O LORD, I have heard of what you have done, and I am filled with awe. Now do again in our times the great deeds you used to do. Be merciful, even when You are angry. Habakkuk 3: 2, Good News Bible.
Hear we are again dear LORD, waiting anxiously to feed upon Your Word. Please descend and teach us, we pray; in the holy name of Jesus. Amen.
Have you ever wished that you had lived in the days when God did extraordinary things such as, divide the Red Sea, or the Jordan river, and let the people of Israel cross over to the other side, on dry land? Would you have found it exciting when He made water flow from a rock, or made manna fall from heaven? Or, perhaps you would have preferred to have lived during the times when Christ walked through the streets of Galilee, and touched a leper, or interrupted a funeral and allowed one who was being held captive by death, to escape. Maybe you would have loved to be there when the children, and those whom He had healed, started leaping for joy, and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” in the temple, much to the chagrin of the religious leaders!
In our Scripture for today, the prophet is asking God to “do again” the things He had done in the past! These were things that the prophet had only heard about. He wanted to see them for himself. This request to see God “at work” or, “in action,” came after God answered the prophet’s questions: “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds” (Habakkuk 1: 2, 3).
It is amazing how sinful human beings can act as if we are more righteous than God! When we look around our world and see the crimes, and wars, and injustices, our cry is oftentimes very much like Habakkuk’s, “Lord, how long are You going to put up with this?” I must admit that at times, I too, wonder what God is doing! That moment of query does not last very long, however. By the time I turn the spotlight on myself, and see myself as I really am, and realize that, “[our] righteousness,” at its best, “is as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64: 6), I am more than happy to leave the work of being God, to God!
What was of special interest to me, was the last part of the prophet’s request: “Be merciful, even when You are angry.” At the beginning of his dialogue with God, it would appear, as if all he wanted to see, was God’s anger exerted against the injustices that he was witnessing; but after listening to what God had to say, the prophet seems to have had a change of heart. He had heard from his forefathers, of God’s grandiosity, of His power, and of the great deeds that He had done. But after listening to God, the prophet received a glimpse of divine mercy, in the midst of apparent confusion, crime, and injustice. You cannot enter into dialogue with God, and not hear of His mercy! Hallelujah! For it is at God’s Mercy Seat that justice and mercy meet, and kiss each other! Now of all the things that the prophet had heard about God, it would seem that what he wanted to see, was God’s mercy at work.
I experience this mercy every day of my life, what about you? We will continue.