Surely God is Our Salvation

 

 We all want salvation (deliverance) from something:  from our way of life that produces anxieties or situations that seem too impossible for us to handle or from what we consider the mundane way of life.  Either way we all want a deliverer of some kind to rescue us. According to the dictionary, salvation means preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.   The Greek word for salvation is soteria, Strong's #4991, which means deliverance, preservation, salvation.  "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that we . . . should live together with Him." I Thessalonians 1:9-10  

    "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1-2   (Amighty:   in Hebrew is Shadday, Strong's #7706 which means all powerful, all sufficient God, eternally capable of being all that His people need. With El in front of Shadday it means God Almighty.)  What an awesome God we have to provide for us.

      At this time in the history of our country, we as believers are called to spend more time praying for our country.  Paul in I Timothy 2:1-3 says, "I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings (governing officials) and all in authority, that we lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and reverence (dignity). For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior."  The people in our country are not leading a quiet and peaceful life. We have many demonstrations against this or that; natural disasters of fire, hurricanes, extreme heat or cold; and a mood of unrest in everyday life, no peace. 

       Habakkuk.  Habakkuk is an excellent example of a prayer warrior who was amazingly tenacious in praying his concerns of what was going on in his country.  Since this is a small book in the Old Testament with only 3 chapters, the writer doesn't specify how often Habakkuk ran up the rampart to the watchtower to pray his complaints.  Habakkuk is a watchman on the wall (Isaiah 61:6-7) who would keep up his watch until he got an answer from the LORD.  Habakkuk felt comfortable enough to ask questions and to expect to hear answers because of his personal relationship with the LORD: He knew the LORD would answer his questions, but he didn't know when.  I can imagine Habakkuk running up the rampart (wall) to talk with the LORD every day, anxiously waiting for those answers. From the rampart Habakkuk could see the advancing army marching through the land, destroying it as they came.

       When he hasn't gotten his answer yet, he says, "I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He (the LORD) will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected." Habakkuk 2:1  Finally, the LORD answered him but it wasn't an answer that Habakkuk was expecting. He wanted the LORD to come to their rescue as He had done so many times in the past.  The LORD answered the questions in the rest of chapter 2. It was a vision of destruction to come. This answer that he heard from the LORD caused his body to tremble, and his lips to quiver at the voice.  Habakkuk wanted a different answer so badly, the one with no destruction. Can you imagine how Habakkuk felt when he heard those answers?  He replied,   "O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O LORD revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known, in wrath remember mercy."  Habakkuk even asked God a silly question in his trembling. "O LORD, were you displeased at the rivers. Was Your anger against rivers, too." Habakkuk 3:2,8 NKJV Habakkuk had a good personal relationship with the LORD in order to ask the question about the rivers.

       Only time spent with our Heavenly Father daily, can our faith withstand seemingly insurmountable situations, but with God's help we can withstand the situation we are in. "Call to Me and I will answer you." Jeremiah 33:3 "For I, the LORD God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'" Isaiah 41:13 

         Let our faith in the faithfulness of the LORD to answer us in time of need to sustain us, even if we have to petition Him many days until He answers as Habakkuk had to run up the rampart everyday seeking answers to his questions.

       In the end Habakkuk remembers the LORD's promises with this song of faith:

       Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines;

       Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food;

         Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls -           Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the  God of my salvation

       The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, 

         And He will make me walk on my high hills.    Habakkuk 3:17 - 19 NKJV

Habakkuk's joy was the Hebrew words:  giryl and alaz, Strong's #1523/5937, which means to be filled with joy so much that Habakkuk was dancing and singing with joy in the presence of the LORD.

       Although Habakkuk's world is turning upside down from destruction and chaos, he can still rejoice and has joy in knowing that the LORD is his salvation. 

       "By Your mighty power I can walk through any devastation and you will keep me alive, reviving me. Your power set me free from the hatred of my enemies.  You keep every promise you've ever made to me! Since Your love for me is constant and endless, I ask you, Lord, to finish every good thing that you've begun in me! Psalm 138:7-8 Passion Translation