Thursday, February 25, 2016

I will rejoice in the Lord (Hab. 3:17-18)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/25/2016 10:53 PM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  I will rejoice in the Lord

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Habakkuk 3:17-18

Message of the verses:  “17 Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

I have to say that this is one of my most favorite passages in the Word of God to me as it shows what great trust that Habakkuk has in the Lord to care for him, even in the distressing times that will ever come upon him.  He has resigned to the fact that Judah will be destroyed, and that the people will go into captivity and even if there is no food or anything to sustain him, his trust is in the Lord.  When Babylon got done with ravishing the land of Judah there would be very little left that had any value “You’ll wake up holding your throbbing head, hung over—hung over from Lebanon violence, Hung over from animal massacres, hung over from murder and mayhem, From multiple violations of place and people (Habakkuk 2:17).”  Even though all of this has happened to Judah God is still on His throne working out His divine purposes for His people as we read in another of my favorite passages “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).”

There are verses in the New Testament that go along with this section from Habakkuk:  “16  Rejoice always; 17  pray without ceasing; 18  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).” 

Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section by writing “It’s one thing to ‘whistle in the dark’ and try to bolster our courage, and quite something else to sing about the eternal God who never fails.  Though his lips were trembling and his legs were shaking (Hab. 3:16, NIV), the prophet burst into song and worshiped his God.  What an example for us to follow!  It reminds us of our Lord before He went to the cross (Mark 14:26), and Paul and Silas in the Philippian dungeon (Acts 16:19-34).  God can give us ‘songs in the night’ (Ps. 42:8; 77:6; Job 35:10) if we’ll trust Him and see His greatness.”

It surely takes a lot of faith and trust in the Lord to do the things that these hero’s of faith did in the face of great danger to themselves.

2/25/2016 11:11 PM

 

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