Who can you trust? The prophet Habakkuk was in an awful situation. His nation, Israel, was in moral and cultural decline. God was punishing them for sin and disobedience, and He was using their enemy, Babylon, to administer His justice. Habakkuk was “losing his marbles” over the demise of his country, that God would bring this punishment, and use their enemy to enforce it. “Who do You think You are!” he complained to God twice. God responded firmly: “I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silent before him.” So what could Habakkuk do? What can you do, when everything around you falls to pieces and you don’t understand? Who can you trust?
Habakkuk prayed: “O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, and in you, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of these years revive your work; in the midst of these years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” He acknowledged all that God is and all that He does and has the fear, awe, and respect due His name. He prays for God to revive His work and do a new and fresh work in a mighty and powerful way. God will work to bring glory to His name and right all the wrongs and everyone will see and know. And in this work of wrath, there is mercy. In His punishment and judgment for sin, there is grace and forgiveness. This is a great picture of Jesus to come; God’s wrath poured out on Christ on the cross as His act of mercy and grace to those who would believe in His name.
Habakkuk concluded with deep and profound words: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” As bad as things could be, he trusts in God. Even if the Internet goes out, Verizon crashes, there’s a run on toilet paper at Costco, the candidate I voted for loses, my car dies and my bank account is hacked – YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD. Can you take joy in God when the chips are down, when you get the short end of the stick, when life is unfair? Can you trust Him? He is your Savior. He is your strength. He will hold you fast and you will overcome.
Trust has fallen on hard times these days. More and more people have less and less trust in government, schools, medicine, the daily news, etc. But we can trust in God. He can do what He says. He proves Himself over and over. He is benevolent and works for our benefit and good. He is holy and just and pure and beautiful and constant and consistent and fair. The Bible affirms that God is totally trustworthy. We can trust in Him always, no matter what.