If you turn in your Bibles this morning to the book of Habakkuk, as we continue our series there in a fitting passage that is appropriate for the Lord's table by God's good providence. It's on page 9-11 in the Pew Bible, if that's what you're using. We'll be turning to chapter 3. Thus far in this oracle, we've seen Habakkuk twice petition the Lord God and the Lord twice answer him. And to these answers, Habakkuk has responded only once. And now having heard God's second answer in chapter 2, declaring the woes upon the wicked and the promise that the righteous will live by faith, Habakkuk responded in faith a second and final time with a prayer. A prayer recorded here for all God's people as they wait by faith for the appointed end. A prayer written on Shigionoth in verse 2, a descriptive turn found only here and in the heading of Psalm 7 that suggests a reeling to and fro as intoxicated or as on the deck of a rolling ship. A prayer consisting of three parts, an intercession in verse 2, a hymn in verses 3 through 15, and a creed in 16 through 19. This last part we'll consider next time. And a prayer that is part of the overall oracle to Habakkuk the prophet, which this whole book includes, and it reveals, therefore, the will of the Lord for the future. And as we read the scripture today, as I read it to you, pay special attention in verses 3 through 7. This section can be likened to a preview for an upcoming movie. As we watch a preview in real time, we're seeing something that's going to happen in the future. It's not released yet. Habakkuk saw this vision in 3-7 in real time. And he describes it in real time as it unfolds frame by frame, moment by moment, as it unfolded before his mind. But in it, we must not let our English translations steer us to look too far in the past. It's not about the past. It's speaking of the future using images from the past. So let's read together God's Word, Habakkuk chapter 3. We'll read the entire chapter today since it is a unified prayer. But we'll consider only verses 1 through 15. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigeonoth. Lord, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day. In our time, make them known. In wrath, remember mercy. God came from Taman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and His praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise, raised, flashed from His hand where His power was hidden. Plague went before Him. The pestilence followed his steps. He stood and shook the earth. He looked and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. I saw the tents of Cushon in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. Were you angry with the rivers, O Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots? You uncovered your bow. You called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by. The deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness. You stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. I heard, and my heart pounded. My lips quivered at the sound. Decay crept into my bones and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines. Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food. Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the God my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to go on the heights with a director of music on my stringed instruments. Here ends the reading of God's Word. In our text today we find Habakkuk praying. Praying by faith in this crucible of the world for the Lord's coming and for the Lord's combat in the midst of the years. The prophet begins his prayer in verse 2 by responding to the reports of how judgment was to come on Judah and on Babylon that the Lord revealed to him in chapters 1 and 2. He remembered how the Lord announced in chapter 1, verse 5, Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed, for I'm going to do something, a work, in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. And he remembered how the Lord announced in chapter 2 the woes of judgment against the wicked as personified in Babylon. And he responded in fear and in trembling. He said, I stand in awe, verse 2. New American Standard says, I fear. And he says in verse 3, 16, My heart pounded and my lips quivered and my legs trembled. It is in the fear of the Lord that the prophet prayed for the Lord to bring about his promised work and to make it evident to all. As the New King James translated, O Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive or bring to life your work. Make it known. Bring judgment on the wicked in Judah. Bring judgment on Babylon. And bring judgment on the wicked. In Habakkuk's intercession, by asking for the Lord to bring his life to work and to make it known, he prayed for the Lord's coming. And no sooner had he finished his prayer of faith, asking for this, That by faith he beheld the answer in this vision. Verses 3 through 7. And in this vision the Lord revealed himself in what we call a theophany. That's a $10 word that means that the invisible God made himself visible. And the theophany begins in verse 3 with reference to Timon and Paran. Two locations in the south. South from Israel. South from the promised land. But north of Mount Sinai, it was the place which Israel had to stop and collect before the Lord delivered them north to the promised land. And Taman, you may