. And that's true. It is not right. It is not right. It's never right for you and me to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right. But look what Habakkuk's wrestling with here. He's saying, Lord, I don't see how you can do this. I just don't get it. And you and I have to be really careful with this, and I wanna be very judicious in the way that I present the word of God to you here, because I'm fully aware, thinking very carefully about the fact that I have to stand to the judgment seat of Christ. The fact is, God does not explain himself in this passage. But I do think it's possible for you and me to wrestle with it just a little bit. What's the big difference between Judah and Chaldea? Well, one of the big differences is in Judah, in Israel, the light of God's glorious revelation has shined forth. The Word of God has, in the words of 1 Thessalonians chapter three and verse one, the Word of God has had free course. So when you stop to think about rebellion, light of God's revelation, you begin to see something. You begin to see that the Chaldeans acted according to their nature, but the Chaldeans had never received the precious Word of God in the same way that Israel had. They had never had the Word of God and all the prophets of God proclaiming the God of salvation like Israel had. And in a very real sense, Israel's rebellion is worse. because they rejected the light of God. You've heard me say it before. Light received brings more light. Light rejected brings darkness. You see, this is why Jesus Christ would say in Matthew chapter 11, he would say, woe unto you, Chorazin, that's a city in Galilee, in Galilee and right around the Sea of Galilee. Woe to you, Bethsaida. Woe to you, Capernaum. Because if Sodom had seen the mighty works of God as you had, they would have repented. Whoa! Think about what that means. And he said, it will be worse for you in the day of judgment than it will be for Sodom. Folks, that's saying something. Why would the Lord say that? And the answer has to be connected to God's amazing revelation. And you see where I'm going with this. Has the Word of God had free course, by and large, in the history of these United States? Has the Word of God run and been glorified? Yes, it has. with some mighty revivals. Do you not see how if this generation refuses to repent, do you not see how God's judgment would be much more severe upon us? That's exactly what I think you're looking at here in this text, and I think that's exactly why. Habakkuk, I think, was a, we would call him today, a news junkie. He knew very well what was going on among the Chaldeans. By the way, when he says here that you take them up, they take people up with the hook and the net, folks, I don't mean to be graphic, but that's exactly what they did. Their captives, they would take a hook and put it into the tender part of the lip, and they would tie all the captives together to be sure that they didn't run off. They were treating men like a school of fish. I mean, this is what they were doing. And Habakkuk's wrestling with this and saying, Lord, why? Lord, it's like you have forsaken us. Now, dear friends, I'm hoping this is reminding you of what you find in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark. That when our precious Lord Jesus Christ was on that cross and when such violence was being done upon Him, that He did not deserve. He was on that cross for your sins and for my sins. Do you remember that even the Son of God cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That's the same thing that Habakkuk is wrestling with here. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And yet here's the joy. If you went to 1 John chapter 1 and verse 1, you would find that these things are written that your joy may be full. Even in the depths of this despair, there is great joy because we have entered into fellowship with God because there was a breach in the Godhead. because God the Father turned his back on God the Son who became sin for us because they were willing for there to be a breach in the fellowship in the Godhead. Today, you and I have fellowship with God. That, folks, is amazing. It is the amazing power and wonder of our God. This is what he has done for us. Habakkuk here is really wrestling with this and you can see it. So let's think carefully about the illustration he's using here. Would you turn with me over to Matthew chapter 13 just for a moment? I, this week, as I was thinking through this message, I went to the expert, the best expert I know about this whole matter of fishing, and that would be my dad. And I sat down with my dad and I said, Dad, you know, here's what's going on in this text. You have some people who are anglers, that is, how many fishermen do we have here in the room? How many people like to fish? I love to fish. And how often do I fish? About once a year, but I love to fish. And there are those of us who love to play the hook and get it out there so we can catch the fish. Others of you in this room would understand what it means to cast out a small net sometimes. You get your bait fish this way. You may not be as familiar with what a drag net is. And I got my dad to explain this to me because he's actually seen it happen. They would have a very long net. My best way to explain it would be almost like a volleyball net, but it would be about four feet, sometimes six feet high. You may have seen pictures of it. It would have floats on the top and weights on the bottom. And what they would do is, starting at the shore, they would take a boat and they would go out into the water, according to the distance of the net, and then they would bring it over to another shore. And what they hoped to do was enclose a large body of fish. And then all the fishermen would take it and just run as hard as they could, run up to the shore. That's the idea of a drag net. And Habakkuk is complaining to the Lord and saying, Lord, it's like these vicious Chaldeans and the invasion we're going through. It's like we're all being, it's like you're treating people like fish and we're all being caught up here in the dragnet. This is one of the reasons that what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 13 is even more helpful to us, because in Matthew chapter 13, Jesus compared the kingdom of God using that very same illustration, but you can see how his larger purposes are being fulfilled here. Look, if you will, at Matthew chapter 13, And verse 47, he said, again, the kingdom of God, a kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered up of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good in the vessels and cast the bad away. And so shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Now, here's the way I would apply that if I were you. You might say, it is like a dragnet when one nation goes in and destroys another nation. But can I remind you of the much larger dragnet that Jesus himself calls the kingdom of heaven. So much so that this little Chaldean dragnet is almost like one of the little squares inside the net of the larger kingdom of God dragnet. And the point he goes to here is that really you have to understand what exactly is going on. Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 again makes the appeal, the just shall live by faith. That is, when you see all these things happening, you really have to ask, have I embraced the salvation of our God? Habakkuk here is making two more prayer requests. He is not only appealing to God and making his passionate prayer for God's glory, especially as it relates to these wicked men, but thirdly, he's making a passionate prayer for God's glory, especially as it relates to overturning false religion. My time is gone. I really don't have time to examine this, but notice that they are burning incense to their dragnet. They are sacrificing unto their net. And so he's burdened about that and says, Lord, for your glory, I'm even seeing in the name of false religions, this kind of thing is happening. And I raised the question with you last week about how that could happen. And finally, I love this in Habakkuk chapter two and verse one, he says, I will 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, the word carefully, reproved. There's a good indication there that we are not thinking rightly about this situation and we need to have our mind changed. And so what Habakkuk is doing here, he's making a passionate prayer for God's glory with the understanding that we will wait upon him to change our thinking about his dealings with our nation and how it is that he can use the wicked weapons that he is using. In these days, when there have been so many who would appeal for calm, I would also appeal for calm. I would point out to you that even our precious Lord Jesus Christ did not protest in the streets. He did not cry aloud. We learned there in one of the servant songs. But here's what it says, the psalmist said in closing, in Psalm 27 and verse 14, he said, wait, I say wait on the Lord. In these dark days, dear friend, the right thing to do is to embrace our God, to know him as your eternal one, your holy one, your mighty one, to make your passionate prayer to him for His glory in the punishing of your nation and in overturning this wickedness and with dealing with false religions. And yes, even in changing the way that I think about these things, it is the right thing to do to go to the Lord and embrace Him. Shall we pray together? Father, I want to praise you and thank you for the way that you've helped us in these dark days to really wrestle through this with the book of Habakkuk. Lord, these are discouraging days. There is no question about it and no amount of band-aid putting, of just trying to ignore it will turn it away. Lord, we need deep answers in these days. And so I'm asking, dear Heavenly Father, that you would help all of us to embrace the Lord, that you would help all of us to wrestle through this. would help every one of us to understand what it really means to say, the just shall live by faith, and the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And Father, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I would invite you to