This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Habakkuk” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 29, 1995.
About this sermon
Habakkuk’s lament sounds like other prophetic complaints on the surface, but his is really a theodicy, an argument that God himself has failed to act justly. That kind of complaint is real, and Habakkuk is not rebuked for voicing it. Christ’s own cross, though, finally forbids that same complaint from us, having already answered it.
Sermon transcript
We are reading this morning again from the book of Habakkuk. This is Habakkuk chapter one. We are reading the first four verses of this chapter. Then we are reading some verses from chapter two before we turn to a text in the New Testament. Let’s give our attention now to the reading of God’s holy words. the burden which Habakkuk, the prophet, did see.
O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that rave up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slack. And judgment doth never go forth, for the wicked doth compass about the righteous, therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
Chapter 2, beginning at verse 1, I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. but the just shall live by his faith.”
And then Romans chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, “…for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Our God, the wait for your word has ended in the coming of Christ. And now, Lord, we who have received that word and its testimony are those who have been born again by your spirit. And as witness of our rebirth, O God, we worship you and we give our full attention to your word. We pray, Father, that our time today with you and with your word would be most profitable for us, that we might grow in grace. through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
Habakkuk is a prophet. He is also a priest. He is a Levite. And this is proved by the beginning and ending of his third chapter, verses 1 and 19, beginning of that chapter and its conclusion, a chapter containing Habakkuk’s great hymn. that was to be used in keeping with his office in the temple service for praise to God. Habakkuk, then, was a Levite by birth, and a priest with some responsibility in the temple of God and with respect to its musical service. this through an ordinary call that came to him in his place within the tribal organization of Old Testament society. But Habakkuk’s access to God in the temple was heightened through an extraordinary call from God. to the more exalted access that he would enjoy with but a select few, namely the prophets. Well, as his prophecy begins, Habakkuk is more the priest, engaging in the common priestly task of prayer and intercession. that before his prophecy ends, he shows himself the prophet indeed, engaging in direct exchange with God in the council chambers of heaven, having been taken up into the war room of heaven’s commander-in-chief.
That while Habakkuk shares the office of the priest with many, and the office of a prophet with a few, he is among the prophets of Israel unique. Not that he lacks points of contact with the other prophets. You will note in his second chapter, beginning at the sixth verse, that there is a series of woes listed rose that parallel what we find elsewhere in other prophets. Not that he lacks points of contact, then, with other prophets, not that certain prophets like Jonah, in a negative sort of way, and Jeremiah, because of a number of parallels in a contemporary setting, don’t connect in dynamic fashion with Habakkuk and his message. Still, Habakkuk stands solitary among the prophets because the issue at heart for his prophecy is so singular and so focused.
That issue is what we call the Odyssey. Theodicy, T-H-E-O-D-I-C-Y, or the justification of God’s ways in light of existing evils. The justification of God’s ways in light of existing evils. Now that Habakkuk stands solitary along this line makes it evident to us that there is a breadth to this man’s prophecy.
Since although it is unique among the messages of the prophets, it is clearly joined to other Old Testament writings, such writings as Job. the book of Ecclesiastes, and a number of psalms, even Psalm 13, which we read and sang this morning. So-called wisdom psalms, especially those psalms that are filled with the note of lament and grief and perplexity. Habakkuk, therefore, is that Old Testament prophet in whom is gathered up in compressed and compact fashion the many theodicies, perplexities of wisdom, and laments of the Old Testament, marvelously by the superintending action of God. This prophet is positioned at the junction of the greatest Old Testament crisis for Israel, namely the destruction of Jerusalem and the laying waste of Judah.
And that, not only to express lament and launch an anguished attack upon the rationality of heaven or even the inaction of God, but for the purpose of seeing resolution through God’s grace, and to declare that resolution as God’s word to His own, to His elect.
We witness, therefore, in Habakkuk, this resolution for theodicy. This resolution proclaimed to the people, and even wonderfully embraced by the prophets Habakkuk moves from priest to prophet. He also moves from the depths of overwhelming frustration and brooding bitterness to the heights of greatest satisfaction, and that in the space of three chapters. As a true prophet, Habakkuk declares to God’s people the truth by which we all, being neither priests nor prophets, might come to the pinnacle of spiritual joy. Indeed, it is in his famous Watchtower, chapter 2, verse 1, that Habakkuk hears God’s awesome words, “…the just shall live by faith.” Believing those words himself, Habakkuk is changed. Habakkuk is changed.
He becomes one in whom we might all anticipate that which is to come by root of those words in the gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ. shall live by faith.” That gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ being a gospel from which those words cannot be extracted. A gospel for which those words are absolutely essential.
It is with these words, then, Habakkuk 2.4, the just shall live by faith, it is with these words in tow that we will have to approach Habakkuk’s prophecy in its totality. His prophecy begins with a prayer of complaint, verses 2 through 4 of that first chapter.
