My Hope Is in the Lord

And if you take your Bibles, we're actually going to start in Psalm three. We're going to find our way to Habakkuk in a little bit. If you want to go ahead and find Habakkuk, it may be easier to find Psalm three than it is to find Habakkuk. So, that little book is easy to miss when you're thumbing through the Old Testament. So, I'll give you a moment.

Psalm three and then, in a little while, we'll be over in the book of Habakkuk. So, My hope is in the Lord. Is your hope in the Lord today? Yes. Amen.

Hope it is. There's a lot of people out there today that are confused, miserable, depressed, in the past year, the the suicide rate has gone higher than it has ever been in our country. There are more people on depression and anxiety medications than ever before. Many of them are without hope Many of them are without the Lord and the circumstances of life have crushed them. But we who know the Lord need not be crushed.

We who know know the Lord need not be depressed. We who know the Lord need not be afraid. Because he will never leave us nor forsake us because he is with us wherever we go and because of the hope that we have in him. Eternal life that we have in him. The Holy Spirit that he has given to us.

One another, this church family. He has given to us. And we can go on. Many are the blessings of the Lord. Count your many blessings particularly when life looks grim.

Count the blessings because in Christ, the blessings always outnumber. Always outnumber the complaints. Going to read from three or four passages this morning concerning some examples that we see in the scripture concerning our hope being in the Lord particularly in difficult times. As David sat in a cave, hiding from his traitorous son by the name of Absalom. His life in jeopardy, his palace taken, his reputation mud, he could have let the horrors of the moment overcome him and send him into fits of despair.

After all, it was only just the previous day that he sat in his palace comfortably with hardly a care in the world. Thinking everything was just fine. And now twenty four hours later, everything is upside down. It would appear his kingdom has been torn from his grasp and it is only a matter of time before the enemy, his son, comes to take his life also. In that moment, Psalm three is what David wrote and likely sang to the Lord.

Let's read it. Psalm three verse one. Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? That is not hyperbole. They were.

Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, oh Lord, art a shield for me. My glory and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto the Lord with my voice and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. Selah means something like stop and think about that for a moment. I laid me down and slept. I awaked for the Lord sustain me.

I will not be afraid of 10 thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Again, he's this isn't hyperbole. There are literally tens of thousands who are on their way to kill him. Arise, oh Lord, save me, oh my God. For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone.

Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth to the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. As the army was coming for him He laid down and he did what?

He slept. And he woke the next morning with hope in his heart. Knowing that 10 thousands were not enough to defeat his God. He believed God would deliver him and God did. He stalled the advance of Absalom's army long enough for people to come to David's aid and David won the battle.

My hope is in the Lord. David's hope was in the Lord and did the Lord let him down? He did not. As Job sat in a mound of ashes scraping pus from the boils that covered his body, miserable, forsaken. Having lost all his herds, his wealth, even his children, all 10 of them, in one fell swoop.

You might have thought as Satan did that Job would have become irate with God. Depressed beyond measure. It was only a few days ago that he was celebrating with his 10 children. All the abundance that God had provided for them. And now, in a matter of days or weeks, it had all disappeared.

Only his wife remained to tell him to curse God and die. Just get it over with. Even his friends who came to comfort him only accused and derided him. You know, Job, you must have done something really really bad for God to do this to you. What is it?

Tell us. Fess up. Speech after speech after speech. Yet, these were the actions and the words of Job. Then Job arose and rent his mantle.

He shaved his head and he fell down upon the ground and worshiped and said, naked came out of came out, came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 13 The words of Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. But I will maintain mine own ways before him.

He also shall be my salvation. Deliverance. Job 19. All that my words were now written. All that they were printed in a book that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever.

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. Isn't it awesome? He says at the beginning of this passage, all that my words were now written. They are.

They were written. He says, all that they were printed in a book. Here they are, printed in a book. All that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever. God's word will last what?

Forever. And Job's record is part of his word. Isn't it awesome? That God recorded this for us. That we might know the hope that Job found.

In the worst of conditions. In the depths of sorrow, at the loss of his children, in the physical misery and suffering that he was enduring. Yes, he was hurting. Yes, he talked to the Lord about his pain and his suffering and his anguish but he never lost his what? He never lost his hope.

