Well, it certainly is a great joy to be able to look out upon your faces again. The last time I was here, I didn't know that the privilege would be mine so soon again. But it is a delight to be able to worship with you, and it is a particular delight to be able to have my wife with me this time. That makes the visit just all the better. This morning, we're going to depart from what has been your regular Sunday school schedule for the last several weeks, I believe. I'm going to be preaching Lord willing in the morning service from the little minor prophet Habakkuk. And I thought it might be good for us this morning just to look at that book and have a bit of a survey of it in the Sunday school class. and let me sort of put in a little bit of an announcement that I think needed to be made that next Sunday, if you have a schedule that you're following for Sunday school, the review that was supposed to be today isn't going to be pushed to next week, but I believe next week is Chapter 4. Next class, excuse me, is going to be Chapter 4, so you know more what that means than I do. Please take your Bibles and turn with me to the Book of Habakkuk. If you have trouble keeping all of the little minor prophets in order, the easiest way to find it is to go to Matthew and turn back five books. That's the easiest way for me to do it. I know that people pronounce this book differently. One time someone came and said, why do you say Habakkuk instead of Habitat? Now, I'd always grown up saying Habakkuk, but my Hebrew professor pronounced it Habakkuk, and I figured he always knew more than I did, so I kind of adopted his pronunciation. But however you want to do it, I think will be fine. I think it's good for us to ask ourselves, why do we know so little of the minor prophets? I think that that is pretty typical in most Christians' lives. There seems to be, if we would rate our Bibles, a great familiarity with the New Testament. We go back to the Old Testament, not as much familiarity. And then we go to the Minor Prophets and, well, we may have them memorized and we may know some tidbits here and there, but a strange country to us in many ways. but we haven't spent a lot of time in these minor prophets. And I think for various reasons, they are some of the more difficult portions of the Word of God, and so perhaps we tend to shy away from them because the blessing maybe isn't as immediate from reading and studying them. You really have to dig. You have to go searching. You have to do some hard work to call some of the the jewels out of these minds. I think it's also difficult sometimes because many of them are written in a poetic style. And I don't know about you, I'm not much of a poet. I remember in elementary schools when we had to try and write our poems, mine were just disasters. I could never get them to rhyme. I mean, I'm just not a poet. And so sometimes when you come to literature that is poetic, you know, it's not as comfortable reading, and it's sort of like, well, you know, what are they trying to say here? And especially with Hebrew poetry where the parallelism or the rhyming isn't that of sounding, but it's a rhyming or parallelism of thought where you have thoughts being duplicated again and again, and sometimes that tends to trip you up. But Despite the difficulties, I really believe that we are the losers if we don't know the minor prophets. And there are many reasons that could be given to motivate us to study these books, but I think perhaps the key thing is that these minor prophets had a vision of God that we need. Their God was a great God. Their God was an exalted God. Their God was the Lord of the nations. Their God was One who made them tremble. And yet, along with those things, throughout these minor prophets, you learn of a compassionate God and of a loving God. and a God who draws near to his people and a God who is the helper of his people in their most dire straits. And I suggest to you this morning that that is a vision of God that we need brought before our eyes and our souls again and again and again. Well, what about this little book of Habakkuk? We just have a brief time this morning to survey some of the issues here and to bring out some of the themes. I'll leave it to you to read and to go into detail with, but perhaps what we do here this morning will whet your appetite. I think it was back when I was in my twenties, the early part of my ministry, that God really attracted me to this book. One of the tools he used was a little book someone had given me entitled, From Fear to Faith. I don't even know if that is in print anymore, but it's a series of sermons by Martin Lloyd-Jones in which he preached through major sections in the book of Habakkuk. And it's really a thrilling little book, and it warmed my soul to go and study this book and to learn from it and pray over it. It was really a blessing to me. Well, let's begin in chapter 1. Here in verses 1-4, we jump right in with the prophet's complaint. Let's read that. The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, violence, yet Thou dost not save. Why dost thou make me see iniquity and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me. Strife exists and contention arises. Therefore, the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous. Therefore, justice comes out perverted." Now, Habakkuk was living in southern Judah. The southern part of what we know in the Old Testament is Israel. Northern Israel