The prayers from the Bible, which we’ve been
looking at, show us the attitude that God loves to see. Hannah may have had
anger and petty feelings towards Peninnah, irritation or anger with Elkanah,
and perhaps guilt and shame as well. She was human, so she probably did. But,
while she told God the truth, those were not the central emotions in her heart
when she came to Him for help. She was looking out of her situation by faith,
and reaching up to grasp God’s hand. She was praying for what she wanted, not
for what she didn’t want.
Jesus was definitely grappling with fear and
desperation none of us will ever taste. What if he couldn’t come back? The
second death was permanent. What if this was truly the end? He showed his
emotions honestly to his Father, but the central ingredient, the vital one, was
faith. “Your will be done.” He came out of the garden with the battle won. The
rest was just getting it over with. In fact, after that, his attention appears
to have been more on Pilate, the women in the road, his disciples, his mother, the
dying thief, and even the centurion than on himself or his feelings.
And Habakkuk? First he takes his stand. He waits
on God, watching for the answer he knows will come. And God does answer. All of
chapter 2 is his answer, and it ends with a call to silence. “The Lord is in
his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Silence could be a category all its own, but any
of the four can be prayed in contemplative silence, even “Help.” Habakkuk’s
silence must have been productive, because all of chapter 3 is a song, “To the
choirmaster, with stringed instruments.” And the climax is in verses 17-19. If
you read attentively, you will recognize these fig trees, vines, flocks and fields
as reminders of the great Covenant Promises in Deuteronomy 28. Habakkuk is
saying, “Even if the very covenant of God appears to fail, “yet I will rejoice!”
That’s amazing. That only comes from the heart.
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