Praising God by Remembering His Faithfulness

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.” (Habakkuk 3:2a)

The prayer of the prophet in Habakkuk 3 reveals the heart of Habakkuk upon learning that God would use the Babylonians, a wicked people, to bring very harsh judgment upon God’s own people for their disobedience to Him. 

Even though God revealed to Habakkuk that afterward He would destroy the Babylonians, Habakkuk must have had several unanswered questions about why God would go about all this in the way that He revealed. Why would God wait so long to discipline His people? Why would He use an evil nation to judge His own people? Why would God wait until after Judah was given over to their enemy before He would bring judgment on them? And the list goes on. 

Habakkuk didn’t have all the answers, but he knew the God who did. And here’s a principle that would serve us well when we fall into circumstances that we don’t understand. Go back to what you do know about God, and let the implications of that fill in the gaps of what you don’t know. Trust that God always acts in a way consistent with His unchangeable Holy character. For He will never act contrary to who He really is.

Habakkuk knew that God is eternal, self-existent, righteous, never makes a mistake or does anything wrong, and hates sin. This was some of the foundational knowledge about God that would enable Habakkuk to trust in God’s mysterious ways in spite of what he didn’t understand. So, when he offered his prayer to God, he was able to offer praise to God by remembering the remarkable ways that God had miraculously taken Israel from being an enslaved and oppressed people in Egypt to giving them a land “flowing with milk and honey” of their very own.

Habakkuk’s prayer didn’t change his circumstances, yet he was able to view them better from God’s perspective once He reflected on God’s character and His past faithfulness to His people. In troubling times like today, how are you coping? Are you bound up with fear and worry, or are you consoled by the fact that God always does what is right and He is trustworthy? He always fulfills His promises to His people.  

As God’s people, we should discipline ourselves to be ever thankful for the blessings God has and will bestow upon us.  Remember the last few times God has faithfully delivered you through difficult times, and offer up to God a prayer of remembrance, thankfulness, and praise!

By Jim Connell

Jim and his wife, Becky, moved from Indiana to Lexington to establish the Lexington Rescue Mission. They have two married children, Laura and Brian.