“Rejoice In The Sovereign LORD!”

:Rejoice In The Sovereign LORD!(Hab.3:18-19).
What is known about prophet Habakkuk is that he was a contemporary of Jeremiah and that he was a man of vigorous faith deeply rooted in the religious tradition of Israel. It is likely that the prophet lived in Judah.
Unlike other prophetic works that have oracles addressed to Israel, Habakkuk is rather a dialogue between the prophet and God.
The prophet argues with God over God’s ways that seem not to make sense. For the prophet, God seems to be unjust. However, when the prophet receives answers from God, he responds with a beautiful confession of faith in chapter three.
We, too, like Habakkuk, have one time or the other arrive at that point where we think God is unjust. Like the Son who stayed at home, we get angry that having remained at home toiling in faithful service to the father, he has never given us even a ram to celebrate with our friends, but when his wastrel of a son returns he kills the fatted calf for him and organises a feast.
Habakkuk’s dialogue with the LORD is not an individual’s frustration and confusion; he represents Israel. Firstly, he was worried that God was silent over the wickedness, strife, and oppression that was going on in Judah. The LORD told him he had planned to do something about it through the ruthless Babylonians. This response only raised another worry in the prophet. He wondered why the LORD who is “too pure to look on evil”(1:13) decide to appoint such a nation “to execute judgment on a people “more righteous than themselves?”
We all do have the same such worries when God uses people we think are below our level to deal with us. God, however, says that eventually, the evil destroyer will itself be destroyed in the end.
Like Habakkuk we should learn to rest in God’s sovereign appointments and await his working in a spirit of worship, waiting patiently in faith(2:3-4) for God’s kingdom to be expressed universally(2:14).
No rat is small in its barn of maize. Habakkuk’s book has just three chapters, but he provides the foundation of Paul’s theology, which is one of the basis of Protestant theology – “solar fides.” “The righteous will live by his faith”(2:4) became the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation. We are saved by faith alone, after which we respond by doing works required of us, it is not the other way round!
Today’s text is part of Habakkuk’s hymn of trust and surrender to the actions of God as he waited patiently with faith and allow him do what he wants to do, the way he wants to do it.
“…I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”
Prayer: LORD, I will be silent as I wait patiently for you to do your will in your own way and time. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
27/01/2026.