STANDING IN AWE OF GOD

Hab 3:3-16

What comes to mind when you think of the sovereignty of God as you go through trials, sufferings and this present world system/climate? That everything was planned, purposed and appointed before the foundations of the earth for our good and His glory. That I’m completely vulnerable and not in control of my life or those around me. That there is no trial and hurt that God wastes where He does not get the glory over my life. That there are no such things as chance, luck, or accidents, with God. That I stand in awe of Him as I go through trials and sufferings for the purpose to refine Michael, for eternal glory with Christ our Lord.

J C Ryle said “Just as the telescope and microscope show us that there is order and design in all the works of God’s hand, from the greatest planet down to the least insect, so does the Bible teach us that there is wisdom, order and design in all the events of our daily life. There is no such thing as “chance”, “luck”, or “accident” in the Christian journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God: and all things are working together for the believers good.”

  

For what purpose? “For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Cor 4:16-18

When you examine your life in the light of this truth you are able to rise and continue in worship of His greatness. When we look at our life through the biblical lens, it changes the perspective of our present circumstances and nothing we go through in this life compares to the eternal weight of glory we will receive on that day of reckoning. Why? God is good and He is sovereign over our lives and the universe and everything, and I mean everything. Everything moves at His command and everything functions according to His perfect will. God is one who is sovereign and we need to rest here. 

I know I do, but do you? 

“Sovereign” by definition is…. the right of God to do as He pleases. This implies that there is no external force or power to tell Him otherwise what He can and cannot do. This means that God is sovereign over the affairs of men “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Gen 50:20. This means that God is sovereign over all creation “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matt 10:29-31. This means that God is sovereign over the security of salvation for the believer. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” John 6:37

Knowing more about God and His character helps us to face whatever comes our way as individuals, as a family, as a church and even as a nation.

To suppress this truth and to deny its authoritative power would be absolutely insanity on our part. God is sovereign over His elect children, just as He is sovereign over the lost rebellious child who suppresses this reality. God is sovereign which makes Him stronger than all the gods of the universe. God is sovereign which makes Him stronger than all the nations of the world. God uses everything for His greatness and purposes to display His mighty power to creation that He has everything under control.

We have seen this truth throughout the scriptures. In the Old Testament we see God restoring and dealing with people through His judgements from the time of Adam to the Nations that fell to their captors….to the rebuilding of the Wall recorded in Nehemiah. In the New Testament we also see God doing the same thing; the only difference is that God poured His judgment upon the only begotten Son of Man, to restore sinful people back into fellowship with a holy God. 

In Habakkuk prayer he is reminded that God retraces the march of His people from Sinai to the Promise Land at the beginning of (v3). Teman….probably represents the entire regions south of the Dead Sea. Paran…. Lies west of Edom and is between the Sinai Peninsula and Kadesh Barnea. Habakkuk is referring to the exodus event when God delivered His people from Egypt and lead them in Sinai. Another importance to this prayer of Habakkuk is that God comes from unexpected direction to deliver His people. The God, who acted on behalf of the children of Israel in Exodus, would do the same here for the nation of Judah. Two amazing things will happen during this time….glory and terror (v3-16). The Lord will come in great splendor and glory and in great judgment, which will be seen everywhere in Heaven and on earth. The splendor of God’s greatness overcomes darkness and evil and it comes with cosmic effects, not just earthly effects.

This reminds us of the time in Joshua 10:12-14. Where the Lord made the sun and moon stand still for an entire day so Joshua and the Israelites could defeat the Lord’s enemies. Joshua 10:13 says “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies….” Habakkuk knows that God is faithful to deliver His people and defeat His enemies. Same is true for the children of God today as He has done thought-out history. The greatness of God’s will be seen and heard though the universe. We know this from what we read in Habakkuk’s response to a holy God that causes Habakkuk’s heart to fear.

God’s greatness and sovereignty is on display in His entire splendor (v3-v4) 

“His glory covered the Heavens, and the earth is full of His praise.” (v3) When God came to deliver the Israelites out Egypt, He didn’t leave them as orphans, but went with them as a physical manifestation. We read this in Exodus 40:34-38 “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.”

