Key Truth: Habakkuk’s example teaches us to prayerfully reflect on the attributes of God while patiently awaiting His response to our questions and doubts in the midst of suffering.

Introduction:

Q: How would you describe God?

“Q. 4. What is God?

A. God is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable,

in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”

Shorter Catechism

God’s Attributes: The Firm Foundation:

Habakkuk 1:12-17

“Sometimes in prayer we must restate our deepest convictions. It is not merely a remedial exercise for ourselves. If we intended to wrestle with God, making complaints about his providences, we must lay a proper foundation of submission and trust for our prayers.”

Walter J. Chantry, Habakkuk: A Wrestler with God

Q: Which attributes of God do you find comforting? Do they help you to persevere when you doubt and question in the midst of suffering?

Habakkuk’s Response: To Stand Firm:

Habakkuk 2:1

“The prophet is right in the position he takes with respect to his own role in the resolution of this perplexing issue. He will not attempt to reconcile in his own mind the apparent contradiction between the election of Israel by God as the object of his special love and the devastation of Israel at the hands of the rapacious Chaldeans as ordered by the Lord himself. He will not resort to the resources of human wisdom. Instead, he will watch for an answer that can come only from the Lord."

O. Palmer Robertson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah

Q: Do you patiently await God’s faithful response once you have made your questions and complaints known to Him? Do you recognize that the answer is not just for you but for others as well?

Application:

“There is nothing more consoling or reassuring when oppressed by the problems of history, and when wondering what is to happen in the world, than to remember that the God whom we worship is outside the flux of history. He has preceded history; He has created history. His throne is above the world and outside time. He reigns in eternity, the everlasting God.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, From Fear to Faith

Habakkuk’s example in 1:12-2:1 teaches us to:

- start with what we know to be true about God

- trust God to be faithful to His covenant promises to His people

- wait for God to respond so that we may share it with others for His glory

Benediction:

Psalm 130:7-8