find in your footnotes, is also known as Seir or Edom. The land was originally called Seir until God gave it to Esau. And then it was called Edom. And ultimately called Taman after the name of one of Esau's grandsons. So it's one of those places that has many names in the Bible. And if you look in your footnotes to where these images come from, you'll find different names there. They're all the same. The Theophany ends in verse 7 with reference to Cushan and Midian. Again, in the south. That's what ties this all together. Cushan or Cush has reference to a portion of Egypt that experienced the judgment of God when he brought out his people with a strong arm. And Midian has reference to that land where Moses hid for 40 years from Pharaoh before the Lord sent him back to redeem his people. And Midian was originally an ally of Moses and the Israelites, but later they led them into idolatry so that the Lord had Moses lead Israel against Midian to destroy them as their last act before entering the promised land. In this theophany, the Lord declared the future by images from the past. Images from Exodus, from the Exodus in Mount Sinai. As Moses in Deuteronomy 33 sang, the Lord came from Sinai and dawned over Israel from Seir. He shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south from his mountain slopes. Habakkuk saw in his vision how God came from Taman, the holy one from Mount Paran in verse 3. Previewing how he will come again, Not from a mountain that may be touched and that has been burned, as Mount Sinai was. But from Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Habakkuk saw how just as the inhabitants of Cushon and Midian had experienced the terrible presence of the Lord God Almighty in the pillar and the cloud, so too all the nations would experience his terrible presence when he comes again. In images from the flood, as the waters raged when in the 600th year of Noah's life, all the springs of the great deep burst forth and all the heavens opened and the rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights. Habakkuk told the Lord in verses 9 and 10 what he had seen in the vision. You split the earth with rivers, torrents of water swept by it, and the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. The same imagery, but pointing of how the Lord will again come and judge the entire world. Not with water, for Peter tells us in 2 Peter chapter 3 that by the same word, the present heavens and the present earth are reserved for fire. But again, Habakkuk saw in the image from the past that the Lord would come in judgment on the whole in the future. And in the vision, at the arrival of the Lord, the heavens and the earth convulsed, the sun and moon, The most glorious of all creation will grow dark. In verse 11, the sun and moon will stand still in the heavens. The King James preserves they will stand still in their habitation in the sense that they won't show up for work today. They won't dare to come out. The mountains and the hills, the seemingly eternal parts of creation, that which we look at, and it seems it's been here forever, they will give way before Him. The eternal one whose ways are eternal, he says in verse 6. As Deborah sang in Judges chapter 5 about Mount Sinai. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the one of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel. Habakkuk saw in his vision how the Lord took his stand and shook the earth. He looked and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. And he told the Lord in verses 9 and 10, The mountains saw you and they writhed. This is the language of the end. This is the language of the appointed time that Habakkuk was shown in chapter 2, verse 3. Isaiah the prophet saw it as well. And he spoke of it in Isaiah 24. The earth reels like a drunkard. It sways like a hut in the wind. So heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion and its falls, Absorb the magnitude of what is being said here. The North Ridge earthquake will be nothing compared to the appearance of the Lord God at His coming. And Jesus declared in Matthew 24 that on that day the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. With power and great glory. Habakkuk saw this in his vision. He saw the Lord's great power and great glory. If you look at verse 3, he says, he speaks of His power and glory extending through all of creation when he says, His glory covered the heavens and His praise filled the earth. And he spoke of His power and great glory in that it will outshine everything. In verse 4. His splendor was like the sunrise. Rays flashed from His hands where His power was hidden. The invisible God presents himself clothed in light, glory, and might. As a king with his attendants, Habakkuk saw how in verse 5 the plague went before him like a shield-bearer. And pestilence followed in his tracks like his train-bearer. As one commentator put it, As the Lord God once came down to his people at Sinai, so will he appear in the time to come in his terrible glory and omnipotence. The vision of the Lord's coming, verses 3 to 7, which we can see why it caused Habakkuk to tremble, does not immediately reveal the reason the Lord appeared. It's only in verses 8 through 15 as Habakkuk interacts with the Lord about what he had seen that we learn that the Lord's coming was for the Lord's combat. He