Listening to God - How Can I Hear?

Westhill Community Church

Sun 28^th June 2020

Listening to God – How can I hear?

Reading: Habakkuk 2: 1-5

Who was Habakkuk?

The topic today is “Listening to God – How can I hear?” Earlier in our service Elaine read to us from the book of Habakkuk. Last Sunday, too, Jill Benstead referred to verses from this Old Testament book. It’s not a familiar book to many of us, and if you are like me it may take you some time to find it in a printed Bible.

So who was Habakkuk? We are not told explicitly what his background was, but there are a number of hints that give us an inkling.

Many years before, at the time of King David, an official group was established for the ministry of prophesying, based at the temple in Jerusalem. First Chronicles chapter 25 tells us

David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. (1 Chron 25: 1).

There were 288 of them initially, all trained and skilled in music. Many generations later this group of prophesying musicians was restored during the significant reforms of King Josiah (2 Chron 35: 15). We do not know, but it is quite likely that Habbakuk was a member of this select group. The evidence for this is firstly the way he describes himself as “Habakkuk the prophet,” and secondly because he was clearly a musician and song-writer. The final part of his book is written in the form of a song, with an instruction to the director of music that it be accompanied by stringed instruments. (Hab 3: 19).

The reforms of King Josiah were astonishing. Before he came to the throne temple worship had ceased entirely. Priestly activity had long been abandoned, except to promote the worship of false gods. The temple itself had fallen into ruin, stones crumbling and joists and beams decaying. In the rubble somewhere was the Book of the Law, but no one knew where, or cared. King Josiah rebuilt the ruins and restored the spiritual life of the nation. How’s this for an epitaph?

“He made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors.” (2 Chron 34:33)

It seems very likely that Habakkuk experienced the dramatic days of these reforms, and then, after the death of Josiah, experienced the terrible decline of the people back into their previous godless ways. In less than 25 years a succession of four kings led Judah deeper and deeper into sin, until eventually God’s judgement fell on them, and they were carried off into exile by the Babylonians.

Habakkuk’s book is an account of his conversations with God during this period of spiritual decline. To start with the conversation seems to have been very one-sided!

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? (Hab 1: 2)

I wonder if you can empathise with Habakkuk’s anguished protest. For some of us it isn’t so much a complaint as a shrug of resignation. I’ve tried praying but I don’t seem to get a response. In any event, how do I know if God is listening, or when he is speaking to me?

What had really stirred up Habakkuk’s emotions was the moral decline he was observing in his nation. Listen to his cry.

Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralysed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Hab 1: 3-4

Habakkuk had cried out to God to reverse this trend, perhaps to raise up national leaders that would turn the hearts of the people back to him, and stand for truth and righteousness. All the reforms introduced by King Josiah were rapidly being eroded. Surely God must step in to restore his people? But it seemed to Habakkuk that heaven was silent. So repeatedly he brought these concerns to God in prayer, and it seems that he was getting increasingly frustrated: “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?”

1. God Responds to Those who are Serious

This brings me to the first point I want to make about hearing God speak to us. God responds to those who are serious, who are persistent, to those who will not give up. Hebrews 11: 6 says,

Anyone who comes to him [God] must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Heb 11: 6

Jeremiah 29:13 says,

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jesus made this very point by way of a parable, recorded in Luke chapter 18. He told of a judge who was unmoved by any sense of accountability to God or man. A poor widow approached him to secure justice for herself, and he ignored her. But the more he ignored her so the more she kept bothering him. Eventually, because she wouldn’t go away, and to get her off his back, he agreed to her request. Today we would probably tell a story instead of a government minister persuaded to act because of protest marchers who never give up.

Jesus concluded, If an unjust judge is persuaded to act by persistent asking, how much more will a righteous God respond swiftly to those who call upon him with persistent faith.

So the question is, when we seek God, how serious are we? How often do we approach him with our requests, but a few hours later forget what we have asked? And how often, if we don’t get an immediate response, do we stop asking?

The point Jesus was making is one that we must take seriously if we truly desire our communication with God to be effective. He said,

[We] should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18: 1)

Habakkuk did not give up. To us his prayer appears almost to be irreverent. Here it is again in the Message version.

God, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, “Help! Murder! Police!” before you come to the rescue? (Hab 1:2 MSG)

And God responded to him, and thankfully did not castigate him for impudence. He effectively said, OK Habakkuk, I do believe that this really matters to you, as indeed it matters to me. But you’re not going to like the answer; in fact I don’t think you’re going to believe it.

What was it about God’s answer that was so upsetting and unbelievable? It was this. Habakkuk, you know that nation to the east that are ruthless and impetuous, who routinely seize what does not belong to them, invading whomsoever they want, feared and dreaded by all, a law unto themselves, you know, the Babylonians? Well, I’m going to use them as an instrument in my hands to deliver justice to your own nation, to recompense them for all their wickedness.

You can almost hear Habakkuk’s howl of protest.