And he knew that one day he would see his God in the flesh. And he shall. One day, all of us will, who know Christ as savior. We know that we shall see him for we shall be like him. We shall see him face to face in the flesh one day.

So, Job says, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. He is my salvation. As Jeremiah beheld his home, The once glorious city of Jerusalem. Now, a smoldering heap and empty streets. Its people, his people defeated, slain, or taken captive.

He could have lost hope. He could have given up. He could have fell into a deep depression or a fit of uncontrolled rage. After all, he had warned them over and over again. He had begged them to repent.

He had told them to surrender before it came to this but they wouldn't listen. They refused. They would not repent and they treated him as a traitor. Now, as he looked out over the once great city of Jerusalem, he wept. But he did not lose hope for he knew that God was still in control.

He knew God had not ceased to be faithful despite the unfaithfulness of Israel. He knew that God would remember and take care of those. Who would put their faith. In him. So, he wrote a book.

That book is called Lamentations and in that book, he wrote these words. This I recall to my mind, Therefore, have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore, will I hope in him? The Lord is good unto them that wait for him. To the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

As Job wept over the city, he sat there and he waited for the what? The salvation of the Lord. He put his hope in the goodness and the mercy and the compassion of his God. To take care of him and all those who loved him. And that one day as Jeremiah had already prophesied they would return and the city would be rebuilt and they did and it was.

There are many passages in the Bible like these which remind us that our hope and joy and peace must be in who? Must be in the Lord and if it is in truth, then let the enemy and let the world and let life throw at us what they may. We will not lose hope and we will still find joy and peace in the promises and the blessings of almighty God. That gives these to his children in all times. The good and in the bad.

And we will all experience the good and the bad. But regardless of which it may be, you are going through today. God will not abandon his children. He has not abandoned you. Nothing can separate you from the love of who?

From the love of God in Christ Jesus, your savior. God is still on the throne. He is still there. You must have hope. You can find peace.

God will give you joy. Remember him. He will take care of his own. He will be there for us even the darkest of ours to comfort and guide and give us hope. If you would turn to Habakkuk Habakkuk, going to read from chapter one in just a moment and then we'll turn to chapter three.

I don't have this up on the screen. So, So, everybody knows about Habakkuk, right? Person everybody knows about, you know, John, Peter, James, Habakkuk. You know, it's really is sad that we don't know about Habakkuk to the extent that we know about other people. We spend a lot of time in the gospels which we should.

And people talk a lot about Mount John and Peter. But there are also people in the Old Testament like Habakkuk and Jeremiah. Like Job, Daniel, Amos, Hosea, Micah, and we can learn a lot from. Let's look at Habakkuk just briefly this morning. Habakkuk was a prophet in Judah that is the southern part of Israel after the kingdom divided.

In the years just preceding its destruction at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. That is when Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations. Times were not good. The leadership in Judah swung back and forth between kings who honored the Lord and those who blasphemed him. Like a pendulum.

Good king, terrible king. Okay king, bad king, great king, horrendous king. Back and forth the pendulum swung. From one to the other. Until the roller coaster turned into a rapid slide into the abyss of unbelief, defiance, and ruin.

A destruction and ruin from which Judah would not return. For several generations. The prophet could not believe. God would put up with the wickedness that he saw all around him. So, he complained to God about it.

Look, if you would in Habakkuk chapter one and verses two through four. Habakkuk one two through four. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry? And thou wilt not hear. Even cry unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save.

Why does thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me and there are that and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore, the law is slacked or ignored. The judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked doth compass or surround the righteous.

Therefore, wrong judgment preceded. Habakkuk looked around in the day he lived in Judah and he looked around him and he saw what? He saw wickedness all around him. He saw wicked people who had no love, no no honor for God and for the law. Leading their nation oppressing the poor Ignoring.

Those who were suffering from those who had broken the law. There was no justice There was no help and nobody cared for God's law. It seemed to Habakkuk. God's law had been tossed out the window or immorality was celebrated. And there was no fear of God before their eyes and Habakkuk cried to God and he says, God, how long?

How long can a holy God let this go on? How long will you let this continue? When are you going to do something? About it. Well, God answered Habakkuk.

