Yet I Will Rejoice.

I have been following with a great deal of interest the current world-wide economic woes.  I have read about President Obama's plan to stimulate the economy by "investing" TRILLIONS of taxpayers' dollars in dubious projects, such as shoring up the banks.  I have watched YouTube videos explaining how a switcheroo can take debt that ought to bankrupt the banks and can place it squarely on the shoulders of the taxpayers.

On top of economic issues, there are the issues of Freedom of Speech, or lack thereof, right here in Canada.  I just read Ezra  Levant's eye-opening book, Shakedown, which exposes the Human Rights Commissions in Canada for the Star Chambers they are.  In reality, they are not about human rights, but about the rights of whiny individuals to not be offended by someone else's beliefs or comments.  

Of course, there are always wars and rumours of wars.  More Canadian soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan, and for what?  So the powers that rule that country can agree that a woman is not allowed to leave her home without her husband's company?  So women can be told that they are NEVER permitted to deny their husband's sexual advances?  

Sigh.

What is this world coming to?

Well, Habakkuk asked the same sorts of questions.  The world he knew was a mess.  He complained to God:

Habakkuk's Complaint

2 

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

and you will not save?

 3 Why do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

 4 So the law is paralyzed,

and justice never goes forth.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

so justice goes forth perverted.

He complained about the violence he witnessed(Afghanistan?), about the lack of justice (Human Rights Commission?).   And the Lord responded - don't worry, Habakkuk.  I control the Chaldeans as well as the Assyrians.  I am using them as I see fit.  The answer is on its way.

If it seems slow, wait for it;

it will surely come; it will not delay.

Even if it seems to be taking forever... it will surely come.

 4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,

but the righteous shall live by his faith.

The soul of the ungodly is puffed up.  He thinks he is in control.   But the truth is, none of us control anything.  We cannot guarantee our next breath.  We have no control over whether or not we'll wake up tomorrow morning.

But the righteous does not live "puffed up".  The righteous does not think he can spend his way out of debt.  He does not think he can circumvent the laws of the land to get his agenda pushed through.  He does not arrogantly make laws that enslave women.  The righteous lives by faith- Faith In the Ever-Living God.

Woe to Obama, who heaps up debt for the people.  Woe to the bankers, who loaned money to those who would not be responsible and pay it back.  Woe to the Human Rights Commissions who spent Canadian taxpayers' funds to pursue innocent men for a ridiculous cause.  The whole earth WILL be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea.  I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the guilty when that day comes.

Woe to the Chaldeans

6 Shall not all these  take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—

for  how long?—

and loads himself with pledges!”

 7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise,

and those awake who will make you tremble?

Then you will be spoil for them.

 8 Because you have plundered many nations,

all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,

for the blood of man and violence to the earth,

to cities and all who dwell in them.

 9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,

to set his nest on high,

to be safe from the reach of harm!

10 You have devised shame for your house

 by cutting off many peoples;

you have forfeited your life.

11 For the stone will cry out from the wall,

and the beam from the woodwork respond.

12 “Woe to him who builds a town with blood

and founds a city on iniquity!

13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts

that peoples labor merely for fire,

and nations weary themselves for nothing?

14 For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of  the glory of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk goes on to acknowledge that he fears the Lord.  He knows that God is in control, and that the wicked will not go unpunished, so he cries out to God, "in wrath, remember mercy."  Were it not for the mercy of our Beautiful God, we'd all be without hope.

His splendor covered the heavens,

and the earth was full of his praise. 

  His brightness was like the light;

rays flashed from his hand;

and there he veiled his power.

  Before him went pestilence,

and plague followed at his heels. 

 He stood and measured the earth;

he looked and shook the nations;

then the eternal mountains were scattered;

the everlasting hills sank low.

His were the everlasting ways.

God's ways are still the everlasting ways.  He is not impressed by the G20 leaders and their empty rhetoric.  He is not concerned about the red tape of government bureaucrats who are vying for ever more power.  This God will move on our behalf, when He is good and ready.  Meanwhile, we wait.  We trust.  We know there are hard times ahead.  Yet we rejoice. 

We rejoice in God, our Saviour.

I hear, and  my body trembles;

my lips quiver at the sound;

rottenness enters into my bones;

my legs tremble beneath me.

Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble

to come upon people who invade us.

Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

  yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

 I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

 God, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the deer's;

he makes me  tread on my high places.