神的異象
穩步向前
經文
哈巴谷書三1-19
1先知哈巴谷的禱告，調用流離歌。
2耶和華啊，我聽見你的名聲（或譯：言語）就懼怕。
耶和華啊，求你在這些年間復興你的作為，在這些年間顯明出來；
在發怒的時候以憐憫為念。
3神從提幔而來；聖者從巴蘭山臨到。（細拉）
他的榮光遮蔽諸天；頌讚充滿大地。
4他的輝煌如同日光；從他手裡射出光線，在其中藏著他的能力。
5在他前面有瘟疫流行；在他腳下有熱症發出。
6他站立，量了大地（或譯：使地震動），觀看，趕散萬民。
永久的山崩裂；長存的嶺塌陷；他的作為與古時一樣。
7我見古珊的帳棚遭難，米甸的幔子戰兢。
8耶和華啊，你乘在馬上，坐在得勝的車上，
豈是不喜悅江河、向江河發怒氣、向洋海發憤恨嗎？
9你的弓全然顯露，向眾支派所起的誓都是可信的。（細拉）你以江河分開大地。
10山嶺見你，無不戰懼；大水氾濫過去，深淵發聲，洶湧翻騰（原文是向上舉手）。
11因你的箭射出發光，你的槍閃出光耀，日月都在本宮停住。
12你發憤恨通行大地，發怒氣責打列國，如同打糧。
13你出來要拯救你的百姓，拯救你的受膏者，
打破惡人家長的頭，露出他的腳（原文是根基），直到頸項。（細拉）
14你用敵人的戈矛刺透他戰士的頭；他們來如旋風，要將我們分散。
他們所喜愛的是暗中吞吃貧民。
15你乘馬踐踏紅海，就是踐踏洶湧的大水。
16我聽見耶和華的聲音，身體戰兢，嘴唇發顫，骨中朽爛；
我在所立之處戰兢。我只可安靜等候災難之日臨到，犯境之民上來。
17雖然無花果樹不發旺，葡萄樹不結果，橄欖樹也不效力，
田地不出糧食，圈中絕了羊，棚內也沒有牛；
18然而，我要因耶和華歡欣，因救我的神喜樂。
19主耶和華是我的力量；他使我的腳快如母鹿的蹄，又使我穩行在高處。
信息分享
昨天我們說過，如果我們把關於神的「底線」看為祂是醫治、保護或解救我們的神，這樣就經常會感到失望。因為我們知道有時候神並不會好像我們所期望的為我們行事。如果神讓一些事情發生在我們身上，而我們認為祂不應該容許那樣的事情發生的話，等到再遇上同樣的情況時，我們便會感到很難信任祂。在這種情況下，我們往往會對神產生很深的憤怒或失望，但考慮到基督徒的信心，我們學會將那些憤怒或失望壓制下來，而這很大程度上是因為我們不明白神的「底線」。
那麼，神的「底線」究竟是甚麼？我認為是祂的公義。我的意思是：神所做的，都是對的。不是因為那是神所做的，所以是對的，而是因為那是對的，所以神才做。這兩者之間的分別很大。很多基督徒感到難以相信神的公義。他們說自己相信，但在被別人問及時，卻清楚顯示出他們只根據自己的信念來相信公義。
今天的經文指出哈巴谷明白無論神做甚麼都是公義的。在他默想到神將會在祂的百姓身上顯示公義的時候，讓他內心感到平穩的是他剛找到的信心──對神的公義的信心。我要肯定地告訴你，除非我們確信神所作的一切絕對公平，否則我們不能有穩妥的腳步去行走前面的崎嶇路段。
「神所做的，盡是公義」
進深研究
耶十二1-17；詩九十八8-9；詩九十九4
1. 耶利米向神提出甚麼意見？
2. 甚麼推動神的公義？
祈禱
天父，我明白如果我要在基督徒生命中，以鹿那樣穩妥的腳步向上走的話，必須確信您所做的一切都是正確的。求您將這確信銘刻在我心上。奉主耶穌的聖名祈求。阿們。
The Vision of God
Steady as you go!
Bible reading:
Habakkuk 3:1-19
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.[a]
2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.[b] His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed— but he marches on forever.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?
9 You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Message
We acknowledged yesterday that if we see the "bottom line" concerning God as the fact that He is a Healer, or Protector, or a Deliverer, then we are often going to be disappointed, because every one of us knows that there are times when He does not come through for us in the way we expect. If He lets something happen to us that we think He shouldn't have let happen, then we will find it very difficult to trust in Him should we have the same requirement again. Often in these situations we end up developing a deep rage or disappointment with God which, in the interests of the Christian faith, we learn to suppress. This is largely because we do not understand God's "bottom line".
So what is the "bottom line" as regards God? I suggest it is His justice. By that I mean the truth that whatever God does, He does because it is right. Not that it is right because God does it, but that God does it because it is right. There is a world of difference between those two things. Most Christians find it difficult to believe in the justice of God. They say they do, but when questioned it is clear they believe only in justice on their terms.
In the passage before us today, Habakkuk comes to see that whatever God does is just, and it is his new-found confidence in the justice of God that holds him steady as he contemplates the judgment that God is about to bring on His people. I tell you with all the conviction of my heart that unless we are gripped by the belief that God acts justly in everything - everything - then we will not have the sure-footedness we need to negotiate the rocky slopes that are up ahead.
"Whatever God does is just"
Prayer
Father, I see that if I am to move upwards in my Christian life with the sure-footedness of a deer, then I can only do so as I am gripped by the conviction that everything You do is right. Burn that conviction into me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Jeremiah 12:1-17
Psalm 98:8-9; 99:4
1. What issue did Jeremiah take up with God?
2. What motivates God's justice?
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