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Expositor's Bible Commentary Habakkuk 3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. Habakkuk 3:1-19 The third chapter, an Ode or Rhapsody, is ascribed to Habakkuk by its title. This, however, does not prove its authenticity: the title is too like those assigned to the Psalms in the period of the Second Temple. On the contrary, the title itself, the occurrence of the musical sign Selah in the contents, and the colophon suggest for the chapter a liturgical origin after the Exile. That this is more probable than the alternative opinion, that, being a genuine work of Habakkuk, the chapter was afterwards arranged as a Psalm for public worship, is confirmed by the fact that no other work of the prophets has been treated in the same way. Nor do the contents support the authorship by Habakkuk. They reflect no definite historical situation like the preceding chapters. The style and temper are different. While in them the prophet speaks for himself, here it is the nation or congregation of Israel that addresses God. The language is not, as some have maintained, late; but the designation of the people as "Thine anointed," a term which before the Exile was applied to the king, undoubtedly points to a post-exilic date. The figures, the theophany itself, are not necessarily archaic, but are more probably molded on archaic models. There are many affinities with Psalms of a late date. At the same time a number of critics maintain the genuineness of the chapter, and they have some grounds for this. Habakkuk was, as we can see from chapters 1 and 2, a real poet. There was no need why a man of his temper should be bound down to reflecting only his own day. If so practical a prophet as Hosea, and one who has so closely identified himself with his times, was wont to escape from them to a retrospect of the dealings of God with Israel from of old, why should not the same be natural for a prophet who was much less practical and more literary and artistic? There are also many phrases in the Psalm which may be interpreted as reflecting the same situation as chapters 1, 2. All this, however, only proves possibility. The Psalm has been adapted in Psalm 77:17-20 . "IN THE MIDST OF THE YEARS" Habakkuk 3:1-19 WE have seen the impossibility of deciding the age of the ode which is attributed to Habakkuk in the third chapter of his book. But this is only one of the many problems raised by that brilliant poem. Much of its text is corrupt, and the meaning of many single words is uncertain. As in most Hebrew poems of description, the tenses of the verbs puzzle us, we cannot always determine whether the poet is singing of that which is past or present or future, and this difficulty is increased by his subject, a revelation of God in nature for the deliverance of Israel. Is this the deliverance from Egypt, with the terrible tempests which accompanied it? Or have the features of the Exodus been borrowed to describe some other deliverance, or to sum up the constant manifestation of Jehovah for His people’s help? The introduction, in Habakkuk 3:2 , is clear. The singer has heard what is to be heard of Jehovah, and His great deeds in the past. He prays for a revival of these "in the midst of the years." The times are full of trouble and turmoil. Would that God, in the present confusion of baffled hopes and broken issues, made Himself manifest by power and brilliance, as of old! "In turmoil remember mercy!" To render "turmoil" by "wrath," as if it were God’s anger against which the singer’s heart appealed, is not true to the original word itself, affords no parallel to "the midst of the years," and misses the situation. Israel cries from a state of life in which the obscure years are huddled together and full of turmoil. We need not wish to fix the date more precisely than the writer himself does, but may leave it with him "in the midst of the years." There follows the description of the Great Theophany, of which, in his own poor times, the singer has heard. It is probable that he has in his memory the events of the Exodus and Sinai. On this point his few geographical allusions agree with his descriptions of nature. He draws all the latter from the desert, or Arabian, side of Israel’s history. He introduces none of the sea-monsters, or imputations of arrogance and rebellion to the sea itself, which the influence of Babylonian mythology so thickly scattered through the later sea-poetry of the Hebrews. The Theophany takes place in a violent tempest of thunder and rain, the only process of nature upon which the desert poets of Arabia dwell with any detail. In harmony with this, God appears from the southern desert, from Teman and Paran, as in the theophanies in Deuteronomy 33:1-29 , and in the Song of Deborah; a few lines recall