came for war. Through questions and more detail about what Habakkuk saw the Lord do in this theophany, in this vision, we come to see that the Lord as the divine warrior has come to wage war. And the first thing to note about this combat is that it is waged against the wicked. The opening questions of verse 8. are not really questions for information. They're there to help us change our focus. In the vision, the prophet speaks about what he saw the Lord do, speaking of the Lord God as he and him, third person away from him. In this section, he turns and he talks with God, a dialogue. And he raises questions to God, which introduce us, the readers, to the wrath of God. The wrath of God is mentioned several times here. In verse 8, the prophet asks, Were you angry with the rivers, O Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea? Now, verse 12, he answers this question based on what he saw. The answer was evident to him in the vision. He wrote, In wrath you strode through the earth, and in anger you threshed the nations. The coming of the Lord set the creation reeling, there's no doubt. But the creation in general is not the object of His wrath. The object of His wrath is the wicked in particular. The coming of the Lord is the coming in wrath, a day of fury. As Isaiah the prophet declared, See, the day of the Lord is coming, a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger. His wrath, His fury against the wicked is waged in war, as we see in these verses. The Lord Almighty, the divine warrior come, brings forth his weapons of war. He uncovers his bow for use and he calls for many arrows, verse 9. He uses his spear, verse 11. And he wages war against the wicked. His arrows fly and his spear flashes, verse 11. You must not misunderstand this bow as the rainbow of peace. Or the arrows and the spears that flash as lightning, as in a storm. His arrows and his spears flash because they are sharp and because they're exposed. These are weapons of war. This is language not of nature, but of the supernatural intrusion of the Lord God Almighty into nature. This is the language of the coming of the Lord in glory and power. Of the coming of the Lord in his person, with his bow unleashing arrows, with his spear hurled against the wicked. This is the language of judgment. The wicked, personified, is vanquished. He's crushed. He's humiliated. He's destroyed. Verse 13. Listen to what Habakkuk saw. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness. You stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warrior stormed out to scatter us. The wrath of God is coming. But this wrath against the wicked is but part of a greater and more glorious purpose. Habakkuk prayed in verse 2, In wrath, remember mercy. You see, the Lord's combat is not only against the wicked. It's for the salvation of his anointed one. The focus of this section is revealed in its structure even though it's filled with all this language of wrath. It begins in verse 8 and ends in verse 15 with reference to the Lord's overcoming waters with horses and chariots. Verse 15. You trampled the sea with your horses churning the great waters. And verse 8. Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots? I want you to make a note in your Bibles if you have the NIV. The NIV is too mild when it translates victorious chariots. That is true. But the chariots here are the chariots of salvation that bring victory. The chariots of salvation. With them the Lord masters the waters of chaos just as He did at creation when He hovered over the face of the deep. And just as He did at the creation of His people when he parted the Red Sea and the Jordan River for them. And at the center of this section stands a stark contrast that makes clear the reason of the Lord's coming. Verses 12 and 13 together. In wrath you strode against the earth, and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. In wrath, God remembers mercy. He remembers His covenant and acts on behalf of His people. And by His judgment against the wicked, the Lord fulfills His own oath as recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 32. He said, As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasp it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. To which the prophet Moses added, Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people. The Lord comes to save his anointed one. He comes to save the appointed king of Israel, David and his sons, and ultimately his greater son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. A key element to understanding this prayer is repeated twice in verse 2. In the original language and preserved in some of your Bibles, Habakkuk prayed that the Lord's coming and combat would be granted in the midst of the years. The New American Standard preserves this phrasing, O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath remember mercy. to read this way introduces attention and I hope you feel it. The Lord in chapter 2, verse 3 declared the coming judgment upon the wicked in a revelation that awaits an appointed time that speaks of the end and will not prove false. And He commanded His people to wait for it by faith. Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay. And here we find Habakkuk in chapter 3, verse 2 praying for the Lord's coming, for the Lord's combat, for him in wrath to remember mercy. And he prayed for it to come in the midst of the years. Not at the end. In the midst of the years. As he considered the end as certain as it was and is for us today, it was still so remote and oh so distant. And the troubles around him were so great and overwhelming I mean, in his flesh he cried out for mercy. Oh, that the Lord would bring judgment on the wicked in Judah soon. In our day, the NIV translates this. And that's a right understanding. And he did. In a matter of a few years, Judah was exiled to Babylon. Oh, that the Lord would bring judgment on Babylon and that soon. And he did. After 70 years of exile, Cyrus was raised up, Babylon was crushed, and Judah was returned to the land. But as a prophet of God, Habakkuk also prayed for the Lord to come, to do combat against the wicked, to save his anointed one, to remember mercy in the midst of wrath, to bring final judgment in the midst of the years. And the Lord heard his prayer. And he answered it. Not in his lifetime, and not for over 400 years later, but he did answer it. And he answered it in the coming, in the combat of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh to do battle for his people. Proverbs 11 tells us that wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. And it is Jesus Christ alone who rescues His people from the wrath to come by bearing their sin and granting them His righteousness. Consider the familiar gospel promise in light of Habakkuk's prayer. We hear John 3.16 so often and we stop at the end. We need to read a few more verses and understand that the coming of the Son, What He's done. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. In wrath, God remembered mercy and he sent Jesus Christ for his people. Where do you stand today? Do you remain under this judgment that all men are born into? And are you content to die under that judgment? You see, the Lord continues to delay bringing his wrath. He is still in wrath remembering mercy. but the day of wrath will come. Today is the day of salvation. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who has come, not in His glory and power, but in His humility and in His servitude. You see, as Paul wrote in Romans 5, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him? See, Christ in His humility, Christ in His servitude, still came to do combat and did His combat on the cross. As Colossians 2 tells us, He forgave us all our sins. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them at the cross. Hallelujah! What a Savior. In wrath, God remembered mercy. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, as you come to the table of the Lord this morning, remember this fundamental article of the Christian faith. That just as the sinless, crucified, dying, and resurrected Christ ascended into heaven as we celebrated on Thursday, He will come again to judge the living and the dead. And when He comes, it will be only wrath for those who are not in Him. You are asked in the Heidelberg Catechism number 52, how does Christ return to judge the living and the dead comfort you? The answer, in all my distress and persecution, I turn my eyes to the heavens and confidently await as judge the very one who has already stood trial in my place and so has removed the whole curse from me. All his enemies and mine he will condemn to everlasting punishment, but me and all his chosen ones he will take along with him into the joy and glory of heaven. And listen carefully today as we read through the form for the Lord's Supper. You'll hear it repeatedly as we're called to remember that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death till He come. And we're assured that this Holy Supper, that our Lord Jesus will come again and receive us to Himself. So as we wait by faith in this crucible of the world, we, His believers, are called to remember that in this sacrament, the Lord Jesus Christ, or this sacrament represents the Lord Jesus Christ, did come. And as a suffering servant, He did combat on the cross of Calvary. He overcame sin, death, and the devil. And He saved His people from the wrath of God to come. Let us continue to pray by faith that the Lord come again in His glory and in His power in the final judgment on the living and the dead. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you've given us your word. We thank you that today we can see the preview that you gave Habakkuk about that which is to come. We thank you, Lord, for answering his prayer that in your wrath you remember mercy. We've gathered here today, Lord, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We gather here today as those whom you have called out of this world, and you've called out from under the wrath to come. And you've given us to the judge to come, who has already taken our judgment upon him. Lord, help us to share the intensity of Habakkuk's fear of the Lord. That we would feel the weight of this evil age. That we would not be immune to it, dull to it. And that, Lord, we would cry out that many would be called to repentance and faith. That many would be called to experience your mercy in Christ Jesus. And escape the wrath to come. But at the same time, Lord, that we would pray. Earnestly. Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. For we long to be with you. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.