Coffee With The Lord

Habakkuk 3 in the Bible begins like this… “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.”  The meaning of that ancient word is uncertain and most believe it describes a musical style.  Some have described it as wild, passionate, and loud.  Some would love it (perhaps others would dislike it).  If the meaning is accurate though, it fits the content of Habakkuk 3… the passionate, prayerful expression of a prophet deeply concerned about the welfare of his nation and God’s wrathful judgment upon the wicked!

The point is this… There is a time to pray like that!  A time to sing like that!  And a time to pour out your heart to God like that!

Here’s a taste of Habakkuk’s prayer…

“I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by!  In your anger, remember your mercy!  I see You moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran.  Your brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with Your praise.  Your coming is as brilliant as the sunrise.  Rays of light flash from Your hands, where Your awesome power is hidden… You marched across the land in anger and trampled the nations in your fury.  You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and stripped their bones from head to toe…

“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” (From Habakkuk 3 NLT)

Just let me say… There is a time to pray like that!  And a time to praise the Lord like that!  Perhaps that time is NOW!

“THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!” (Habakkuk 2.4) Watchword of the Reformation and favorite theme of Apostle Paul (check out Romans 1.17; Galatians 3.11; and also Hebrews 11.38).  The phrase was used in those passages to describe how a person is “justified” (becomes “right with God”).  An important, essential, God-inspired truth to be sure!

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ORIGINAL CONTEXT?  What was the significance to the first audience?

I’d like to suggest that the message delivered to Habakkuk was a very practical one for a righteous person who had a lot of questions… The force of the message to Habakkuk?  “Hang in there!  Trust God when you don’t understand!  Live every day of your live by faith!  God will work everything out in the end!”

Here’s how the train of thought develops in Habakkuk…

Habakkuk, the prophet, cries out… “How long, Lord must I call for help but You do not listen?  I cry out to You, ‘Violence!’ but You do not save!  Why do you make me look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? …“Lord are you not from everlasting?  My God, my Holy One, You will never die! … Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.  Why then do You tolerate the treacherous?  Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?! …

“Then the Lord replied:  ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.  For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.  Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay!  See the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – BUT the righteous person will live by his faith!’” (Habakkuk 1.2-3, 12-13; 2.1-4)

It’s the message of Hebrews 11 all over again!  Faith sustains!  Faith in God has the power to support you and help you through when you don’t understand (and even when things seem unfair).  There are a lot of things today I don’t understand… Things that don’t seem fair… Think I’m going to continue to trust God!!

During “Coffee with the Lord” today  I was reminded of an important Spiritual leadership lesson (an important lesson for those who would speak “prophetically” as having “a word from the Lord”)…

We need to be careful when we venture to speak for God – when on His behalf and in His Name, we deliver a message to others that “seems right” to us… Nathan, the prophet, made this mistake with David the king, and God corrected him for it.  Here’s the account of it from the Bible…

“After king David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord is under a tent!’  Nathan replied to David, ‘Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you!’  But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: ‘Go and tell my servant, David, this is what the Lord says: You are NOT the one to build me a house to dwell in… I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you! … I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons… He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.  I will be his father and he will be my son.’” (From 1 Chronicles 17:1-15 NIV)  

First of all, what David had in mind “seemed right” – and Nathan judged it to be a noble desire!  So he gave a word of affirmation – a word of encouragement that seemed appropriate… the problem was, it wasn’t what God had in mind!

It seems to me, therefore, before I venture to “speak for the Lord,” I should pause and listen and seek to find out what the Lord desires to say – what He has in mind.  I’m all to ready to “speak for Him” when He may have something else (something even “better”) to communicate.  I’M GOING TO TRY TO DO MORE “LISTENING” – AND AVOID PRESUMPTUOUS SPEAKING (especially when “speaking for the Lord”)!