“His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there He veiled His power.” (v4) God is so glorious; His power is hidden from the amazing rays of His light that emulate from His person. 1 Tim 6:16 says “who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”

For you and me what does this mean? Because God is unapproachable, transcendent and we cannot see God. But we have the physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit who guides us in all of life and godliness so that one day we will stand before Him and all His glory. Jesus said these words to comfort the weary disciples "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." John 14:15-21

God’s greatness and sovereignty stands with power and victory. (v5-15)

“He stood”  (v6a) gives His presence and foundation in victory over all enemies. God is so powerful and mighty we see that it shakes the earth like a huge earthquake, everything and everyone will be shaken. (v6-v7) God’s judgment is swift and server to the enemies of God. 

“He looked and shook (startled) the nations”  (v6b) With pure and perfect anger His power caused the nations to tremble with fear. We know this is true by what we read in the encounter with Rehab “Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan,….. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” Josh 2:8-11

This is a great reminder of God’s almighty power as He stands before His people who He calls out of darkness. 

He makes the nations crumble and scatter.

He makes the decisions for the earth.

He is the final Judge and Jury.

He is the one who knows the heart of man.

He is the one who has everything under His perfect control.

He is one whom we must answer to saved and unsaved people.

He is the one whom the Atheist tries to suppress under their prideful rebellion.

He is the all-powerful and might God who is sovereign over everything.

Daniel 4:35 says “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” There is no greater comfort than to know that we are on the winning team and there is nothing can stop or prevent that from happening in the end…not even if you. As the Lord marches ahead of His people out of Egypt and opened the Rea Sea, and opened the Jordan so the Israelites could go into Canaan. The same God will go before Habakkuk! He understands that God will do the same for him and his people. We have to rest here as well…… that God will go ahead of us, though it might be bumpy and rocky at times, but you will get through it none the less, under His sovereign care and greatness. Warren Wiersbe said “He is the God of glory who reveals His glory in creation and in History. He is the living God who makes the dead idols of the nations ridiculous. He is the God of power who can command land and sea, heaven and Earth, and therefore, He is the God of victory who leads His people to triumph.”

For us our victory is found in only place the Cross of Jesus Christ. Death has been swallowed up in victory of the cross…1 Cor 15:55-57. All our praise belongs to Christ and the gospel confession and His sovereign power to keep us and deliver us form this world.

  

There are no limits to God’s rule. This is part of what it means to be God. He is sovereign over the whole world, and everything that happens in it. He is never helpless, never frustrated, never at a loss. And in Christ, God’s awesome, sovereign providence is the place  where…we feel most reverent, most secure, most free. This is what makes Habakkuk’s lip quiver like a child who just got in trouble with his parents. “I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled” (v16) Habakkuk’s response is the appropriate response to give towards a holy God who is sovereign over everything…not just some things, but over everything.

R C Sproul said in his book “The Holiness Of God” …”The response of the prophet was like that of a small child who is scolded by a parent. His heart palpitated and his lips began to quiver. We have all seen small children on the verge of tears. They try to hold back the flood, but the tremor in the lower lip gives them away.”

Think about for a moment! A grown man felt an internal shame and rottenness that entered his bones. The physical bone structure of this man quivered under the weight of God’s greatness and sovereignty over his complaint about a nation that was living disobedient to a holy God.

Where else have we seen this in scripture?

In the Prophet Isaiah…“And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." Isaiah 6:3-7

The Apostle Peter…“And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke 5:4-8

The demons…“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder!” James 2:19

The true believer…“Therefore, my beloved, ….work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Phil 2:12-13

For the true believers who tremble at the thought of God’s greatness, majesty and sovereignty causes their heart to rejoice and fall in fear to knowing that He is in control of your life and my life. And that scares us to death because you truly know that you do not have control over your life. He does, and that should cause your heart to fear and find great rest at the same time.

Habakkuk understands the history of God’s dealing with His people. And this causes Habakkuk to have a great fear that could not be contained or hidden evened if he wanted it to. He was a real person just like us and so the reality of the coming Babylonian judgment caused him to tremble. There are times in our life when we tremble, when we are so weak, we feel we might faint from fear or despair. And yet Habakkuk was to experience what Paul later described declaring "When I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:9

This is all possible because we rest in the greatness of God who is sovereign over the circumstances of my life. Not only our circumstances, but that God never wastes a hurt, a trial, a suffering! He allows and leads me through by His sovereign grace to find rest in Him, no matter what happened behind me, presently, or what lies before me. God is doing a great work refining us for that eternal weight of glory that we will receive on that day, when we stand before Him in all His glory. God is so good and sovereign…..the bible reminds that He is one who will bring us into His glorious holy presence one day…not you or by your efforts to please Him! As the Apostle Paul said “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil 1:6

How is that possible? He is sovereign and I am not!