(Hab.1:1-17) “1The 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. 3Why 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. 4Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld For the
wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.’ 5’Look among the nations!
Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days--You would not believe if
you were told. 6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march
throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs. 7They are dreaded and feared; Their
justice and authority originate with themselves. 8Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than
wolves in the evening Their horsemen come galloping, Their horsemen come from afar; They fly like an
eagle swooping down to devour. 9All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward.
They collect captives like sand. 10They mock at kings And rulers are a laughing matter to them 
They laugh at every fortress And heap up rubble to capture it. 11Then they will sweep through like the
wind and pass on But they will be held guilty, They whose strength is their god." 

12”Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have 
appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. 13Your eyes are too pure to 
approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who 
deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they? 
14Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, Like creeping things without a ruler over them? 
15The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, Drag them away with their net, And gather them 
together in their fishing net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. 16Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their
net And burn incense to their fishing net; Because through these things their catch is large, And their food 
is plentiful. 17Will they therefore empty their net And continually slay nations without sparing? “

   Most of us can understand and appreciate the great lessons  to be gleaned from the Old Testament 
and in particular that of the prophets. But I would like to focus our attention on a prophet we hear 
very little about; --- That being the great prophet of God Habakkuk, and how you and I can draw 
some powerful and faith strengthening principles from his dealings with Almighty God. And to start 
with, we find that in (Hab. 1:1) that this man of God had a burden, or a problem. And we can find 
out WHY his heart was burdened, when he cries out unto God with his complaint; --- “Why do you 
allow me to see these things?” --- From (Vs. 3-4), We can see that part of Habakkuk’s problem was 
that he was allowed to see iniquity and wickedness; --- And was allowed to see destruction and 
violence, strife and contention. --- And he saw that the law was so completely ignored that it had 
become ineffective, and justice was a joke! --- And he saw the wicked prospering while the righteous
suffered. --- Sound familiar? --- And so he took his complaint to God!!

   Now, there were some things he did not understand; --- Some strange things about God. --- First, 
His apparent inaction. --- Habakkuk just failed to understand why God didn’t act immediately!! 
He says in (Vs. 2); --- “How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear?” --- So then, we 
can see Habakkuk being a little confused as he faces his problems; --- Because he had trouble 
understanding why God didn’t answer his prayer as fast as he thought He should. --- And then also, 
another strange thing that God said; --- God said He would work an astonishing and wonderful 
work, and He said; --- “Because I am doing something in your days--You would not believe if you were 
told.“ --- And then we come on down and observe how He used the Chaldeans the way He did! --- 
You know, sometimes we need to realize that God’s wisdom is far above our wisdom, and God’s ways 
are not always our ways, and His thoughts are much different than our thoughts!! (Isa. 55:8-9) --- 
And so God used those fierce Chaldeans to go through all the land; --- And to bring God’s people 
down where they ought to be and make them humble.

   God made it very plain to them what would take place, but when it happened, they didn’t believe it;
Because they didn’t fully understand what was really taking place!! --- And so, we describe this as 
some of the “strange things” about God!!

1. Now for this lesson please bear with me as we go a mite deeper into our study, and I think as we 
look at Habakkuk  and how he faces problems, we can ourselves find a better solution when it comes 
to facing our own problems. --- Each and every one of us need to recognize that as we go through life, 
we’re going to have our fair share of problems, trials and tribulations. --- And what you and I need 
to learn is, when we do encounter problems; --- How to handle those problems. --- How to best deal 
with those “bumps in the road”! --- And like it or not friends, that’s something we all have a tough 
time learning sometimes! --- So as we look prayerfully and diligently into the book of Habakkuk, --- 
I think you’ll find that this man is giving us a wonderful example of how best to handle any problem 
we might encounter along the way.