the Song of the Exodus, { Exodus 15:1-27 } and there are many resemblances to the phraseology of the Sixty-eighth Psalm. The poet sees under trouble the tents of Kushan and of Midian, tribes of Sinai. And though the Theophany is with floods of rain and lightning, and foaming of great waters, it is not with hills, rivers, or sea that God is angry, but with the nations the oppressors of His poor people, and in order that He may deliver the latter. All this, taken with the fact that no mention is made of Egypt, proves that, while the singer draws chiefly upon the marvelous events of the Exodus and Sinai for his description, he celebrates not them alone but all the ancient triumphs of God over the heathen oppressors of Israel. Compare the obscure line-these be "His goings of old." The report of it all fills the prophet with trembling ( Habakkuk 3:16 returns upon Habakkuk 2:6 ), and although his language is too obscure to permit us to follow with certainty the course of his feeling, he appears to await in confidence the issue of Israel’s present troubles. His argument seems to be, that such a God may be trusted still, in face of approaching invasion ( Habakkuk 3:16 ). The next verse, however, does not express the experience of trouble from human foes; but figuring the extreme affliction of drought, barrenness, and poverty, the poet speaking in the name of Israel declares that, in spite of them, he will still rejoice in the God of their salvation ( Habakkuk 3:17 ). So sudden is this change from human foes to natural plagues that some scholars have here felt a passage to another poem describing a different situation. But the last lines with their confidence in the "God of salvation," a term always used of deliverance from enemies, and the boast, borrowed from the Eighteenth Psalm. "He maketh my feet like to hinds’ feet, and gives me to march on my heights," reflect the same circumstances as the bulk of the Psalm, and offer no grounds to doubt the unity of the whole. PSALM OF HABAKKUK THE PROPHET "Lord, I have beard the report of Thee; I stand in awe! Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make Thee known In turmoil remember mercy! God comes from Teman, The Holy from Mount Paran. He covers the heavens with His glory." "And filled with His praise is the earth. The flash is like lightning; He has rays from each hand of Him, Therein is the ambush of His might. Pestilence travels before Him, The plague-fire breaks forth at His feet. He stands and earth shakes, He looks and drives nations asunder; And the ancient mountains are cloven, The hills everlasting sink down. These be His ways from of old." "Under trouble I see the tents of Kushan The curtains of Midian’s land are quivering Is it with hills Jehovah is wroth? Is Thine anger with rivers? Or against the sea is Thy wrath, That Thou ridest it with horses, Thy chariots of victory? Thy bow is stripped bare; Thou gluttest(?) Thy shafts. Into rivers Thou clearest the earth; Mountains see Thee and writhe; The rainstorm sweeps on: The Deep utters his voice, He lifts up his roar upon high. Sun and moon stand still in their dwelling, At the flash of Thy shafts as they speed, At the sheen of the lightning, Thy lance In wrath Thou stridest the earth, In anger Thou threshest the nations Thou art forth to the help of Thy people, To save Thine anointed. Thou hast shattered the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare from to the neck. Thou hast pierced with Thy spears the head of his princes. They stormed forth to crush me; Their triumph was as to devour the poor in secret. Thou hast marched on the sea with Thy horses; Foamed the great waters." "I have heard, and my heart shakes; At the sound my lips tremble, Rottenness enters my bones, My steps shake under me. I will for the day of trouble That pours in on the people. Though the fig-tree do not blossom, And no fruit be on the vines, Fail the produce of the olive, And the fields yield no meat, Cut off by the flock from the fold, And no cattle in the stalls, Yet in the Lord will I exult, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Jehovah, the Lord, is my might; He hath made my feet like the hinds’, And on my heights He gives me to march." This Psalm, whose musical signs prove it to have been employed in the liturgy of the Jewish Temple, has also largely entered into the use of the Christian Church. The vivid style, the sweep of vision, the exultation in the extreme of adversity with which it closes, have made it a frequent theme of preachers and of poets. St. Augustine’s exposition of the Septuagint version spiritualizes almost every clause into a description of the first and second advents of Christ: Calvin’s more sober and accurate learning interpreted it of God’s guidance of Israel from the time of the Egyptian plagues to the