我們看到哈巴谷怎樣建立一個可以思考問題的屬靈處境；我們也看到他的辦法是以可靠和毫無爭議的事實──神的本性、品格和屬性──來重新確保自己對神的倚靠。

昨天我們看到他以聚焦於神的永恆本性來重新恢復自己的信心，接著他又以神的存在來提醒自己，他祈求的對象是「耶和華我的神」（哈一12），正如原來希伯來語的意思一樣，他是採用了神的偉大名字──耶和華來作這個禱告。「耶和華」這名字告訴我們，神是自己存在的神，是永恆的「我是」。神曾吩咐摩西告訴以色列人說：「那自有的，打發我到你們這裡來」（出三14），就是這時神給摩西祂自己的名字。「我是自有永有」的意思是「我是絕對、自存的一位」。自存是表示神不是倚靠其他人才能存在的。請仔細思考這一重點！祂是永恆中唯一不倚靠任何人或物而存在的（當然，除了三位一體其他的成員在外）。

哈巴谷的下一步是向自己重新保證神是聖潔的，他說：「我的聖者」（哈一12）。這是另一個定點──神是絕對正義的。當你注意這樣的經文時，不禁會提問：主可以做不公義的事情嗎？當然不能；這是絕對不可思議的事情。但是這對先知有甚麼影響呢？有的，他的問題因此開始消失。為甚麼？因為當我們把神看得越大，我們的困難就會變得越小。

We are looking at the way in which Habakkuk established a spiritual context in which he could think through his problem, and we are seeing that his strategy was to sure himself with those things which are reliable and beyond dispute the nature, the character and the attributes of God.

Yesterday we saw how he reassured himself by focusing on the eternal nature of God. Next he reminds himself of God's self-existence. He calls on the "Lord my God" (Hab. 1:12, AV). Here, as can be seen from the original Hebrew, he uses that great name for God - Jehovah. That name tells us that God is the self-existing One, the eternal "I Am". This was the name which God gave to Moses when He told him to say to the Israelites: "I Am has sent me to you" (Ex. 3:14). The name "I Am who I Am" means "I am the Absolute, the self-existent One." Self-existence means that God is dependent upon no one. Just think of that! He is the only being in eternity (apart, of course, from the other members of the Trinity) who does not depend upon anyone or anything for His existence.

Habakkuk's next step is to reassure himself with the thought of God's holiness: "My Holy One" (Hab. 1:12). Here is another fixed point - God is absolutely righteous. The moment you focus on a Scripture like that, you are forced to ask: Can the Lord do anything that is unrighteous? Of course not; such a thing is unthinkable. What is the effect of this on the prophet? His problem begins to fade. And why? Because the bigger our view of God, the smaller our view of our problems.