Like A Deer Climbing A Mountain

We'll be in Habakkuk. I know that's your favorite

book. And that's where we're going to be today.

If you're not familiar with Habakkuk, it's okay.

It's one of those that's kind of easy to overlook.

It's right toward the end of the Old Testament.

And it's probably only two or three pages in

your Bible. It's not going to be very long at

all. It might be one of those the pages still

are stuck together a little bit. We probably

don't read through Habakkuk very much. But it's

a good short little book with a good message.

Habakkuk chapter 3. We're going to look at verses

Habakkuk 3 · chapter mention

17, 18, and 19 to start. But we'll talk a little

bit about what's going on after we read those

verses. Habakkuk is right there toward the end

of the Old Testament. If you get to Matthew,

just flip back a few pages. You're not going

to be far. Far from it. Habakkuk chapter 3, verse

Habakkuk 3:17

17. We'll read through these three verses, then

I'll pray, and then we'll get started. Though

the fig tree does not bud, and there is no fruit

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 triumph in Yahweh. I will rejoice

in the God of my salvation. Yahweh, my Lord,

is my strength. He makes my feet like those of

a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights.

Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you

for this good word. And I pray, dear Lord, that

you would help us to seek you and rejoice in

you and trust in you just as Habakkuk did, even

when things in life aren't going good, aren't

going the way that we want or that we expect.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us

today, that you would help me to preach and teach

in a way that brings glory to you, that you take

away any pride or fear that's within me, that

you just would help us to hear from you today

and from your words. And I ask these things in

Jesus' name. Amen. Now, these verses out of context

are kind of hard for us to understand exactly

what's taking place here in Habakkuk. Now, just

reading these verses, you'd say, well, golly,

this guy's a farmer and things aren't going good.

He ain't got any food. His cattle's not doing

well. Things are bad. But that's not exactly

what he's talking about. He's not necessarily

just talking about his crops aren't coming in

and his... His animals aren't doing well. There's

a bigger picture that we need to look at in Habakkuk.

And the bigger picture is explained when we look

at Habakkuk chapter 1. If you want to flip back

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

a page or two in your Bible to Habakkuk chapter

Habakkuk 1:1

1, verse 1, we see that the book of Habakkuk

starts out with a question, a question to God

about... Habakkuk situation, about God's people's

situation. In Habakkuk chapter 1, verse 2, he

Habakkuk 1:2

says, How long, Lord, must I call for help, and

you do not listen? Or cry out to you about violence,

and you do not say? Why do you force me to look

at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing,

oppression, and violence? Or right in front of

me, strife is ongoing in conflict. escalates

this is why the law is ineffective and justice

never emerges for the wicked restrict the righteous

therefore justice comes out perverted all right

so we start to kind of look at Habakkuk and see

what's going on now things aren't going good

for God's people and and that's a common thing

throughout the old testament and the reason why

things don't go good for God's people is because

they don't walk in obedience to him. They don't

listen to him. They don't do what he says. When

they do that, then praise the Lord. Things go

good for them. When they stop following God,

when they start worshiping idols, when they start

living in sin, that's when things get bad. And

we see this whole like back and forth and up

and down. You want to see some good examples

of that, we're supposed to start looking at the

book of Judges in Sunday school, 945 on Sunday

mornings. We do that. You'll see lots of examples

of that up and down, of God's people being disobedient,

and God will send a good leader, and he'll lead

them back where they need to be, and then they'll

be disobedient. And so this is one of those phases

for God's people where they're living in disobedience,

and things are really hard for them. And in the

context of what's going on in this passage, God's

people are being overtaken, about to be overtaken

by the Babylonians. That's what's taking place.

We see that the Assyrians had come in before

that, and they had overtaken some of the northern

tribes of Israel, and now the Babylonians had

took over the Assyrians, and now the Babylonians

are also about to take over the rest of God's

people, and things are really bad. Things are

bad, and Habakkuk wants to know God. Why are

you allowing this to happen? Now, obviously,

Israel was not doing good. Judah was not doing

good. But nonetheless, they were doing better

than Babylon, at least. I mean, yeah, maybe they

were evil. Maybe they were wicked. But look at

these Babylonians. I think that's kind of the

point that Habakkuk was trying to make. And so

he's trying to make sense of what's taking place.