had already gone into exile through the Assyrian armies and southern Judah was trying to hold on, trying to survive despite the onslaught of the surrounding nations. Habakkuk was living probably in the 610 BC, 620, 630, somewhere around that time period. And as you know from studying the historical books of the Old Testament, Judah had gone downhill to a terrible state. And that's what the prophet is complaining about here. He's saying, essentially, God, I'm living here in southern Judah, I'm living here in the midst of your old covenant people. I'm living in the midst of the people who go to the temple and worship you in Jerusalem. We have the law and we have the prophets and the truth of your word. And yet, God, where is vital religion to be found? Instead of vital religion, there's wickedness, there's hypocrisy, there's violence, The little group of people who are truly righteous and want to serve God, they're hemmed in by the wicked and their efforts seem to be destroyed by those who are against truth and against righteousness. These are the days that he was living in. Days that were grievous to his soul. And we see here in this complaint that he offers up to God how deeply troubled he was. His soul was being vexed and provoked and disturbed. And all he can do is cry out to God and express his concern about this lawlessness and ungodliness and irreligion in southern Judah. Brethren, right here, the prophet is a good model for us. I know we can't make a one-to-one equation between the society in which Habakkuk was living and our society, but there are many parallelisms and many similarities. I think that the prophet would have us to consider the state of Christianity in our day. the condition of the churches, the cause of Christ in our land, the progress of the Gospel. And while, brethren, there are many more encouraging things for us to look on than Habakkuk had to look on, yet there are many grievous things as well. Many things over which our souls ought to be provoked and disturbed. Sometimes if I have our TV on and I'm going up and down the channels, out of curiosity I stop at the religion channel and just see what's going on. And brethren, my soul is provoked and disturbed and grieved to see what is being spread across our land in the name of Jesus Christ. The health and wealth kind of teaching that is so pervasive. The come to Jesus and everything will be alright kind of teaching and mentality. The healing stuff that is portrayed. You know, you sit and watch and you're almost moved to laugh. So many things that are grievous and disturbing. And then we go beyond that realm of Christendom to see just our society. A society that in ages past has been soaked with the Gospel, and yet nowadays we see people turning away from it in droves, and the Lord's Day, being less and less honored and even common grace going by the board, morality just going down the tubes. And brethren, we ought to be like the prophet, disturbed in our souls and provoked over these things. And yet, I find in my own life that so often I'm just living oblivious in the midst of this society. And what I'm really concerned about is my own life and my own difficulties and the problems I'm facing and the tensions I'm up against today and tomorrow. Instead of having this view of the prophet, of the society and culture in which he was living. Sometimes God does convict us about these things and we are disturbed. sometimes perhaps as we have Christian fellowship together, we talk about these things, the state of the churches, the state of our society, but do we really take it as far as Habakkuk did to pour it all out to God in prayer? I think that's where we fail the most. We get disturbed, we get provoked, we get into heated discussions and Do we really bring it to the Lord? Are we like Habakkuk complaining to God? Oh, God, why are You causing me to see all of this violence, all of this immorality, all of this irreligion around me? We need to be seeking after this Spirit of the Prophet. I think it's something like what we see in the Apostle Paul. You remember what Luke tells us about him That time he spent in Athens in Acts chapter 17, Luke tells us that as he walked around the city, he saw all of the idols and how the people were given to worshipping these dumb gods of stone and gold and silver who were no gods at all. And Luke tells us that his soul was provoked within him. Brethren, do you find that to be a common experience in your own soul? Do you have that sensitivity, that jealousy for the glory of God, and a real grief, a real disturbing in your heart when you see people, the creatures of God, who owe Him all their lives, turning from Him and despising Him and living without Him? Brethren, we need to pray that God would take these models of Scripture and work them in our souls. But the prophet's complaint here isn't just relative to the situation in which he found himself and how the people in southern Judah were going away from the Lord. But his complaint was against God as well. Basically, he's saying here, God, all this is happening And why aren't you doing anything about it? Why aren't you doing anything about it? How long, God, until I have to put up with this? How long until I cry to you to save and you're not doing anything? I think as we study through the book, Habakkuk's real hopes were that God would send revival. that he would come with power and turn the hearts of his people back to himself, and that the