Bible Commentaries

A Prayer for Middle Life

Habakkuk 3:2

What we commonly call a revival of religion is the conversion of the young on a large scale. But when youth, with its energies and hopes, is delivered from this present evil world and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Habakkuk 3:2

I. In What Does Revival Consist?

a. In quickening believers to a higher life.

b. In awakening the Church to her Divinely appointed mission.

c. In leading sinners to Christ.

II. The Absolute Necessity for Revivals.

d. They heal breaches and restore harmony.

e. They call out all the strength of the Church.

f. Churches must perish without converts.

g. A real revival brings out the character of the wicked—they yield or rebel.

h. Influence on communities.

III. How Revivals may be Secured.

i. By the study of God's Word.

j. By self-examination and forsaking of sin.

k. By meditating on the condition of the unsaved.

l. By united and persevering prayer.

m. By faithful preaching of the gospel.

—C. Perren, Revival Sermons, p104.

The Hiding of the Divine Power

Habakkuk 3:4

These words are part of a hymn on the self-revelation of God. They contain one of those flashes of insight and profound understanding which so often mark the utterances of Hebrew Psalmists and Prophets. The writer beheld a sudden unveiling of the glory of God, a glory the very light and splendour of which became the hiding-place of the Divine Power.

I. This fact is writ large in the physical universe. We do not usually realize the might behind what we see. Things are so serenely still and steady that we but vaguely apprehend the greatness of the power that holds and sustains them. If the power that silently pervades the universe were let loose without the restraints and direction of wisdom and goodness, confusion and destruction immeasurable and beyond imagination would at once ensue. And yet, even the greatest upheavals give but a faint indication of the reality behind.

II. On the field of history the same truth is illustrated. Every attentive reader recognizes the presence of a power that makes for righteousness, and against which nothing can ultimately prevail. Yet this power is usually hidden from the actors on the stage, so much so that they often imagine themselves masters of affairs. Statesmen and soldiers conceive that they are the arbiters of national and world destinies, but what is all the skill of men compared with that Unseen Power which works in silence age after age, and eventually disposes of men and nations?

III. God consistently conceals His power. What then has this well-attested fact to suggest to us? It brings home God's supreme regard for character. He could not have made Himself known by displays of might such as would have compelled submission, for that would have been contrary to His spirit and character. He would have been Master without any self- Revelation , and His purpose would thus have been defeated. It was far more important that man should know Him as good, true, and loving than as infinitely powerful. By this method all that is best in the human heart is touched and called out. By concealing His power He gives scope for our freedom and thus provides for the proper discipline and development of character.

References.—III:16.—H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No2038. E. Paxton Hood, Christian World Pulpit, vol.xxviii. p45. III:17 , 18.—G. A. Sowter, Sowing and Reaping, p73. III:17-19.—J. P. Gledstone, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv. p51. III:19.—A. Raleigh, Old Testament Outline, p277.