Habakkuk 3:16-19 “A Song In The Night” Sept. 4, 2011
In the early 1820’s, John Keats, the English poet, went outside one evening for the specific purpose of sitting under a tree and listening to the song of a nightingale, the bird renowned for singing its song at night. Several hours later, one of his friends said that Keats returned home with scraps of paper in his hand; on them he had composed one of the most famous poems in history: “Ode To A Nightingale.” Keats was captivated with the nightingale, that bird that could sing its song in the night.
As we come to the very end of this Book of Habakkuk this morning, I believe that the prophet Habakkuk himself is much like that nightingale. Habakkuk lived in a land of darkness – and it was about to get much darker. And yet, he had a song that he could sing in the those dark days. (Remember from our study that this whole 3rd chapter of Habakkuk is literally a song). In the end, despite all of the darkness and despair that overtook his land, Habakkuk had a song to sing. And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ today, then you can be like that nightingale as well. The Book of Job speaks of “God my Maker, who gives songs in the night.” In the darkest hours of your life, you can still have a song to sing – “A Song In The Night.” Let us read the last verses of this chapter together – and as we do, watch and see how these last verses form the fitting conclusion to this whole book. It amplifies what Chapter 2:4 meant when it said that “the righteous will live by his faith” in a land of darkness. These last verses are the ultimate answer for Habakkuk: he would sing in the night. And if you are a follower of Jesus, then in your darkest hours, you can always have a song to sing as well: “A Song In The Night.” Continue reading
shawnethomas 