PRESENTATION OUTLINE
A Song of Assurance
he prays
he journals
he waits
he rejoices
he sings
Habakkuk 3:13-19
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Footnotes
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth. Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.....
You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
He Prays
a prayer - liturgical prayer, like one that is written out and part of a formal order of worship
(Illus. Read prauyer from Puritan collection)
a testimony - I have heard a report about what you have done and he spends th enext several verses descirbing how God defeated the Babylonians
a praise - in awe, statement of great respect, honor for someone in an exalted position
a request -
do it in our time
in your wrath remember mercy
God's first preference is one of grace.....but wrath is the outcome of rejecting Him
and this verse illustrates that - remember mercy - compassion, forgiveness, pity with an emphasis on the activity of extending mercy, or actually being mercifuo, rather than on just providing a definition.....
He Journals
He writes all this down......
He records his frustrations
He records what he sees God doing.....3-15
He records his fears vs. 16
1. my heart was pounding
2. lips quivered
3. decay NIV rottenness KJV...entered my bones
4. legs trembled
He was terrified.....!! Yet he says I will wait......
(Illus. I am so glad Habakkuk was human.....a prophet yes, voice to God for the people yes, given a front row seat regarding what God was up to, yes.......But was still afraid...)
He records his prayer time
Journaling
helps him record his progress
helps us see his progress
helps us in using his model for dealing with our own questions and fears....etc.
as God directed him in the last chapter....
write it down!!
write it down!
He Waits
vs. 16
he waits
emphasis on paitence
emphasis on peacefulness, to make yourself quiet, restful
When you are stirred up, how do you "make yourself quiet"
The methodology is in today's message
emphasis on confident expectation - trusts God will work it out.....
despite what he knows is coming
calamity - coming problems and discomfort....as described in verse 17
everything he depends on for life is about to be set upside down.....
coming invasion....
He Rejoices
Emphasis on expressing joy
triumphant celebration
word that describes the natural response of the faithful, who trust God in the midst of life's difficulties
expressed in singing and shouting
possible because the focus of the joy is not on the circumstance....
in the Lord - yahweh
in the God - Elohim the name pointing to God who is able, powerful, and strong
(Illus. Your God is too small....
of my salvation - who protects me from physical harm and danger
(Illus. Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. KJV)
He Sings
Chapter 3 is a prayer put to song
3:1, shigionoth - some sort of musical annotation
3:19
God is the one who retores my ability to:
to get up
to scale the heights
to walk
to jump
Suggesting that when I started this whole process, I was not in this position, feeling like I could climb any mountain......but now I can....
Song of Assurance
- praying
- journaling
- waiting
- rejoicing
- singing
Song of assurance has 5 verses