He assured him that he was not oblivious and to wait patiently for God's judgment to come. And come it did It came at the hand of the godless Chaldeans. Those of the Babylon, we know them as Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar, to punish Jerusalem and the people of Judah for their rebellion. It may not have quite have been what Habakkuk had in mind.

A matter of fact, in response in Habakkuk, if you read it, Habakkuk complained, Lord, how can you use people more wicked than us to punish our wickedness? And God said, oh, they're going to get what's coming to them too. But I will let this happen. I will allow this to occur because way back in Exodus and Deuteronomy, God told his people, if you will stay true to me, my law, and keep yourselves from idolatry, I will bless you and you will stay in the land how long? Forever.

That if you turn to idols and you abandon me and you turn to wickedness and immorality, then I will take you out. I will bring a curse upon you. I will scatter you throughout the nations. And for hundreds of years, the people of Israel tempted God. And God was patient and God was patient but the day came and the enemy came and God took his hand of protection off of Jerusalem and it was destroyed.

Nearly, almost nothing was left. That beautiful temple that Solomon had built leveled. People killed in the streets. It was horrible. Sort of reminds me of some of the pictures I saw on TV this week outside the gates in Kabul.

Bodies strewn throughout the streets. Sin has its what? Consequences. And God will not put up with it forever. Yet, despite the destruction and carnage that would befall the Israelites, God promised Habakkuk that the just would live by faith.

You've heard that verse. It's quoted three times in the New Testament. The just shall live. By faith. They would persevere.

By faith and be preserved by God who rewards what? Faith in him. The same promise is true for those who know him today. To those who have put their faith in him, to those who live by faith. Let come what may God has not forgotten you.

You will persevere by faith and God will preserve those whom he loves. He will take care of us. He is already taken care of us. He has forgiven all of our sins. He has made us his children.

He has prepared a place in heaven for us. He is going to take care of us. It's already taken care of. We do not need to fear. We need to trust and hope in the Lord.

So, in response to what God told Habakkuk was coming, Habakkuk wrote a song or a poem. Sort of like David's to conclude his little book of Habakkuk. It's Habakkuk chapter three. I'm not going to read the whole chapter but I would like to read again verses 17 through 19. Habakkuk wrote this, although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines.

The labor of the olive shall fail. The fields shall yield no meat or probably grain. The idea there. The flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls. In other words, what Habakkuk is saying is though times may get what?

Worse. Though the abundance of food may become a scarcity and the trees not blossom and the vines not produce fruit and the fields not produce grain and the herds of animals dwindle. Yet, all of those things come to be and by the way, they do come to be. History you look back. Great civilizations, great abundance, up and what?

Down and up and down and this is this is the history of humanity. Things are better, things are worse. Sometimes due to natural disasters, sometimes to do to terrible leaders. But it happens. It happens.

And the package says, though this may be what we must endure, he writes in verse 18, yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. Though food may be scarce, though money may not be in the bank, though times may be tough, my God will not abandon me and I will rejoice in the Lord and I will joy in the God who has brought me salvation. Salvation from sin. Salvation from hell, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Who will go with me? Through whatever trial. I must endure. He's in verse 19, he says, the Lord is my strength. Not just the grain, not just the the the fruit on the vine.

Not just the meat but God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds feet. Other translation I had said, deer's feet. Another translation said, goat's feet. In Israel, and over in that area of the world, there are goats or deer that are able to scale.

I don't know if you've maybe seen pictures of them. Mountains and and and sides of cliffs. I've seen pictures of of these goats that they're up on this, they're like 50 feet up on the side of this cliff and it's how in the world did the goat get there? It has Heinz feet. It has the ability to climb incredible places and be secure just to get to one little piece of something growing out of the side of that cliff.

The Lord is my strength. He will make my feet hind's feet. He will make me to walk upon mine high places. Finishes with to the chief singer on my stringed instruments. Therefore, we know that what he's written here is a what?

It's meant to be a song. A song of praise, a song of assurance. And a song of hope. Now, I know the last year has been difficult for some of us. It has been very sorrowful for some over the loss of friends or family to COVID or other tragedies.

Some of you have been receivers of other kinds of tragic news or suffered from the pain and misery of illness and injury. Your hope is in the Lord. If you've been following the news, you're also painfully aware of the deaths of several soldiers who died this past week. Trying to deliver innocent people. Some are citizens and others believers fleeing what it worst could really be a slaughter of unimaginable proportions.