   Now let’s take a look at (Hab. 1:12-13); --- “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy 
One? We will not die You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established 
them to correct. -- Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
   Let’s stop right there for a moment, and realize that NOW, Habakkuk is no longer making a 
complaint to God! --- As he begins to face his problem, we see something else taking place; --- A little 
change in attitude maybe. --- So the first thing we need to learn when we have some problem is; --- 
Always stop and think before we act!! --- It makes no difference what the problem is; --- Just stop, 
and think about it, meditate!! --- Just don’t be too hasty to say what you’re going to do, or what 
you’re not going to do!!

   It might be expedient for us to go to the book of James for some New Testament inspiration and 
advice. --- If many of us would give heed to this advice, it would be a wonderful blessing! --- 
(Js. 1:19-20) We read; --- “Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every one be quick to hear, slow to speak
and slow to anger;  --- for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” --- Now, James 
says; --- “Let everyone be quick to hear and slow to speak!” --- Therefore, friend, whenever you’ve 
got to face a problem; --- Don’t say what you’re going to do about it too quickly! --- It’s a lot better if 
you stop and think and meditate on it for a while. --- Get some advice, listen to what others might 
have to say. --- Perhaps someone else has been through this same kind of trial, and you might say 
what you would do in the situation without thinking; --- Where as this other person might give you 
better advice. --- Be willing to listen to what people say, but make sure it is in conformance to God’s 
word. --- Someone once said; --- “When God made man, He made him with two ears to hear and one 
mouth to speak! --So he ought to do a lot of listening sometimes, rather than a whole lot of speaking!”

   And sometimes we see people when they’ve got a lot of problems; --- They open their mouths too 
quickly and they say what I’m going to do, and what I’m not going to do; --- When really and truly, 
they ought to keep their mouths shut a little bit and think on it; --- And they might not do what they 
say their going to do!! --- And nine out of ten time, we don’t do that, do we??

   For example; --- You see mothers and fathers who have little children, and as long as they are 
small,  they’ll say; --- “Now when I face such-n-such a problem, here’s what I’m going to do!” --- 
Well, the best advise to you, if that’s your outlook; --- Is to hold your tongue for a while, and wait 
until that little boy or girl gets old enough to give you those problems; --- And then go back and be 
grateful you kept your thoughts to yourself; --- Because you just might not handle it the same way 
you thought you would! --- As someone once said (about the words you speak); ---“Be sure to make 
them sweet, --- for you never know from one day to the other which ones you’ll have to eat!” --- And 
how true it is.

   Now I would like to bring your attention to the words of a very wise man, as he gives  us some 
sound advice, in (Prov. 13:3); --- “The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens 
wide his lips comes to ruin.” --- Now, what he’s saying is simply; --- “Be slow to speak!” --- “Make 
sure your brain is in gear before you place your mouth in motion!” --- “Be careful about what you 
say, or it can come back to haunt you.” --- And there’s many places in the book of Proverbs where 
the wise Solomon tells us how to use our mouths so as to live righteously before God and man, like 
over in (Prov. 17:27-28); --- “He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is
a man of understanding. --- Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, 
he is considered prudent.” (or a man of understanding). --- Now, Solomon’s wisdom here, might be 
paraphrased thusly; --- “It’s a lot better to keep you mouth shut and let everybody think you’re a 
fool; --- than to open your mouth in haste and remove all doubt!”

   So now, turning our thoughts back to Habakkuk; --- We can begin to see now, that he’s backing 
off; --- He’s “eating crow” or “humble pie”!! --- In the first part of our lesson, we found him 
complaining to God. --- But now, he’s backing off and thinking it over. --- He’s taking a good long 
look at the problem, and that’s the first step!

2. Alright then, the second step we need to take when we encounter a problem; --- Not only to stop,
pause and think about it; --- But to leave the problem in IT’S PROPER PLACE!! --- In other words, 
don’t try to make your problem any smaller or larger than what it really is. --- Just leave that 
problem in it’s proper context; --- And then you’ll be ready or better prepared to solve that problem!

