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Call to worship: Psalm 43
Text: Habakkuk 3:17-19
Summary:
Habakkuk finishes his lyrical prayer with a loveliest resolve. Framing God's sufficiency by counting the cost of the nation's sin, grieving the result of the impending exile, the prophet resolves: as I have God, all is not lost. Indeed, where one has God, they have all they need or could ever want, even a joy that no terror can finally steal away. The believer's joy, being God Himself, is not situational or circumstantial. It is ultimately impervious to the change in wind and tide. Habakkuk takes joy, then, in God, focusing specifically on how the Lord has saved him, strengthened him, and given him a song to share with all who suffer for righteousness. Not suffering, but salvation will have the final say for all who live by faith.
Sermon Outline:
- Framing the sufficiency of God for seasons of suffering. (3:17)
- Standing on the sufficiency of God for seasons of suffering. (3:18-19)
Prepare
Discussion Questions:
- Read Habakkuk 3:17-19.
- What does 3:17 describe? Compare with Leviticus 26:20, Mark 11:12-25. What does this barren state reveal about the spiritual condition of Judah?
- Anticipating the curse of their sins, with its resulting cross for the righteous, what does Habakkuk resolve in 3:18a? What does 3:18a teach us about the sufficiency of God Himself, as well as the nature of Christian joy?
- What's the force of Habakkuk's assertion: I will 'take joy' in the God . . . ? If he has joy in God, why must he also take it? Flowing from the sufficiency of God's Person, how else does Habakkuk detail God's sufficiency in seasons of suffering? What does he title God in 3:18b? 3:19a? In what terms does Habakkuk explain God as his strength in 3:19b-c? How does this show the sufficiency of God's revelation to the prophet? Return to 2:2d-3.
- Why is it instructive that the book ends with Habakkuk handing over his lyrics to the choirmaster? What's this book for? Read Romans 15:4. Why is music useful for memory, and why would that be of such benefit in suffering? If you were to summarize Habakkuk's psalm into so many stanzas, what would they say?