Three Things Concerning God

​Habakkuk 2:20 ~ “But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
 
As the LORD proclaims His dreadful woes against the society that has abandoned the ways of God, He culminates it in the woe against idolatry, the sin by which one worships a false god. It is truly ludicrous from God’s perspective for mankind to worship any idol, for they are as nothing. In Habakkuk 2:18-19, prior to our text for today, the LORD speaks and declares, “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.” Let it be a despised thing in our hearts as well, for idolatry and the false religions of the world only lead people away from the Living God and unto all manner of woeful paths. Beloved, there is no one besides the LORD. None can compare to the Almighty, nor is there anything created by men or schemes devised in the mind of man that is of greater worth than the knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ.
 
As we consider our text for today, it opens with a simple conjunction: “but.” That is to say, despite all the idolatry that has ravaged the world and defiled the minds of men, God, the LORD, still is. And, no matter the images of men that are elevated, or the mentality of mankind that seeks to depose the LORD, He will always and forever stand alone as the only Creator and Sovereign over all creation. Psalm 2:1-3 speaks of the kings of the earth striving to break free from God’s sovereignty, but it is all in vain. Psalm 2:4 says, “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD holds them in derision.”
 
As we observe the text, let us look upon three critical things
 
First, God is exalted. It declares that “the LORD is in his holy temple.” Dear ones, this is not the temple built by human hands. This is not Solomon’s temple, created during the reign of the wise king. This is the temple of the LORD which is in the highest of places. Isaiah 6:1 says, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Though the LORD humbled Himself and took on flesh as Jesus the Messiah (see Philippians 2:6-11), He is exalted above all and is seated on the throne in glory. Do not bring God down in your estimation, for He is, and ever will be, the LORD of all.
 
Second, God is worshiped. Look, my friends, at the location where the LORD is present: “in his holy temple.” Temples are created for deities to be worshiped. The temple of Diana in Ephesus is supposed to have been one of the great wonders of the world. Again, in Isaiah 6:2-3 we find the angelic seraphim gathered for the worship of God, “Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Our LORD Jesus declared that the Father is to be worshiped in spirit and truth (see John 4:23). Do you seek to worship the LORD? In defiance of all the idolatry this world will bow before, let us worship the LORD Jesus.
 
Third, God is feared. This understanding comes from the closing statement of our text: “let all the earth keep silence before him.” So much noise happens in this world. Let not our expression before the LORD merely add to the voluminous amount of noise. Courtrooms get cleared when the gallery of observers show no respect to the judge or proceedings because they were making too much noise. How often is it that we come before God to listen rather than speak? Consider Ecclesiastes 5:1, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.” Let us do as the Scripture indicates and be still so that we will know that God is the LORD (see Psalm 46:10).
 
In this cacophonous, self-adulating and idolatrous time wherein we live, let every Christian find themselves firmly fixed upon the LORD Jesus, that He should be exalted, worshiped and feared. May this be true of all of us.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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