   Now, anytime you’ve got a problem, no matter how big or small; --- Habakkuk is giving us some 
rich advice. --- First: Stop and look at it! --- Just like crossing a railroad track or street; --- STOP, 
LOOK and LISTEN!! --- Second: Leave it in it’s proper place. --- Don’t blow it out of proportion!!

   And the third thing is; --- (and this is what we’ll be looking at for most of the rest of our study); ---

3. Whenever you’ve got some problem, and there’s things you might not understand; --- There are 
some things you know for sure; --- And the things you know for sure, HOLD ON TO THEM!!
There may be something you don’t understand, but in that problem there are some things you can be 
absolutely certain of; --- And the sure things you don’t want to forget!

   Okay, let’s see what Habakkuk did; --- Habakkuk had a problem, he had a complaint which he 
took before God; --- And he protested; --- “Why did You allow me to see all these things?” --- And I 
don’t know what I’m going to do about it, but I’ll tell you one thing for sure; --- Look at (Vs. 12); ---
“Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One?” --- He said, “I’ll tell you this much; ---
I may have a problem, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I KNOW my God is an 
EVERLASTING GOD!!” --- And that tells me, it makes no different how great my problem might 
be; --- I can plant my feet firmly in the truth that my heavenly Father is the everlasting God!!

   I’m reminded of the great prophet Isaiah, as he spoke of God in (Isa. 46:5); --- God said; --- “To 
whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we would be alike?” --- In other 
words; --- God is telling the house of Jacob, the remnant of the house of Israel; --- And He’s telling 
you and I; --- “Are you going to compare Me with idols? --- Are you going to put Me over here and 
say; --- ‘Well, I have this problem now, and these people over here who serve God have problems; 
And these idol worshippers over there have problems! --- And God says; --- “Dare you to compare 
Me with dumb idols? --- Or, are you going to remember that I am the one and only true everlasting 
God??” --- So the first thing I’m going to be sure of and hold on to, when facing problems is the fact 
that My God is everlasting, and He is real!! --This is something we must never lose sight of.

   And the second thing Habakkuk brings out that I know for sure about God (pay close attention 
now to Vs. 12); --- “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die You, 
O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct..” --- Now, 
Habakkuk  is telling us; --- “I know also, that God is a mighty, all powerful God! --- And He is the 
rock solid foundation of my salvation!” --- “And God is independent and self dependant; --- He does 
not depend on anybody else for anything He wishes to accomplish!

   Now then, you take these idols for instance; --- These worldly people who serve idols, they have 
their problems also; --- But those idols depended on somebody to make them. --- They just didn’t 
make themselves! --- And an idol couldn’t speak or hear. --- And an idol couldn’t answer, let alone 
answer my problems!! --- But Habakkuk says; --- “I know one thing, my Father is the everlasting 
true God; --- He is the almighty Rock; --- He has always been and always will be; --- And whatever 
my problem is, does not remove one thing about the sure things of God!!”

   Do you know what happens to a lot of God’s people today, when they get into some trouble? --- 
They forget about the ability and assurance of God; --- And when that happens, their faith gets weak, 
and guess what? --- Their problems begin to get to them; --- And the next thing you know, if they’re 
not careful; --- When their problem gets bigger than their faith, they will leave the faith and deny 
God!! --- And so, dear friends, let us never forget when facing problems, no matter what; --- God is 
everlasting, all sufficient and all powerful!! --- But that’s not all; --- 

