In Wrath Remember Mercy!



"A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O LORD, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy." -HABAKKUK 3:1-2 [KJV]

 
As we can see, these words from the prophet Habakkuk are a prayer. They are the cry of a man whose heart has been moved by the Holy Spirit. What has the Holy Spirit used to produce this prayer? It was the word of the Lord. He says, "I have heard Thy speech." God spoke His word of truth to him in power.  He was enabled by grace to hear, believe and understand things concerning both of himself and his nation.

This prayer is the cry of his heart which is now filled holy fear, the "fear of the Lord" that is "the beginning of wisdom." What does he pray for? "REVIVE THY WORK." Such a statement presupposes life! You cannot revive what has never been alive. This is the prayer of quickened believers in every age whether it be for themselves or those around them. Judgment and mercy must both be acknowledged as God's "work." The Life-giver must be the Life-sustainer! The Church as individual believers or the whole is prone to fall into a death sleep but for the life-giving Christ who is Himself the Life. 

Sin which brings forth death brings with it judgment and God's wrath. Seeing our sin and the sin of the world around us and having heard God's word, we pray "in wrath remember mercy"! Mercy is the kind treatment of those who have acted as enemies to God. Knowing God’s holy and just character, we know judgment must come upon this world. But we also know that God has purposed to save a people through the sufferings and death of the crucified Christ. Judgment is sure to come upon our world but salvation has come also. The glory of the gospel of God’s grace is that His judgment for the sins of all in Christ has already fallen on Christ. It is satisfied by His death.

And what does Habakkuk’s prayer do but acknowledge God as He describes Himself in Isaiah 45:21, “a just God and a Saviour.” God, we beg, cause this saving mercy to be ours in your righteous Son! We rejoice in the midst of judgment all around us that “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Where? In the cross death of Christ! Lord, in the midst of these years, remember mercy and remind us that Your mercy is in Christ! 


-Gospel report by preacher Gary Shepard

Sovereign Grace Baptist church of Jacksonville, North Carolina USA

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