S) "1 The [a]oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 How long, O Lord, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, 'Violence!'
Yet You do not save.
3 Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted."
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, 'Violence!'
Yet You do not save.
3 Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted."
Habakkuk 1:1-4 (NASB)
O) The key to this introduction, I think is to know that the footnote (that I left there) says, "Or burden". I think that gives great insight to the mindset that Habakkuk had while writing this oracle. seeing the iniquities of the people, their wickedness, destruction and violence, strife and contention; he was burdened by the knowledge of these things! He ultimately got his answer in vv. 5-11, but it was small comfort. In the end, he essentially records the vision he has about the coming judgment (ch.2), and then writes a lament (ch.3), but he does end with praise to the LORD.
A) When I read the footnote, and then these verses, I immediately thought of my wife. She has also felt the burden of knowledge in this same exact way. I think that is the appropriate response to this kind of knowledge, even if we are not all given a vision and prophecy. I think what we are all called to do, though, is to mimic Habakkuk in the first two verses. I should see the sinful chaos around me as a burden, determining that it is viewed that way, defining it that way for myself. Then, like Habakkuk, I should call for help. I should ask God why I am seeing it. He may very well have a purpose, a mission for me to specifically take up, and I need to see the burden around me and ask the question, in order to ever see His mission.
P) Father, You are good and Your plan is perfect. I know that You have purpose behind everything You do, including a purpose for the things You let me see. Open my eyes, then, and my ears, to know Your will. Let me see the things I am supposed to see, and make me feel that burden. Show me the purpose to which You are calling me, and let me be found faithful to answer that mission's call. Help me to see the burden, and answer when I call to know why You've shown me, but all according to Your will alone, Father God. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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