people would come to the temple not out of some formalism or ritualism, but out of love for God and desiring to worship God, and that that would spill over into righteous living in the land. But he says, God, I've cried to You. How long do I have to cry? And You don't do anything. You're not coming to work. So he complains not only of the situation, but of God's apparent inaction. God in his grace comes to respond to the prophet in verses 5 to 11. Let's read that in which God speaks of his present work. Look among the nations, observe, be astonished, wonder, because I am doing something in your days. You would not believe if you were told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous people who march throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs. They are dreaded and feared. Their justice and authority originate with themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping, their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour. All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward. They collect captives like sand. They mock at kings and rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress and heap up rubble to capture it. Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. but they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their God." Now, in response to the prophet's complaint, God, why aren't you doing something? The Lord comes and says, Habakkuk, I am doing something. In a sense, He says, get out your binoculars and look to the east. Look way across the desert. And see that little kingdom of Babylon? I'm starting to raise them up. I'm starting to make them strong. I'm starting to build their armies. And Habakkuk, before long, they'll be marching across Mesopotamia and down through northern Palestine and into southern Judah. And they are going to do a work of judgment on my behalf. They are going to be my rod of discipline against this unruly, rebellious, lawless people. I am doing something, Habakkuk. I am Lord of the nations. And this kingdom over here, they don't know me. They don't honor me. They think that their strength comes from themselves. They worship themselves. Their strength is their God. I'm going to bring them. And he's honest with Habakkuk. He's realistic. Habakkuk, they're terrible. They're fierce. They're like wolves coming in and jumping on the livestock and destroying them. They're going to come into Judah. There's going to be devastation. There's going to be destruction. There's going to be killing. It's going to be a terrible time. I think it always helps when we can take prophecies like this and pinpoint them to something that we're really familiar with. And the easiest thing to think of is Daniel, because Daniel was one who was swept away in this Babylonian invasion. You remember that Daniel was but a youth in his home, maybe 14, 15, 16, along with his friends there in Jerusalem. And they were some of the ones who, when the Babylonians came swooping down, were gathered up and carried away into far-off Babylon. They were some of the more fortunate ones. Many others were simply killed and destroyed there in southern Judah. And you remember there would be three invasions of the Babylonian armies. And finally, they would just completely destroy the city of Jerusalem and burn the temple. And Jerusalem would Well, you wouldn't recognize it. Just an ash heap. Rubble all over the place. The evidence of burning and destruction. That's what God is telling Habakkuk here. I'm doing something. I'm raising up this army. There's not going to be a revival now. Rather, there's going to be judgment. There's going to be destruction. There's going to be exile. And I am going to show my people that I am God. I am going to show my people that I don't stand by and wink when they sin. I'm going to show my people that I'm always working among the nations of the earth. So, this is God's response to the prophet's complaint. And then, verses 12-17, Habakkuk jumps right back into the dialogue with what we might call a shocked argument. He's obviously stunned. There's a sense in which he's gasping, and yet he's so disturbed and so shocked that he starts pouring out these arguments to God. Let's read them, beginning in verse 12. Aren't thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? we will not die. Thou, O Lord, hast appointed them to judge, and Thou, O Rock, hast established them to correct. Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, and Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor. Why dost Thou look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why art Thou silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they? Why hast Thou made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things, without a ruler over them? The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, drag them away with their net, and gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their fishing net, because through these things their catch is large and their food is plentiful. Will they therefore empty their net and continually slay nations without sparing? Now, here's the prophet. He's continuing his complaint. He began with, God, look at the situation. Why do you make me live in such a situation? Why are you doing nothing? And the Lord announces to him what he is doing, what his plans are, and he doesn't like them. God, these are not the plans I expected. This is not the revival I hoped for. God, what's