_I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower._ AWAITING THE LORD’S MESSAGE Nothing definite is known of this man Habakkuk. In the text we see him preparing himself for his holy task--ascending his tower, that he may see; secluding himself, that he may hear; making his bosom bare, that he... [ Continue Reading ]
_Write the vision, and make it plain._ TEACHING MUST BE PLAIN Think of that railway excursion train as it hurries onwards with impetuous speed! A vast crowd is collected there, and how various and complicated are the interests of each! A rapid impulse bears forward the whole; that impulse resides i... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the vision is yet for an appointed time._ VISIONS He whom men style a visionary has for the most part little or no honour among them. But no one can help having visions unless he be devoid of imagination. A vision is an inward view, an image, or series of images, broader, larger, grander, deep... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Just shall live by his faith._ FAITH AND THE HIGHER LIFE All men live by faith, and in our world man is the only creature who lives by faith. A world altogether without faith, where no man could trust another in anything, would be a most miserable world. Take away faith altogether, and all the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied._ MORAL WRONG; SOME OF ITS NATIONAL PHASES Evil, like good, is one in essence, but it has many forms and phases. The branches that grow out of the root, whilst filled with the same sap, vary widely in shape and hue. I. Dr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Him that ladeth himself with thick clay._ HEAVY CLAY It is the glory of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ when it is regarded in its moral aspect, that it is not the religion merely of transcendental and unpractical truths, but that its motives and precepts go down to the minutest details of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house._ COVETOUSNESS AND SELF-TRUST I. The national wrongs here indicated. 1. Coveting the possessions of others. “Woe to him that coveteth an evil coveteousness to his house.” “An evil covetousness”? There is a good covetousness. We are comma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast consulted shame to thy house._ CONSULTING SHAME The prophet again confirms the truth, that those who count themselves happy, imagining that they are like God, busy themselves in vain; for God will turn to shame whatever they think to be their glory, derived from their riches. The avarici... [ Continue Reading ]
_The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it._ RETRIBUTION The prophet in this connection is declaring that the Chaldeans shall be punished for their cruel rapacity. Retribution is everywhere assumed as a great first-truth, which nature itself constantly tea... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood._ A CURSE DENOUNCED AGAINST BLOODSHED I. The ground or cause of this curse. The crying, crimson sin of bloodshed. In all generations it has been the care of providence, both by civil and religions means, to extinguish all principles of savageness in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea._ THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD There shall be such a revelation of God’s character and attributes as shall win the faith and love and adoration of the human family. Now, where is that revelation made? In... [ Continue Reading ]
_What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it._ NATIONAL WRONGS ENDING IN NATIONAL WOES I. That men often give to the works of their own hands the devotions that belong to God. These old Chaldean idolaters gave their devotions to the “graven image” and to the “molten imag... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the Lord is in His holy temple._ THE LORD IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE What comparison can be formed between an idol which is nothing, and the great God who made heaven and earth? What stronger proof can be given that man is far gone from original righteousness, and inclined to evil continually, than th... [ Continue Reading ]