That here are God's people, and yeah, there's

some sin in their life, but why in the world

is God allowing all these bad things to take

place. And he asked God a question, and I don't

know how to back his heart. It doesn't seem as

though it's like a heart of anger and being mad

at God. Sometimes maybe that's where our questions

come from. I don't know that that's a good place

for our questions to come from, to question God

as though we doubt him. But I think to have questions

in and of itself is not a bad thing. To say,

God, why do these things happen this way, dear

Lord? I'm not questioning you. I just don't understand,

Lord. Why is this happening? And perhaps you've

asked those questions in your life. Maybe there's

something going on in your life right now, and

maybe that's your prayer. How long must I call

out for help, and you do not listen? Why are

these things happening, Lord? I'm calling out

to you. Things are really bad. Why don't you

intervene? Why don't you do something, Lord?

And maybe that's our prayer sometimes. I would

venture to say that every one of us in this room

have felt that way. Regardless of what the situation

is, we felt like, man, I don't understand why

these things are happening in the way that they're

happening. And so Habakkuk, he asked the Lord,

okay, Lord, why are these things happening? It

appears as though these bad people are getting

away with bad things and no justice is being

served. Isn't God a just God? Why would he allow

these evil Babylonians to overtake God's people?

Why would he allow evil people to get away with

evil things? Maybe we ask that same question

today. After all, the Bible says there's nothing

new under the sun. Habakkuk wrote these words.

Over 2 ,000 years ago. But they would apply to

every people at every time. We see evil people

all throughout history. We see evil people now

that do evil things. We see evil leaders and

evil empires, evil countries of people that do

horrible things to other people. And it appears

that nothing bad ever happens to them. And we

say, well, God, why do you do that? Why do you

allow all this evil to happen all the time and

you never address it? And that was Habakkuk's

question to God. Now, I won't read the whole

book today, but that's good homework for you.

It's really short. You can read through it in

just a few minutes this week. But you see this

interaction between Habakkuk and God. You see

kind of a communication going on. Maybe in some

ways, similar to what we see in Job, we see that

same thing here in Habakkuk. And Habakkuk asked

a question to God, and I'll summarize God's answer

as best I can in a short period, but go back

and read it and make sure that I'm not getting

it wrong. But when Habakkuk asked this question,

what God essentially tells him is, is Habakkuk,

sometimes I use people to accomplish my will.

I use empires, even evil empires like the Babylonians,

to accomplish. my will. Now, there are certainly

Christians throughout the years who have held

the view of deism. Maybe you've heard of that

word before. You don't have to remember the word,

but the view essentially means this, that God

created everything and then just stepped back,

that God made the world, he spun the globe, gave

it a good spin, and now he's just sitting back

and watching everything take place, and wherever

the chips may fall, they may fall. But I don't

believe that that's what the Bible teaches. I

think this passage and plenty of others would

teach other than that. I think this story shows

us that God is involved, and that's what God

tells Habakkuk. He says, look, Habakkuk, I'm

the one in control, and sometimes I use one nation

to bring justice or to bring punishment on another

nation. We see that all throughout the Scripture.

What God is not doing, he's not... condoning

the evil actions of the Babylonians. He's certainly

not condoning that. No more than he condones

the evil actions of any empire that overtakes

another empire or another group of people and

does other things. But God does use nations sometimes

in the context of this story to bring about his

judgment, to get people's attention. Sometimes,

plenty of times in the Old Testament, God did

things to get His people's attention. And they

were often really tough things. Things that may

have ended in a plague or the death of a lot

of God's people are being overtaken by their

enemies. Now, I don't suspect that God would

desire for His people to be under those evils.

But sometimes God has to do things to get His

people's attention. And so when God is there

and He intervenes and He's protecting His people,

then then there's no harm that can come from

the enemy. But it's when God's people begin to

reject him and deny him and turn their back on

him, it's when God removes that protection that

there is no hope for us against the enemy. Now

these are questions and these are ideas that

are hard for us oftentimes to wrap our heads

around as human beings. I like to think of it

like this. Like we're playing checkers and God's

playing chess. Like we just got two different

color pieces, and you can go this way or you

can go that way. And you got two options. And

we look at the world and the conflicts and the

evil and the problems, and we say, well, here

it is right here. This black one jumped out and

read one. That's the move. Why wouldn't you take

the other opponent's checker? But God doesn't

work that way. The moves that we think are obvious

that this is the way God should handle evil in

the world. There's evil nations in the world.

There's evil people in the world. I'll tell you

what I'd do if I was God. I'd just strike them

all down with lightning right now, and that would

solve the problem. But yet, that's not how God

works. We see evil empires still today. We see

evil people still today. We see conflict among

nations still today. Why are there wars? Why

do bad people get away with these things? That's

the question that Habakkuk was saying. God, hey,

look, we're not that great. But the Babylonians,

why are you allowing them to do all these things?

Why are you allowing them to get away with it?