going to happen to us? You see Him laying hold of the things that He is sure of, first of all. God, I know that You're holy. I know that You're everlasting. I know that You're our Rock. You're our Covenant God. And we're not going to be swept away. We're not going to die. We're not going to be extinguished as Your people. But God, all of these plans, I don't understand. Perhaps His greatest difficulty is this. Lord, I know that we're bad here in southern Judah. We've sinned. We have your law and we've rebelled against it with our eyes wide open. But, God, the Chaldeans are badder than us. I mean, they're far more wicked. Look at them. I mean, they're worshipping themselves. They don't even honour you. They go about and violence is their theme and bloodshed. They just love that. They trample down people. They don't care about humanity. How can you, a holy God, take such wicked people and use them to punish us? We're bad, but we're not that bad. And essentially, The prophet has a problem with God's sovereignty. God, what gives you the right to do things like this? What gives you the right to do things like this that, according to my understanding of your holiness, just don't make sense? How can you use people like the Babylonians? How can you use wicked people? How can they stand in your favor against us? How can you make them powerful so that we're downtrodden under them? A problem with the sovereignty of God. God, do you have the right to do this? Is this right to do this? You're a holy God. Why are you using such unrighteous instruments? Well, we could spend a lot of time there, but we're supposed to be on a survey this morning. drive into chapter 2. In chapter 2 and verse 1, Habakkuk sort of gives us the schedule, the proposed schedule of this ongoing dialogue he's having with God. We've seen he's complained, God has answered, he's complained, and he expects this to continue. He says in verse 1, I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart and I will keep watch to see what he will speak to me and how I may reply when I am reproved." So he expects that God is now going to come and answer this last complaint, and then he'll speak back to God, his mind, and what he thinks should be done. And he figures that this is just going to be kind of an ongoing dialogue between himself and God. But it doesn't turn out that way. things change. Here in chapter 2, God speaks. And if we were to compare chapter 2 to a day, we'd say that perhaps today is a good day, because chapter 2 is a day of storm clouds. If you were to take chapter 2 and look out on creation, compare the two, it would just be storm clouds rolling in, dark clouds, thunder and lightning and fierce rain and storm. That's what chapter 2 is all about. It's God's pronouncement of judgment upon the Chaldeans, upon the Babylonians. It's God helping the prophet to resolve in some way in his mind this complaint God, how can you use such a people? And he essentially comes to the prophet and says, hold on. There's a day of judgment coming for these people as well. Yes, I'm using them as a rod of discipline, but they will pervert the privileges I give to them. their wickedness in terms of violence and love for bloodshed and idolatry and worshipping themselves is not of me, and I'm going to punish them for these things. And so you have in chapter 2 a series of woes. You can see them, I think, fairly plainly. In verse 6, there's a woe. In verse 9, a woe. In verse 12, a woe. In verse 15, a woe. In verse 19, a woe. And woes are simply pronouncements of curses. God's wrath coming down upon people because of their sin. That's basically chapter 2. And we're not going to look at all of those woes. I'll leave you to read them yourselves. But in the midst of this day, marked out by these incredible storm clouds, there are at three points Rays of sunshine that pierce through the clouds. Rays of sunshine that are incredible encouragements to the Prophet. Rays of sunshine that help the Prophet look forward from his present difficulties to a brighter day. And they are rays of sunshine not only encouraging to the prophet Habakkuk, but to every child of God. And I want us just to look briefly at these rays of sunshine, or beams of sunlight coming through the dark clouds of God's wrath. The first beam or ray of sunlight is found in verse 4, and we might say the theme is the survival of God's people. The survival of God's people. We read in chapter 2 and verse 4, Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous, or the just, will live by his faith. Now, I trust that that is a phrase that you're familiar with. You know that Paul uses it several times. We find it several times in the New Testament Scriptures, as the Apostle Paul, especially in Romans and in Galatians, teaches the doctrine of justification by faith. And he's pulled this little verse out of Habakkuk and used it in his letter writing. The purpose of what God says here to Habakkuk is slightly different. Paul's use of this expression, this phrase here, as I say, has to do with justification. And Paul's particular question, the question he is asking and answering when he uses this Old Testament reference is primarily, how does a man become righteous? How does a man become accepted right with God? Well, he does so by faith. He looks to the sacrifice of Christ. He trusts in our Savior's work on the cross, and God takes that righteousness and uses it to wipe away our sins, and He gives to us