You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment? You, my Rock, have ordained them to punish? Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Hab 1: 12-13

So now Habakkuk has a second issue to put before God and seek an answer. How can he even think of using the wicked actions of an evil nation to fulfil his own righteous purposes? So he says, in the words we read earlier in the service,

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Hab 2: 1

But was Habakkuk justified in being so shocked at what God said he would do? You see, this wasn’t the first time God had uttered such words. Back in the time of good King Josiah the book of God’s Law had been discovered in the rubble of the crumbling temple, and the king had read what it said with shock and horror. He sent officers to the prophet Huldah to ask her whether she had a word from God for them. Now there is no book containing the writings of the prophet Huldah, as there is for the likes of Habakkuk and Jeremiah and Isaiah. We only have recorded one paragraph of Huldah’s prophecies, and yet how faithfully she delivered God’s message to the king and the people. Every word she uttered was fulfilled. This is part of what she said.

“This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people – all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all that their hands have made, my anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.” 2 Chron 34: 24-25

And what had been written in the book of the Law that had been read by the king? Well it included the following devastating words.

The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. Deut 28: 49-51

Habakkuk the prophet would have been well aware of these revelations from God. But I suspect he was unwilling to accept that things would indeed happen as God had previously revealed.

2. Sometimes We Overlook God’s Answer

And this brings me to the second point I want to make about hearing from God. Sometimes we think God has not spoken when the fact is he has already given us an answer. And sometimes the problem is that we are just unwilling to accept what he has said to us. So we ask, Lord please guide me about doing this or doing that, when in his written word God has already given clear guidance about such a matter. Why should we think that what he has previously said will not apply to us in our situation? And this means, too, that we need to spend time reading, understanding and applying God’s written word, so that increasingly we will know what God wants us to do, and what to avoid, without having to ask him.

Once again God answered Habakkuk, and assured him that using Babylon as an instrument of his justice did not mean that God condoned their wickedness. Babylon would indeed receive God’s just recompense for all their evil deeds, in God’s time. And along with this came a wonderful assurance that God’s kingdom and righteousness would one day fill the whole earth. He said,

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. … For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Hab 2: 3, 14

Now we might be tempted to think that God only speaks to special people, such as Habakkuk the prophet. After all, didn’t King Josiah have to ask the prophet Huldah what God was saying, rather than hearing from God himself? If a king couldn’t hear from God what chance do I have?

3. We Can be Confident that We Will Hear Him

So this brings me to my third point. We can be confident that we will hear him. God speaks to every single one of those who belong to him through Jesus. It is true that in ancient times God usually only spoke through people he appointed to speak on his behalf, like Moses and the prophets. But with the coming of Jesus this completely changed.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. Heb 1: 1-2

This is what Jesus said about his speaking to those who belong to him.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10: 27

It is actually not difficult or complicated at all. To hear from him – to hear indeed from God – I need to (1) be his sheep and (2) follow him, that is keep myself close to him so that I will always be in a place where when he speaks I will hear him.

On another occasion Jesus said to the people of his day,

Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God. John 8: 47

This doesn’t mean that if you do not know God or love him then he will never speak to you or respond to your cry. When speaking to the people of Athens the apostle Paul told them that God’s intention is that all people

“would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” Acts 17: 27

So if you do not know God, or are not sure if you are included amongst those the Bible describes as belonging to him, then I would urge you to do as Paul encouraged, and reach out for him in order to find him. If you would like someone to help you then why not get in touch with our prayer ministry team? Details of how to do this will be displayed at the end of our service.

But if you have come to God through Jesus. If you have put your trust in him to reconcile you to God and to make you one of his beloved children, then you are privileged not only to approach God at any time with what is on your heart but also to hear what he wants to say to you and share with you

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to all who belong to him, will be a counsellor, will lead us into all truth and will show us things lying before us (John 14-16). Jesus speaks to us through the Holy Spirit whom he has given us. He speaks words of comfort and counsel. He reminds us of what God has said previously. He advises us about what is true and what is false, what is trustworthy and what is to be avoided. He warns us and prepares us beforehand for things we are about to encounter. This is not a privilege for just a few special Christians who have attained some kind of higher plane of spirituality. It is for all who belong to Jesus, whether you start following him today or have been following him for ninety years or more.

Paul expressed it like this. The Holy Spirit provides a foretaste of Heaven for all who are on the way there.

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory. Eph 1: 13-14

You might say, I just don’t know how to tell if the Holy Spirit is saying something to me. And I would reply, that really is not a difficult problem for God at all, provided you are willing to hear him. You see, the Holy Spirit really is a skilful counsellor and guide. Take your uncertainty to the Lord. Tell him honestly how you feel, and ask him to teach you how to discern his voice from all the others demanding your attention. He is more committed to you than you are to him. He will show you.

As I wrote these words the verse of a hymn came to mind, that I used to sing in my younger days – the traditional hymn “How Firm a Foundation.” The last verse says

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose

I will not, I will not desert to its foes

That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake

When he said, “My sheep hear my voice” he really meant it, and we can depend upon it.

Amen.