Habakkuk is greatly agitated. How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and you will not answer me?” Obviously, the man has been at it for a while. But in his estimation, God has not heard. Now his words in this prayer communicate something of the spirit that Habakkuk has had it. His patience has expired.
Now this is not the pure and pious prayer of God’s faithful servants. or of the glorified saints, such as we find in Revelation 6, verse 10, where we hear about souls crying out to God from beneath the heavenly altar, How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood? No, this is not the pure and pious prayer of God’s faithful servant at this point. This is the prayer of a man much in need of a profound spiritual lesson, and he’s going to get it. But we might not think, looking at his prayer at first glance, that this is the case, that here is a man much in need of a profound spiritual lesson.
After all, it seems to us that a baggage-causing job Its sensitivities are above reproach. The man is simply outraged by rampant violence in his society, in the culture all around him. Verse 2. How can he be wrong? He is outraged by the rampant violence, he is agitated. The iniquity and wickedness he is constantly compelled to see appalls him. It gets him into a state.
Verse two as well. And it’s not just the outward physical acts of violence in the culture of Jerusalem and Judea at that time that agitates this man. As Habakkuk’s prayer progresses, it is obvious that he has in mind attitudes of soul and heart. He has in mind motivations. He has in mind particular situations, even legal situations, in which the innocent are taken advantage of by the guilty and the opportunistic.
Yes, destruction and violence are before me in the latter part of that third verse. in the New American Standard rendering. The destruction in that latter part of that third verse has to do with a legal situation in which the rug is being pulled out from under someone else. The violence of which Habakkuk speaks at this point suggests a maliciousness, a cruel disposition, by which some seek to damage others, and that for their own gain. As that verse concludes, the strife of which Habakkuk speaks, as well as the contention, has to do with legal wranglings in which the weak have no chance.
Their case cannot stand. Verse four, the wicked manipulate the law, Habakkuk complains. And they do so because of their own vested interests, their concerns for their positions, and their ambitions. They use the law strategically to their own advantage. It is as if a permanent state of injustice prevailed in the society that Habakkuk’s survey with the wicked ringing about the righteous, besieging them as if they were a little band about to be overrun by an invading army. And though it may be that the wicked tip their hat to justice in some fashion, every time they do so, justice comes out twisted and perverted. So Habakkuk is agitated. He is upset and he is angry. And that anger is heard in his prayer.
But we judge, do we not? But if things are as Habakkuk says, then he has every right to be agitated, angry, and upset. and even to complain to heaven. In fact, we conclude that we ourselves have every right to be enraged, agitated, and upset when we are confronted with similar circumstances ourselves. Do we not find ourselves reacting similarly to Habakkuk, with an equally exercised sense of righteous indignation? When we’re set up with the violence that is all around us, the arbitrary and vicious character of that violence, when it is perpetrated not just by the criminal element within our society, but those who wear three-piece suits, Are we not ourselves outraged by a legal system that protects the malicious, that is itself paralyzed by strife and contentions, that is neutralized and even neutered through maneuverings that hardly promotes justice, only promotes career causes and big sufferings?
So what’s wrong with a prayer that takes aim at such evils as Habakkuk sees, and calls upon God to address them and even do something about them, overturn them, in fact? It seems like a fine prayer, one to which we, very much in our own present circumstance, our present day, would add a hearty amen. We, looking out at our culture, our nation’s legal nightmare, are ready in our rage to blast away at Heaven’s slowness to respond, and to hold even God accountable for what is going on. Why doesn’t He do something? But in our rush to register our disgust at the collapse of our social fabric, our rush to register our affinity with Habakkuk’s brights, we are liable to forget a couple of things.
The first thing that we are liable to forget is that Habakkuk, when he utters these words, when he voices this prayer, verses 2 through 4, chapter 1, still stands short of Habakkuk 2.4. The just shall live by faith. He hasn’t got there yet. You see, as Habakkuk prays, there is still too much immaturity in the man.
Therefore, we must not be surprised when it is pointed out that for whatever good there might be in this prayer, whatever there might be of righteousness itself, there is still something of an accusation in Habakkuk’s tone. Not an accusation against his society and culture, but an accusation against God. The underlying message of Habakkuk’s complaint, then, is that God is failed. And in his failure to act, he, God himself, is acting unjustly in Habakkuk’s case. But Habakkuk’s immaturity goes deeper still. How might we be certain that in his crying out against injustice, Habakkuk isn’t voicing his own case of self-interest. How can we be certain that Habakkuk isn’t giving expression, somehow and in some way, to a residual self-righteousness? In fact, Habakkuk’s complaint at this very point could be read as a gripe because he sees his own vested interests at stake.