the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. A man becomes righteous, Paul teaches in God's sight, by faith. Faith in Christ. But the particular question here is not so much of salvation in the sense of conversion in the beginning of the Christian life. But the question that Habakkuk is looking at is, how do the righteous survive during this period? The Babylonians are coming in. There's going to be destruction and killing. Will there be a remnant? Will there be even a little band of godly people left after this work of judgment is over? And God comes in the midst of all of these storm clouds of judgment with this ray of sunshine, and He says, the righteous are going to live by faith. The righteous are going to live. They're going to survive. They're going to persevere. They're going to continue on. And the word that He uses here is really interesting. The righteous will live. It's more than just survive. It's more than just getting through. But the Word implies a good life. The righteous are going to have a good life even through this time. Now, that's not the promise of prosperity. That's not the promise that they won't be touched at all through this time of discipline. It's not the promise that there won't be trials in their lives. But the righteous are going to live And again, consider the examples of Daniel and his friends. The righteous. Those whose lives were marked by commitment to the law of God. They were living. They were going through this time. God was blessing them in many ways. They knew continued communion with God. There were many good things in their lives, despite all of the difficulties and trials they faced. The righteous will live, God says. And they're going to live by faith. They're going to live by trusting Me. Habakkuk, when the Babylonian armies come and they're encamped outside of the walls of Jerusalem, look to Me! Look to Me! Have faith in Me! Trust Me! I can take care of you. The righteous will live by faith. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as you're torn from your homes and you're taken into this strange land. You don't know the language. You don't know the customs. You're forced into this strange school of education that Nebuchadnezzar has for you. You'll live by faith, by trusting in Me. I'll be with you. I'll bless you. I'll help you. I'll keep you. You trust in Me. You look to Me. Brethren, we may not be facing the Babylonian armies, but we've got a lot of enemies, a lot of difficulties, a lot of trials and temptations that are part and parcel of the Christian life. And the message is the same. The righteous will live by faith. That's a burst of sunlight that ought to encourage our souls and say, God, whatever you appoint for me, I can live. I can live well by trusting in you. Well, again, a lot more could be said, but we're just surveying. The second encouraging beam of light that comes streaming down between these dark clouds of wrath, we find in verse 14, and the theme is, the success of the Gospel. We'll begin in verse 12 of chapter 2. Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence. Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts that peoples toil for fire and nations grow weary for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Now, just imagine what an encouragement this must have been to the prophet's heart. Here he is living in southern Judah, and I'm sure that there was a temptation for him to cry out with Elijah, for I'm the only one left. There appears to have been some nucleus in southern Judah who had remained true to the Lord. But they were so small, so insignificant, so weak, hemmed in by the ungodly. All of their efforts to promote the Kingdom of God seem to be null and vain. And now the Babylonians are coming. And there's going to be destruction. And in the Prophet's mind's eye, all he can see for this nucleus of righteous people is more decimation and probably getting smaller and smaller. These Babylonians are going to take over the world. They're going to control things. What of the kingdom of God? What of the people of God? Okay, you've shown us we're going to survive, we're going to live by faith, but what of the future? And God comes to me and says, listen, my glory is going to fill the earth just like the waters cover the sea. Is there an inch of sea not covered by water, Habakkuk? No. Every inch, he says, will be covered with my glory. People all over the world are going to know about me and worship me and love me. The Kingdom of God is not going to stay as this small little group, but it's going to expand all over the world, Habakkuk. Don't have a little vision. Don't sit there thinking, what's going to happen to us? Are we even going to survive? Expand your vision. I'm going to do great things in the earth. And brethren, I believe that the fulfillment of this prophecy is being seen even in our day as the Gospel is going out through the nations and people are being one to the Lord. How encouraging it ought to be for us read letters that come streaming into the churches of God's work around the world, and then to hear from other sources of what God is doing. And to know that in China, there are people bowing the knee to Jesus Christ. I think it was this past summer, we had a man come to our church from the church in Mevin, and he brought a videotape of his recent visit to China and to Andy Hamilton and the work over there. And on the videotape was or were these pictures of Chinese