   Look in your Bible at (Vs. 13); --- “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil!” --- O, what a beautiful 
statement! --- Habakkuk says; --- “Now, I may be weighed down with problems, but I know this 
much; --- I know my God is so pure, clean and holy, that He will never look approvingly upon sin!!”
Now, we can really see this man, Habakkuk, coming down a notch or two; --- Back up in the earlier 
part of this chapter, in (Vs. 2-3) he was questioning God, almost to the point of doubting his God; --- 
“ 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. --- Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness?” --- And if he 
hadn’t been careful; --- If a man’s not careful; --- You and I look about ourselves today, and what do 
we see? --- Sin, violence, wickedness on every hand; --The laws are ineffective or ignored all together. 
People getting by with murder and rape even!! --- Someone may ask; --- “Why doesn’t God do 
something about it??” --- Well friend, let me suggest to you; --- God may not do anything about it 
right now, and if He chooses to hold off and not take action now; --- This I know for sure; --- God is 
not at all pleased in any shape, form or fashion with what’s going on in this wicked world!! --- An 
individual who is a murderer, or a thief, or a liar, drunkard or fornicator; --- God is not pleased with 
what he’s doing!! --- And he does not repent, God has appointed him to judge! (Vs. 12)

   God is pure, God is holy and His eyes will simply not condone sin!! --- And you and I need to keep 
that in mind. --- Now, it doesn’t say that God does not see sin, that He assuredly does; --- But He can 
not look upon it and approve!!

   Something else we dare not forget; --- Look at the latter part of (Vs. 13); --- “Why do You look with 
favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more 
righteous than they?” --- God allows certain things to be done; --- And that we must understand and 
live with it. --- God allows a man to be tried and proven, and sometimes a person’s faith is tested by 
the fact that the wicked persecute the righteous; --- And many times it looks like the wicked are going 
to win!

   One of the hardest things I found I needed to adjust to in life; --- And I think most other people 
also, is when I became a Christian, I somehow got to thinking everything is going to just be a bed of 
roses; ---
And I’m not ever going to have any more problems; --- And nothing bad is going to happen to me!! --
That’s not the way God sees it, and dear friends, don’t ever let anybody deceive you into believing 
the Christian life is all peaches and cream!! --- And do you want to know why that isn’t so? ---

   Because the devil is going to try his dead level best to overthrow your faith! ---And God will allow 
certain things. Let me be clear on this; --- God’s is not going to do it, but He will just allow it to be 
done!! --- And I’ll tell, if you’re not careful when some problem or temptation pops up; --- You can 
get so swallowed up in that thing and begin telling yourself; --- “I’m trying my best to lead a good 
Christian life!” --- “I attend services when I can!” --- “I give my money to the Lord!” --- “I give up all 
sorts of things, like smoking, dancing, using the Lord’s Name in vain!” --- “I just do the best I can!” 
And woe is me; --- My wife refuses to submit to me; --- My husband uses and abuses me; --- My 
children turned rebellious and refuse to straighten up!! --- And the next thing you know, you begin to 
ask yourself; --- “Why does God do this?” --- “Why does God let the wicked prosper, while the 
righteous suffer??” --- Who said God did it? --- Did God do it, or does He simply allow it to be done?

   Look over in your Bible to (2 Cor. 12:) and to save time, lets pick up the text beginning with (Vs. 7), 
where Paul says; --- “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me 
from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, --- Now there’s a great deal of 
controversy concerning WHAT this thorn in the flesh was; ---While that’s not my point, what it was;
Have you ever gone out in the woods somewhere? --- I’m sure if you have, you must know what a 
thorn is. --- And even if it’s just a little bitty thorn, and it hit’s the right spot, it’s going to get mighty 
sore, may even get infected. --- And a “thorn in the flesh” is something that hurts and hinders!!

   So Paul says, “A thorn in the flesh was given to me!!” (Look at it now) --- “A messenger from God 
to torment me!” --- Is that what your Bible says? --- Of course not!! --- Paul says; --- “a messenger of 
Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!” --- Sometimes we blame God for calamities 
when weought not to. --- Sometimes we hear of people sadly losing a wife or mother; --- husband or father, or
a child, and they say; --- “God took them, or God did this!” --- “Why did God do this??”

   I can’t help but wonder how many souls that could have been saved, but won’t be saved simply 
because some tragic event took place in their life and they bitterly accused God; --- therefore they 
rejected God and rejected Jesus Christ and in doing so, they rejected salvation!! --- And ever so 
sadly, I’ve known of such poor souls!! --- So dear friends, we had better be mighty careful about 
what we blame God for, the giver of all good gifts!!

