Watching and Waiting

The Minor Prophets: The God of Our Salvation

Pastor Matt Pierson

Habakkuk 2

“How does Habakkuk help us…as we struggle to work out in our day what it means to believe in God’s sovereignty, justice, and love? How can we live as faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of a violent and unjust world?”
Chris Wright, Hearing the Message of Habakkuk

The 5 Woes spoken against Babylon:

1. Wealth by plunder
2. Security through oppression
3. Empires built on violence
4. Exploitation of humans and nature
5. Idolatry

“Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens, he does all that he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes but do not see.
They have ears but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”

Psalm 115:2-8

“We think that idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. Anything can serve as a counterfeit god, especially the very best things in life.”
Timothy J. Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

1. Embrace the Long Journey of Faith

“We are not presented with a moral code and told, ‘Live up to this,’ nor are we provided with a set of goals and told, ‘Go for it.’ We are introduced to God and invited to follow Him.”

Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

“The growth of trees and plants takes place so slowly that it is not easily seen. Daily we notice little change. But, in course of time, we see that a great change has taken place. So it is with grace. Sanctification is a progressive, lifelong work. It is an amazing work of God’s grace and it is a work to be prayed for.”
John Owen

2. Adopt a Posture of Watching and Waiting on the Lord

“If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us; it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord’s people have always been a waiting people.”

Charles Spurgeon

“The people of God are not merely to mark time, waiting for God to step in and set right all that is wrong. Rather, they are to model the new heaven and new earth, and by so doing awaken longings for what God will someday bring to pass.”
Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud

3. Cultivate the Spiritual Discipline of Silence

“It is in silence that mending takes place. It is there that discovery gives birth to creativity. Wisdom is born in silence. Peace is passed in the river of silence. It is the seed of silence that flowers into strength and courage.”
Kim Thomas, Even God Rested

“In a world of noise, confusion, and conflict it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom.”   

Thomas Merton     

“For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”
Habakkuk 2:3

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
Habakkuk 2:14

“But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Habakkuk 2:20