IN spite of recollecting God's ways to Israel in the past ? his deliverances as well as his chastisement. In spite of hearing God's promise that the Babylonian empire would eventually be punished; in spite of growing faith that God would revive Israel in exile; in spite of all this the prophet trembled at what was coming when God executed his judgement on Israel, and the Babylonians came and worked havoc in Israel. Does this seem a weakness in the life of the prophet. I don't think so. There is still faith and victory expressed in the words of the prophet in these verses before us, and in where that victory is to be found.

THE FAITHFUL DO NO ESCAPE THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD'S JUDGEMENT ON HIS CHURCH.

Habakkuk was a faithful servant of the Lord. He was a true believer, and he lived his life in faithful obedience to God. He had prayed in the face of trouble, and yet trouble was coming. Habakkuk knew he was safe in the Lord his Saviour, and that whatever the coming trial would be he was a saved man and beloved of the Lord. But still, though he was not one who was the cause of the Lord's displeasure with Israel, yet he knew God was not going to take him out of the trial. The truth is God keeps his people in times of trial even though he does not keep them out of the time of trial. Habakkuk knew this not only for himself, but also for all the faithful remnant in Israel. It is true for God's people in all ages. Trials may come, and God will not save us from those trials, but what he will do is keep us safe in his arms during the trial, and bring us through safe and better.

FEAR OF CALAMITY IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH FAITH.

Habakkuk expresses great fear as he contemplated the calamity God was bringing on rebellious Israel from the Babylonian invasion. This is expressed in the opening of verse 16. He says ?I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones and my legs trembled.? There could not be a more vivid description of great fear than this confession of the prophet. We may well feel the prophet lacked faith, and was showing weakness. However this is not true. His faith was holding fast to what God had told him, but in contemplation of the judgement to come before deliverance came, and in spite of knowing God's strength bestowed on his believing people, he saw with great clarity the awful nature of what was going to happen to Israel, and this filled him with fear and foreboding. This was not a sign of weakness, but of facing the reality of the truth revealed to him. It was going to be a terrible time. He, with all Israel, was going to have to go through and experience it all. It would have been unnatural if Habakkuk had not trembled, for after all he was only human, and a real believing faith does not deliver us from the ordinary weaknesses of the body and mind. Satan will accuse and seek to cause people to be guilty in such a situation such as Habakkuk found himself, but we must resist the devil, and in the strength of Christ cause him to withdraw.

How did the prophet face the calamity that was coming?

1. HE FACED IT WITH PATIENCE.

Patience is a great grace given by the Holy Spirit and it needs to be nurtured by the word of God. The truth is that we pray and we long for the answer to be immediate, and when the answer seems to be long in coming we find faith being assaulted. The fact is that God's time is not our time, and though God's time seems to be far from coming it is in fact sure. We live in time. God exists in eternity. What is sure is that God's time will come and be manifest. The promise of God that he would provide a Saviour to crush the serpents head, and bring in eternal salvation, was long in coming, in fact just over 4000 years, but God's promise was sure through all that time, and Paul tells us in Galatians that when the time was fully come God sent forth his Son.

So we find Habakkuk saying 'he will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.' He knew he and the nation had to go through the time of invasion, and exile, but he also stood firm on the word of God that Babylon would have its day of calamity, and sure enough, in God's time, Babylon was taken over by the Persian empire.

So we see Habakkuk facing patiently all the devastation that the invasion of the Babylonians would bring. He faced them with faith, and firm faith and confidence in the Lord. He paints an awful picture of devastation and deprivation. He speaks of the fruit trees failing to bring forth a crop. He speaks of all the sheep and cattle being destroyed. It is a picture of awful depression, famine and loss. He is patient under the mighty hand of God.

Here is a picture of a saint. Nothing and no one can destroy his faith and confidence in the Lord. Though great suffering has to be borne, yet he holds fast to his faith in the Lord as his God and Saviour. We have the same picture in the case of Job, and the case of Paul in prison for his faith, and facing death. We have it in the same way in the martyrs of the past.

2. HE FACED IT WITH JOY.

What was the secret of Habakkuk's faith and patience. We have it is verse 18. In this verse Habakkuk gives his testimony 'Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.' This is the possession of all true believers in Jesus. All else may be taken from us. We may have to go through great suffering and great trials, but we can always rejoice, for we have joy in the Lord which is eternal, and can never be taken away. Let us briefly look into this joy and rejoicing.

a. We can rejoice in the Lord because he is our Saviour.

Habakkuk says he will rejoice in God my Saviour. Let us notice the personal pronoun 'my'. This is our greatest joy that we can say God is 'my Saviour'. This joy came when we were led to faith in Jesus as our Saviour, and we experienced the full forgiveness of all our sins through his death for us. This joy has deepened as we have learnt more of the greatness of Christ's sacrifice for our sins, and we have seen how complete and all-sufficient his sacrifice was and is. Our joy has strengthened as by the Holy Spirit we have been given this wonderful assurance that our salvation is based on the finished work of Christ, and in no way depends on our doing or even believing. We simply thank the Lord for the faith he has given us in Jesus. We rejoice more and more as we read the Scriptures and see the extent of this salvation. We read of Jesus as the good shepherd not only giving his life for his sheep, but guarding and keeping them and leading them safely into green pastures. There is no end to the depth of joy which is increased in us by the Holy Spirit as we have the eyes of our mind and heart opened to the wonder of all that Christ has done for us and is doing.

b. We rejoice in the presence of the Lord.

Habakkuk says he will rejoice in the Lord. There is no greater joy than experiencing fellowship with the Lord, and contemplating the glory and beauty of his presence and love. We read in the epistles the words 'to you who believe he is precious' (1 Peter 2: 7). How precious Jesus is when we contemplate his great love, mercy and grace in saving us. How precious is Jesus, when we hear him say 'I will never leave you or forsake you' and 'I will be with you even unto the end of the world.' How precious is Jesus when we hear him say 'In my Father's house is many dwelling places; ... I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you with me that you also may be where I am.' How precious is Jesus when we hear him say 'I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me ? just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.'

Like Habakkuk when trials come we can rejoice in the Lord because he is by our side, and we can go to him at any time and pour out our hearts to him and know that he welcomes us and will never turn away from us. And this assurance is true even when we are conscious of our sins and failings. Our joy is that Jesus knows the worst about us and loves us just the same.

When Habakkuk said he would rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God his Saviour it was an expression of faithful assurance that in spite of the invasion of the Babylonians, and in spite of the rejection of his fellow countrymen who would not believe his word, God was with him, and would keep him safe in the coming trial however bad it may be, and that he would be brought through in safety at the other side.