Even in the legal arrangement of things, his gripe could well be motivated because he sees his rights being trampled upon. His particular claims within the society in which he lives, even his claim to certain advantages due to him because of his office, all of these things being trampled upon. And now it seems as if God will not guarantee his own personal security. If we think of it in terms of investments, God can’t be counted on as a guarantee for all of my investments. And if He cannot be counted on as a guarantee for them, then what use is He?
So if you are rushing to add your voice to Habakkuk’s and his complaint, I plead with you, first stop and think. Think of the danger that is there, the danger to yourself. Is there too much in your own complaints, self-interest, and much too much self-righteousness? What about my rights? What about people trampling upon my sense of justice? What about my property? What about my investments? What good is God if He will not protect my corner of the world?
If God isn’t going to look out for me, what good is He? of this spirit within us and the resolution to Habakkuk’s immaturity, if not to the element of unbelief that is resident in the man, comes when we believe God so thoroughly that in our faith we understand we are bound to him as our sufficient reward, and that regardless of the injustice and deprivations we may suffer in this world. The resolution to our immaturity, the resolution to Habakkuk’s immaturity, if not The unbelief resident in the man comes when we believe God so thoroughly that we understand that we are bound to him as our sole and sufficient reward. Regardless of the injustice and deprivation that may come to us in this world. Here are the just. who live by faith. Now, the second thing that we are liable to forget as we rush headlong to add our amen to Habakkuk’s disgust is that his prayer here, verses 2 through 4, chapter 1, stands short of the New Testament.
Not only do they stand short of Habakkuk 2.4, they stand short of the New Testament. This fact has many implications. Among those implications, you must remember that while Habakkuk is much exercised about societal and political injustice in Jerusalem and in Judea, our focus of interest has been changed. even if we are to value rightly a quest for justice, that quest for justice must first of all, given the New Testament setting, must first of all focus not upon society as a whole, but upon the Church.
Are you concerned about the injustices in the Church? I will ask you that. Are you concerned about the violence in the church? Are you concerned about the unethical practices? Are you concerned about those who use the gospel and the law to their own advantage in order to increase their reputations before the world? Who play with religious things just to get the advantage over you?
So, as much as we may be concerned, rightly so, with the problems of our society, the focus now, as we move into the New Testament, has shifted. The interest, primarily, is the Church, because it is the Church that answers to Israel as we stand in our New Testament setting. So, more than the judges that sit upon the bench in the Supreme Court, I’m concerned with the elders that sit upon the benches in the Church. More than concerned about Congress, I’m concerned about Presbyteries and General Assemblies. Note, then, our great concern.
It is not, first of all, in the righting of societal ills. It is not, first of all, for the mending of the political fabric. It is not, first of all, for the cure of our secular corpse. Truly, our chief concern is for the truth and justice of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Yet, in the maturity of our faith now, as we would express it in this context with our concern for the Church and our focus upon the Church, we must not be guilty of offering up a prayer like unto Habakkuk with regard to the Church. In fact, that’s forbidden us. We are forbidden to look out upon the Church of Jesus Christ and to say, How long, O Lord, will you not hear us? We are forbidden to look out upon the Church of Jesus Christ and to despair. That option, that avenue, is not open to us. In the interest of the Church, we cannot resurrect the complaint of Abbatik that arises out of his immaturity. As we observe the evils, even the injustices, the political wranglings, the legal maneuverings within the Church, we have no justification for offering that prayer of immaturity that comes out of Abbatik.
And this is because of what Habakkuk himself learned in his watchtower and expressed in his great hymn that concluded his prophecy. And it is because of what we have learned. We have learned in Jesus Christ and in his gospel. And now is being made increasingly clear to us, since Jesus Christ himself in his identification with us in our sins, even to the point of taking our complaints upon himself, has gathered up in himself all of our immaturity, all of our self-interest, all of our self-righteousness, and slain every bit of it on the cross.
And that, in his great statement that comports with the prayer of Habakkuk, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? No one prays that prayer anymore. In the Church of Jesus Christ, if in fact you have the faith to which Habakkuk was brought, if in fact gospel faith has been given to you, for Jesus, your Savior, have said those words and expressed those sentiments, even the sentiments that you hear in Habakkuk’s prayer for the last time.
What a great faith. And what a great Savior. Your complaining is ended. Your true praise has started. Dear Father, it is very difficult for me to hold back when I see the wonder of the cross and the matchless glories of Jesus Christ. Lord, I would ask you to bless this congregation even as I have been so emphatic with a deeper grasp and understanding of those things that pertain to the salvation which you have given us. May we love our Lord, may we rejoice in Him, and may the faith that we express, O God, be that which Habakkuk found and Jesus Christ established in his gospel. Thus may it be, Lord, that the voice of sinful, self-interested, and self-righteous complaining would be removed from your church. and the great and wonderful peace of your realm would be everywhere evident. And that in a people that lives by faith. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.