What an incredible prayer from Habakkuk! There is much raw emotion in those 18 verses,
fear, wonder and awe, vengeance, appreciation, trust, peace, and hope. Habakkuk sweeps his gaze across all of
salvation history for these images and condenses them into one prayer for
deliverance from the present enemies of the nation. In the prayer Habakkuk reminds himself and
the Lord that He has done great things for His people. We need to always remember who it is we
serve, the God who raised Jesus from the dead, but also the God who created all
things, the God who brought about the flood, the God who destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, the God who rolled back the Red Sea and the Jordan River, etc. His love and His power are fearsome. After remembering these things Habakkuk is
quieted and prepared to trust that the Lord will indeed do to these enemies as
He has done throughout Israel’s history.
The prophet will not look to earthly things to determine God’s plans, He
will not be captive to emotions or to the present condition of things, He will
trust and He will rejoice because He knows God’s intentions towards His people
and their enemies.
Jesus’ prayer is that the Father glorify Him that He may
glorify the Father. Shortly before this
the Greeks have come to Philip seeking to meet Jesus and He responded, “Now the
time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” How is Jesus glorified? What were the disciples expecting based on
this prayer? The world and the disciples
defined glorification as an earthly exaltation. Is this when Jesus will ascend
the throne, sweeping them up in His train?
He will indeed be lifted up, and He knew it. The lifting up, the glorification, will not
be in line with anyone’s expectations. The
prayer also includes the petition, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own
presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” That part of the glorification waits for the
Ascension and the scene in Revelation 5 where the Lamb stands before the throne
receiving praise. The glorification of
Jesus is everything from the crucifixion to the Ascension and the second coming. We want to measure a point and God says, be
patient.
The goal lies ahead,
not here. The important thing to keep in
mind is that very simple truth. Most of
us work towards a goal, it keeps us focused and it helps us identify the right
things to do in order to reach the goal.
If I set a weight-loss goal for this year I can measure my progress and I
can (at least in theory) consume less of some things and more of others and
work out some program of exercise. If I don’t
have a goal I am likely to wander aimlessly towards nowhere. We are to be fixed on the heavenly prize, a
life of complete righteousness and love.
With that as the goal, can we leave behind a few things that consume our
lives now? Can we get Jesus’ vision of
glory into our lives today?
I will trust in You, O
LORD, and do good;
I will dwell in the land and befriend
faithfulness.
I will delight myself
in You LORD,
and You will give me the desires of my
heart.
I will commit my way
to You LORD;
trust in You, and You will act.
You will bring forth righteousness
as the light,
and justice as the noonday.
I will be still before
You LORD and wait patiently for You.
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