This past Tuesday, I preached a brief message entitled, “Sovereign,” based on Habaakkuk 3: 17-19 (NIV). Here is the bulk of the message. Happy Thanksgiving!
Introduction: Turn in your Bibles to the book of Habakkuk. It is hard to believe it is Thanksgiving!! It’s a holiday filled with family, food, football…not to mention time from school and work. What a great holiday! Of course, it was designed for more than what it has become. Thanksgiving was the discipline of our nation to stop and give thanks for the harvest. Here is a brief history of the Thanksgiving celebration:
- 1621 – Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated a harvest feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• 1777 – George Washington and his army on the way to Valley Forge, stopped in blistering weather in open fields to observe the first Thanksgiving of the new United States of America.
• 1789 – President Washington declared November 26, 1789, as a national day of “thanksgiving and prayer.”
• 1800s – The annual presidential thanksgiving proclamations ceased for 45 years in the early 1800s.
• 1863 – President Abraham Lincoln resumed the tradition of Thanksgiving proclamations in 1863. Since this date, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.
• 1941 – President Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
It is interesting to me, that some of the toughest moments in American history is when our godly leaders declared that we need to praise the Lord, give thanks, and intercede for our nation. When the Pilgrims celebrated their first Thanksgiving, it was following a tough year where half of their brethren had died. George Washington was leading his troops to Valley Forge and the toughest winter of the war when he said that they had to stop and give thanks. Abraham Lincoln, in the middle of the Civil War, said we have to stop and praise the Lord and give thanks.
Why do we give thanks? I will submit to you, that we give thanks because as followers of Jesus, we believe that God is Sovereign. Listen to what God’s Word says:
James 1: 17 (ESV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Giving thanks is acknowledging everything we have is from God Almighty.
1 Corinthians 8: 5-6 (ESV) For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Giving thanks is acknowledging that no one else, no other god, but our God has given us life, salvation, and that which we enjoy in this life. God is sovereign.
I confess for the last three months, one of my favorite songs is Michael W. Smith’s “Sovereign Over us.” Grace will tell you, that I’m singing it fairly often. It’s his new release, and yes, many in the Cape area got to hear it live this past Sunday. Here are some of the lyrics.
There is strength within the sorrow; There is beauty in our tears And You meet us in our mourning; With a love that casts out fear
You are working in our waiting; You’re sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding; You’re teaching us to trust
Your plans are still to prosper; You have not forgotten us
You’re with us in the fire and the flood; You’re faithful forever
Perfect in love; You are sovereign over us
Tonight we want to look briefly at Habakkuk 3. Habakkuk is one of the ‘minor prophets’ and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prophesied of the coming Babylonian invasion of Judah. World events were about to take a turn for the absolute worse for Habakkuk and the nation. In Habakkuk chapter 1: 2 it says, “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?” We often ask the same questions don’t we? With events in Ferguson unfolding in our backyard and International events like ISIS, we often question God’s ways. Don’t we?
God answers in verse 5 that He is raising up the Babylonians to sweep across the whole earth. In verse 12, Habakkuk says, “O Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die…your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves.” He’s complaining again! J
Habakkuk says in chapter 2, verse 1, “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me and what answer I am to give this complaint.” You’ve got to love Habakkuk’s moxie. He is going to wait for God to answer His complaints. God answers in chapter 2, verse 2:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time, it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live be faith.”
God is saying to Habakkuk that it’s going to get worse before it gets better, but in the end God’s justice will prevail. Wait for it. And until it comes…live by faith. So then we get to Habakkuk 3 and the prophet makes an incredible statement of faith:
Habakkuk 3: 17-19 (NIV) “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 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.”
Let’s notice three things about God’s sovereignty. God’s Sovereignty…
Directs circumstances. 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… Habakkuk understood that world events were about to change, and the fortune of the nation was about to change. He saw a day when there would be no figs, grapes, olives, sheep or cattle, because of the destruction of the Babylonians. Yet, we will see in a few minutes that he still rejoiced. Why? Because God is Sovereign. Let’s look at other Scripture that talks about our response to events and God’s purposes:
Job 2: 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Romans 8: 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
God’s sovereignty directs circumstances, and secondly…
Produces joy. …yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. We can truly say with Job that when God gives and when takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord! Habakkuk says that even when his circumstances change, he will be grateful in God, his savior. The decision to rejoice and give thanks, especially when things are going bad, has to be deliberate and intentional. We choose to give thanks because God is in control.
David was being pursued by Saul…Saul was trying to kill him! This is what David wrote in Psalm 34: (Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.) I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-17 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you
Corrie Ten Boom tells of her experience in a Nazi concentration camp with her sister Betsie. “‘Oh yes:’…”Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.'” “‘That’s it, Corrie! That’s His answer. “Give thanks in all circumstances!” That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!’ I stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room.
“‘Such as?’ I said. “‘Such as being assigned here together.’ “I bit my lip. ‘Oh yes, Lord Jesus!’ “‘Such as what you’re holding in your hands.’ I looked down at the Bible. “‘Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all these women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages.’ “‘Yes,’ said Betsie, ‘Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we’re packed so close, that many more will hear!’ She looked at me expectantly. ‘Corrie!’ she prodded. “‘Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed suffocating crowds.'”‘Thank You,’ Betsie went on serenely, ‘for the fleas and for–‘ “The fleas! This was too much. ‘Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.’ “‘Give thanks in all circumstances,’ she quoted. It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us. “And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.”
If Betsie and Corrie can thank Sovereign God for fleas, what do I need to thank God for?
God’s sovereignty directs circumstances, produces joy and thirdly…
Gives strength. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” If we remember God is in control and acknowledge Him as Sovereign…he will give us the strength to climb mountains and give us a perspective to see the future. In other words, we live in the valley, but God will take us to the heights to see His perspective of the future. We only need to live by faith.
Hebrews 10: 35-39 (ESV) Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Abraham Lincoln: “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved for these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God…we have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us…and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessing were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own…intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
The Mayflower was ready to return home inviting the Pilgrims to leave the new country. Even though many of the Pilgrims had died and the work was so difficult, they refused to leave because they trusted God. This is what William Bradford wrote: “But these things did not dismay them (though they did sometimes trouble them) for their desires were set on the ways of God, and to enjoy His ordinances; but they rested on His Providence and knew whom they had believed.”
Conclusion: Michael W. Smith’s song ends this way: Even what the enemy means for evil; You turn it for our good; You turn it for our good and for Your glory; Even in the valley, You are faithful; You’re working for our good; You’re working for our good and for Your glory
Your plans are still to prosper; You have not forgotten us
You’re with us in the fire and the flood; You’re faithful forever
Perfect in love; You are sovereign over us
You’re faithful forever; Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us
Give thanks to God because He is Sovereign!
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