And God says, hold up, Habakkuk. This is the

way it needs to be done. I'll deal with them

when the time has come. But right now, the Babylonians

are an instrument of judgment against you guys.

But hang back, hang tight. Everything's going

to work out. They're going to get what's coming

to them. There's no sin. There's no evil that's

going to go unpunished. And so maybe in our life,

kind of shrinking this down to a more personal

level, it certainly applies even today among

the nations, among empires, among people at war,

that I believe God still works in the same way.

He still allows one nation to come to power for

whatever reason, to bring about judgment. On

another nation, for whatever reason, and even

if these things don't make sense to us, God knows

what he's doing. But on a personal level, how

many conflicts are there in our life? Things

that we go through in our life that the obvious

move would be for God just to grant my request.

I'm really struggling right now. It's hard for

us to make ends meet. I really want a job. I've

applied for a hundred jobs. Here's a job that's

available right here near me. God, why won't

you give me this job? And we think, this is the

job that God should give me, and He doesn't give

us the job. We keep searching, and we keep seeking,

and we keep applying. It's because God knows

what's best for us, even if we don't know what's

best for us. We're playing checkers. We're looking

one move ahead. God, he's seeing a million moves

ahead. He's seeing moves in everybody's life.

He's seeing moves in the whole world. And he

knows how every decision that is made and everything

that he allows to take place is going to work

for the good of his kingdom. And we don't understand

that because we don't see that. But the realization

that Habakkuk comes to is... I have to just trust

God. And that's a hard thing to do. Because maybe

sometimes we have questions in our life. Maybe

they're about things in the world. Maybe they're

about wars and fighting and conflicts that we've

seen in our life or that we see right now. And

we don't understand why that they're going on

the way that they are. Maybe we have those kind

of questions. Maybe we have other questions and

say, why God? Why do you allow good... Christian

men and women to suffer with great sickness and

you allow evil people to live a healthy life.

Like these are the kind of questions that we

have. I think it's normal. It's just natural

for us to have these questions. We just don't

understand because in our mind we think that

all the most godly people should be taken care

of the most with the least amount of problems

and all the evil people should have all the worst

things in the world happen to them and that's

just not the reality. You say, well, if I was

God, that's how I'd do it. Well, maybe you would.

But then again, maybe you wouldn't be a very

good God. Because here's the thing about God

is He's perfect in everything He does. And that's

the way that He choose to do it. I can't explain

it to you. I'm not God. If He explained it to

us today, we probably couldn't understand. And

maybe there are things in our world or things

in your life that you say, God, how long will

I cry out and you not listen? God, are you going

to do anything? Do you care? Do you realize that

there's injustice going on? God realizes. God

realizes everything. He realizes every question

that we have, every fear that we have, every

concern that we have. God, realizes and recognizes

everything that's going on. And that's what he

tells Habakkuk. He says, I got this under control.

This is the way it needs to be. I'm going to

take care of the situation. I'm going to take

care of the Babylonians. You just got to sit

back and wait and let me do what I need to do.

And that's a good message for us today. And that's

a hard thing to do. We are not waiters. We are

impatient, probably more so now than ever than

any other time in history. We do not like to

wait on the Lord. But I got news for you. The

Lord, He is patient, and He takes a long time

to work. You read through stories in the Bible,

and very seldom do any of them unfold quickly.

A lot of times they are years, they are decades,

they may be hundreds of years of something going

on. God doesn't move as quick as we would like.

To God, time is not as we view time. And it's

hard for us to wait on the Lord because we don't

understand why he allows things to happen, when

he allows them to happen. So what do we do? We

wait on the Lord. And that's not an answer we

like. But sometimes that's the only answer. Well,

this situation I'm in is so bad, what do I do?

Well, you have to wait on the Lord. And Habakkuk

realizes that. And that's what leads us to those

verses we started at, at the end of the book

of Habakkuk. Habakkuk comes to the realization,

God, I know of you. I know who you are. I know

what you do. I've asked you this question. You've

answered my question. And so God, even though

things are as bad as they can be, even though

the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit

on the vines, though the olive crop fails and

the field produces no fruit, though there are

no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

what he's saying is things are really bad. Things

are really bad, even though things are really,

really bad. And that might be true for you today.

There may be things in our world, that are really,

really bad. There may be things in your life

that are really, really bad. And Habakkuk says,

God, even though things are really, really bad,

in verse 18, yet I will triumph in Yahweh. I

will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Even

though things are really, really bad, Habakkuk

says, God, I'm going to trust in you. I know

that you're going to lead me to victory. God,

I know that you are my deliverance, that you

are my salvation. So God, even though I don't

understand why you're doing things, I know you're

good even though things are so bad right now.