4. Now then, let me point out another thought; --- Let’s back up to (Vs. 12), and here’s something you 
don’t want to ever forget when you’ve got a problem; --- “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my 
God, my Holy One? (Now, watch it)  We will not die; ---” (Underscore that) --- What is Habakkuk 
saying? --- He’s saying; --- “My God is faithful!” --- “My God will not allow the enemy to win!!”

   You might say; --- “Well, that’s fine for Habakkuk and all those Jews back then, but what about 
us??” --- “What kind of promises can we depend on today, in the here and now?” --- Well, I’ll tell 
you one thing He’s promised us! --- Paul wrote by inspiration in (1 Cor. 10:13); --- “No temptation has 
overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted 
beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be 
able to endure it.” --- Now, you just remember that Divine promise!! --- Did you ever have a doubt in 
your mind that God was faithful to that extent? --- Think about that!! --- God certainly made that 
promise; --- But of course, if we start murmuring, whining, complaining and forgetting about God;---
we’ll sink just like the Titanic!!

   Have you ever heard someone say; --- “I just don’t know how they stand up under it”?? --- I’ll tell 
you how; --- With their faith in God!! --- I know some who, if they didn’t have that kind of faith, they 
couldn’t stand up to all the problems and pressures !! --- Thank Almighty God for that confidence!!

   And church problems? --- I don’t know of anything that will test one’s faith, more than problems in 
a congregation!! --- Let a church divide; --- Let brethren get mad at one another, and you talk about 
strife, contention, mis-judgments and filthy gossip; --- The next thing you know, you begin to see 
people drift away and from all the discouragement, --- quit altogether!! --- And you go to talk with 
them and say; --- “Why did you quit?” --- And they say; --- “Well, I just got tired of all that over 
there!” --- But the truth of the matter; --- They encountered some tough problems, and they took 
their eyes off the fact that God is faithful as promised! --- And though a congregation might get down 
to just a handful; --- That remnant will not die; --- They will stay alive spiritually! --- And that’s the 
reason Jesus said; --- “My kingdom is not of this world.” and “The gates of Hades shall not overpower 
it!” ---(Jn. 18:36 & Mt. 16:18). --- And dear friends, Catholicism, Mohammidism, Buddhism, 
Denominationalism, the world and all of Satan’s forces put together can never destroy the kingdom
of God. --- And that’s a Bible fact!!
   We’ve all heard comments made in ignorance from time to time, like; ---”I just don’t see where the 
church is going to be here much longer!”---Oh, my friend, if you’re referring to the Lord’s church,---
The Lord’s church will be here until the end of time!! --- And don’t you ever let anyone tell you any 
different!!

5. So the next time you’ve got a problem; --- Be slow and think on it! --- Just take some time to look it 
over. --- Don’t get too excited, be calm!! --- Look at it and leave it in it’s proper place. --- And then, 
there’s some things about this problem you might not understand; --- You fail to understand all the 
violence, evil and sin; --- But there’s some things you do understand! --- These are things you know 
for sure, and you can put your finger on it and say; --- “I believe this because it is true! --- God is 
everlasting, mighty, faithful and pure; --- And though He’s allowed our faith to be tested, I can put 
my complete faith and trust in Him to see me through!! --- And finally, when it’s all over and done 
with, I can pray and live as Jesus did in (Mt. 26:39); --- “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass 
from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” --- So the next time you’ve got some problem in your life, 
maybe this will help you. --- I Pray it will!! 
_________________________________________________________________________ 

                                                                                   In the wonderful love of our Lord; --- Earl Wilburn

Questions and comments more than welcomed: ewilburn@austin.rr.com 
Please don't delete this from your files, as who knows that while you may not at this time be moved 
by these scriptures but perhaps in time you might want to refer back to this and come to know better
the love of the Lord. --- ew