Or at best, slavery and oppression For millions. The situation over there is not good. It is not rosy. It is desperate. But our hope and their hope is in who?

Is in the Lord. Who will not leave his own. The soldiers may leave, the planes may leave, but God will not leave his own. And while we argue here in our churches and universities and halls of congress about whether a man can become a woman or a woman a man which pronouns to call people? Whether men should be allowed to go into women's locker rooms or live in women's dorm rooms.

And we've already lost the argument over immorality. That's celebrated in our culture and even in many churches by the way. We've also lost the argument over homosexuality same sex marriage, and every day in The United States Of America, thousands of babies, human lives are aborted The proper word is murdered before they have a chance to see the beautiful world here that God has made for them. Times were wicked in Habakkuk's day. Don't fool yourself into thinking that times are not wicked today.

They are. Things are not good between America and its maker. God bless this nation, I think, because we honored him. Not everyone knew him. No.

But honored him and as time went along, we honored him and got rid of some things that should have gotten rid of to begin with. We grew as we grow personally cast off things, as we grow in the Lord, but now we have turned our back on our God. We have allowed wickedness to prosper in our nation. And some might cry out as Habakkuk did. Lord, how long?

And the answer is God will take care of things. God will not allow the wicked to go unpunished. But praise the Lord, he will never leave who? Yes, us. He will never leave his children.

He will be with us to the very end. He will deliver us by his power. Our society is is sliding quickly into the abyss of paganism and the truth particularly God's truth is being barred from public discourse and will likely be further in the days to come. Persecution is coming. How fast?

I don't know. But I believe it is coming. And God's judgment will most surely follow as it did in Habakkuk's day and in Jeremiah's day. Some dark days may be on the horizon but for God's children, there is joy in the morning. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

We do not have to look at the future even though it be somewhat bleak without hope, without joy, and without a calm assurance that God is on the throne. That God will always do that which is right. And will always love us. Even in the darkest days, for the child of God, there's joy and hope and blessing to be found from our father in heaven. So, trust in his goodness, rejoice in his love from which you can never be separated.

Do not fear, do not lose hope, he has not forgotten you. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love him, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Even the troubling circumstances, even the chastening hand of God, they work together for our what? For our good. Trust him.

He knows what he's doing. Be faithful to him. He will always be faithful to you. All things work together for good Even the chasing hand of God is for our good, the suffering we endure to make us stronger, the presence of God in the midst of trials to fill our hearts with joy and precious promises of God to bring us hope. I sometimes think about my children.

I fear at times that the place, the nation, the prosperity, and all of that that I grew up with here in The United States may not be the same for them. But then I remember but then I remember my God will be there for them and if they will trust in him, they will be just fine. No matter what the devil throws at them, God is going to take care of them. There will be blessing. There will be hope.

There will be joy. Because God is our portion. He is our hope. He is our inheritance. He is our assurance.

And he will never leave us nor forsake us. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olives shall fail, the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength and he will make my feet like hinds feet. He will make me to walk upon mine high places.

Will you rejoice with me today in the God of our salvation? He is our salvation. He is the salvation for this world. One day, he's coming back. He will save it.

He will redeem it as he has redeemed us. It is certain. Will you trust in his goodness and care? He is the good shepherd and he will shepherd his flock. Will you commit your way to him and wait patiently for him?

Will you serve him today with all your heart? Will you join Habakkuk in a song of praise for your eternal salvation? Will you come to him in faith today to receive his salvation and gift of everlasting life? Remember the just shall live by faith. But the unbelieving will be cast out into outer darkness.

The choice is ours. Is yours. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for Habakkuk. Lord, the times as I studied through the minor prophets seem to be bending more and more every day, looking more and more like the times in which these prophets lived.

But Lord, you are still on the throne. Lord, you will take care of those who put their faith in you. You will give us joy in the midst of sorrow. You will give us hope in the midst of trials. You will carry us through.

You will. Bring fulfillment to our lives, our hearts, and our families that the world cannot give. And you will give us victory. We are more than overcomers through him who loved us. Through him who has overcome the world.

Lord, thank you. For your blessings. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for accepting us into your family. Lord, help us to depend on you each day and to grow, to be more like you.

In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.