God, I'm just going to trust in you. And listen

to what he says in verse 19. Yahweh, my Lord,

is my strength. So how's he going to get through

all this? I mean, things were really bad. Things

were really bad for God's people when the Babylonians

were coming in and overtaking them. How's he

going to get through all these hard times and

get through all this stuff with these evil Babylonians?

Well, he's going to do it with the strength of

the Lord, the same way that you're going to do

it. And that may mean us going to the Lord a

hundred times a day and seeking his word and

just praying to him and saying, God, I'm weak.

I don't know that I can do it. God, I don't understand.

Would you just help me? Would you give me patience?

Would you give me strength? He said, God, I'm

just going to trust in you and I know you're

going to be my strength. And he says, he makes

my feet like those of a deer and enables me to

walk on mountain heights. Now, I'm going to tell

you something cool. If you've never seen it before,

you need to go look it up on YouTube. But there

are certain species of deer that can climb mountains.

And it's not AI, by the way. It really is true.

On a separate note, be careful what you see on

the Internet these days. There's a lot of junk

out there that's a lie. And so be careful when

you start searching for stuff. When I was looking

for these deer that climb mountains, I found

some videos of some deer climbing trees. And

I was like, I don't think that that's right.

And sure enough, it was AI. But there are really

deer that climb mountains, and you can find those

videos of those deer, and it's incredible. You'll

see an almost completely vertical mountain, and

the deer just run up there, and they just jump

and run and hop around that thing, and I'm like,

what in the world are they even grabbing a hold

of? How can they climb this mountain? They don't

have no opposable thumbs. They've got hooves,

and they climb up that mountain. I'm talking

about... In no time. And that's the illustration

that Habakkuk uses here. He makes my feet like

those of a deer and enables me to walk on the

mountain heights. Now, it would look impossible

for a deer to be able to climb a mountain, but

yet they can, and they can walk comfortably on

the top of the mountain. And maybe there are

some things in your life today, some mountains,

so to speak, that seem impossible. They're so

high, and they're so steep, and you say, God,

how in the world am I ever going to climb this

mountain? Or you're going to climb it, because

just like Habakkuk, he can make you like a deer

that can do things that seem almost impossible.

Not only can you climb the mountain, but you

can get to the top of the mountain. So when we

look at the psalm that says, where does my help

come from? It comes from the Lord, the maker

of heaven and earth. The verse before that is,

I lift my eyes to the hills. I lift my eyes to

the mountains. Habakkuk had a mountain that he

couldn't wrap his head around of how he was overcome

what was before him. Didn't understand really

how God was working and why he was working in

the way he was. And he asked God about it, and

God said, well, hang tight. I'm going to take

care of it. And for Habakkuk, that was good enough.

He says, I trust you, God. Things are really

bad, but I trust you, and I know you're going

to help me to overcome what I'm up against. And

I want you to know that God will help you to

overcome what you're up against today. It's greater

than anything that's within you to overcome.

But praise the Lord, the Scripture says that

Through Jesus Christ, we can overcome the things

of this world. We can be overcomers. That he

who is within us is greater than he who is in

the world. God sent Jesus Christ to die on the

cross so that our sins could be forgiven. So

that we would have hope. So that we would know

that God's word is true. And there is victory

in Jesus Christ. And if we would trust in Jesus

Christ today and repent of our sins, we would

find that same strength. I wish I could give

you answers to all your questions about things

you don't understand, about how God does things

the way he does and why he doesn't, but I cannot.

And even if God told us, we still probably wouldn't

understand, and so we are left with a choice

to either trust God or not trust him. But I pray

that we would be those that no matter how difficult

our path may be, that we say, God, I trust you

because I know that you're good. Even if I don't

understand it, God, I know you're good. Let's

pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for your

good word. I pray that you would help us. Maybe

there are some in this room today, dear Lord,

that are just struggling and they're having a

hard time with whatever they're up against. Maybe

they just see the evil and the fighting and the

feuding and all those things that are going on

in the world, God, and they just don't understand

why they're taking place. I pray, God, that you

help us to understand as best we can, but with

what we can understand, I pray that we would

just trust you. God, you are good, and everything

you do is for the good of your kingdom. There's

nothing that takes place that you don't allow,

dear Lord. So I pray, God, that you would help

us to just be a people who would trust in that

truth, that God, even if things may be bad for

us, that we would still praise you this morning.

God, I pray that if there are any who do not

know Jesus Christ and have put their faith in

him and have found hope today that they would

trust him and find victory in him, that they

would climb those mountain heights. And I ask

these things in Jesus' name. Amen.