believers being baptized and the church constituting together. I could hardly stand it, but just the thrill, the joy of seeing people all the way around the world. confessing their love for the Lord Jesus Christ. And brethren, that is happening in so many places today because God has said, listen, don't have a little vision of my work. Don't think that all I'm able to do is to keep a little remnant alive here in southern Judah. I've got big plans for my kingdom. All over the world, people are going to honor me and bow the knee to my Son. Here's another ray of sunlight streaming down through these dark clouds of chapter 2. The third ray of sunlight is found at the end of the chapter in verse 20. The certainty of God's present reign. Let's begin reading at verse 18. What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, or an image, a teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork when he fashions speechless idols. Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, Awake! to a dumb stone, Arise! and that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all inside it. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. What a ray of sunshine to conclude the passage with. He speaks here of the stupidity of idolatry. And this is the kind of thing that the Babylonians are given to and God is going to judge it. A curse is pronounced against people who give themselves to such things. But then he says, listen Habakkuk, let's get our eyes onto what is real. Let's get our focus onto reality. Put your eyes up to heaven. Put your eyes up to the holy temple of God, the dwelling place of God, where the Lord is seated upon His throne, where God is ruling over all of the nations of the earth. And be silent before me. I think this call to the Prophet and to us is similar to that which we find in Psalm 46. Be still and know that I am God. Or as the New American Standard has it, cease striving and know that I am God. to the nations of the earth. Cease striving. Cease all of your activities to get ahead. Cease your attempts to become lords and masters in this world. And know that I, God, am the only true Lord and Master. And be silent before me. Be quiet. Even my people, who are all disturbed and upset and in a turmoil over the state of Christianity and the state of the world, It's good to have those concerns. But you need to be quiet before me. You need to cease your striving. You need to remember who's God, who's on the throne. Just be quiet. Just be still. And look at me and know that I'm God. What a ray of sunshine to the prophets and to us as well in the midst of our busy, hectic lives. We may not be inside the walls of Jerusalem listening to the marching horses outside and the clamor of the soldiers, but, boy, our lives are all busy, aren't they? And we tend to forget God. We're so caught up in all of our activities, all of the legitimate things that we're called to do, And God comes to us and says, listen, just stop. Just stop. And just be quiet. And look to Me. Know that I'm God. Worship Me, not these dumb idols. Not your own strength. Not your own abilities. Bring all of your questions before Me. All of your complaints before Me. And let your soul come to rest. and know that I am God." Well, he proceeds into chapter 3 and the ongoing dialogue that the prophet expected doesn't happen because of something that has happened to the prophet. And we're going to get into that, Lord willing, next hour. In verses 1-15 of chapter 3, we have Habakkuk's prayer responding to this revelation of chapter 2 And then in verses 16-19, Habakkuk's own determination, his commitment to be a true disciple through this upcoming time of trouble and destruction. He's going to hold on to God. He's going to find his joy in God, even though every support in life is taken away from him. Those are tremendous passages to preach, and we're not going to get to all of them, I encourage you to sit down and read through this little book and just soak your soul in the truths that are here and get this vision of God. And I trust as you read through the book that you'll come out saying the same things at the end of chapter three. Lord, no matter what you bring into my life, no matter what trial, no matter what destruction, No matter the temptation to discouragement and despair, I'm going to trust you. I'm going to hold on to you. I'm going to find my joy in you. Oh, brethren, we need that. To have our joy in the Lord. As we come on the Lord's Day, but every other day as well, Monday through Saturday, and all of the activities of life and our struggles and difficulties to have our joy in the Lord. May God give us grace that that will be our continuing experience. Let's pray together. Our God, this day and age of Habakkuk seems so remote from ours, and yet, how many lessons there are here for us. Oh, God, give us this vision of Yourself that You were pleased to give to the prophet. Oh, how we would worship You if we saw You like this. Even this morning, our God, help us to see You high and lifted up and seated on Your heavenly throne. Give us eyes of faith to see You in Your holy temple. And may there be a sense of being silent before you. And yet, God, when we are called to sing, may our souls and our mouths be filled with the praises of God. And may we, as it were, pierce the cloud to bring you our sacrifices of praise. Give us joy in your presence this morning. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.