days of Joshua and Gideon, and made it enforce the lesson that He who so wonderfully delivered His people in their youth will not forsake them in the midway of their career. The closing verses have been torn from the rest to form the essence of a large number of hymns in many languages. For ourselves, it is perhaps most useful to fasten upon the poet’s description of his own position in the midst of the years, and like him to take heart, amid our very similar circumstances, from the glorious story of God’s ancient revelation, in the faith that He is still the same in might and in purpose of grace to His people. We, too, live among the nameless years. We feel them about us, undistinguished by the manifest workings of God, slow and petty, or, at the most, full of inarticulate turmoil. At this very moment we suffer from the frustration of a great cause, on which believing men had set their hearts as God’s cause; Christendom has received from the infidel no greater reverse since the days of the Crusades. Or, lifting our eyes to a larger horizon, we are tempted to see about us a wide, flat waste of years. It is nearly nineteen centuries since the great revelation of God in Christ, the redemption of mankind, and all the wonders of the Early Church. We are far, far away from that, and unstirred by the expectation of any crisis in the near future. We stand "in the midst of the years," equally distant from beginning and from end. It is the situation which Jesus Himself likened to the long double watch in the middle of the night-"if he come in the second watch or in the third watch"-against whose dullness He warned His disciples. How much need is there at such a time to recall, like this poet, what God has done-how often He has shaken the world and overturned the nations, for the sake of His people and the Divine causes they represent. "His ways are everlasting." As He then worked, so He will work now for the same ends of redemption. Our prayer for "a revival of His work" will be answered before it is spoken. It is probable that much of our sense of the staleness of the years comes from their prosperity. The dull feeling that time is mere routine is fastened upon our hearts by nothing more firmly than by the constant round of fruitful seasons-that fortification of comfort, that regularity of material supplies, which modern life assures to so many. Adversity would brace us to a new expectation of the near and strong action of our God. This is perhaps the meaning of the sudden mention of natural plagues in the seventeenth verse of our Psalm. Not in spite of the extremes of misfortune, but just because of them, should we exult in "the God of our salvation"; and realize that it is by discipline He makes His Church to feel that she is not marching over the dreary levels of nameless years, but "on our high place’s He makes us to march." "Grant, Almighty God, as the dullness and hardness of our flesh is so great that it is needful for us to be in various ways afflicted-oh, grant that we patiently bear Thy chastisement and under a deep feeling of sorrow flee to Thy mercy displayed to us in Christ, so that we depend not on the earthly blessings of this perishable life, but relying on Thy word go forward in the course of our calling, until at length we be gathered to that blessed rest which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord. Amen." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. Habakkuk 3:1, 2 God devoutly addressed Homilist. This chapter presents to us God in three aspects, as devoutly addressed, as poetically portrayed, and as triumphantly enjoyed. I. IT WAS COMPOSED FOR GENERAL USE. It is not an extemporaneous address; it is a settled form of devotion. Pre-arranged forms of devotion are both scriptural and expedient. There is a set form given to the priests for blessing the people in Numbers 6:2, 3 . Psalm 92 . is called a psalm for the Sabbath, and Psalms 102. a prayer for the afflicted. Hezekiah commanded the Levites to "praise the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer," which is Psalm 106 . And Christ Himself gave His disciples a form of prayer. Whilst it is scriptural it is also expedient. To get a whole congregation into the channel of devotion, a pro-arranged form seems desirable. II. IT WAS IN PROSPECT OF A TERRIBLE CALAMITY. "O Lord, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid." Terrible was the calamity now looming on the vision of the prophet. The Chaldean army was approaching; the ruthless troops would soon be in his country, sack Jerusalem its metropolis, and bear his countrymen away into captivity. In view of this the prayer is addressed. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble," etc. Surely, if men fully realised the predicted judgments that will fall on this world, prayer would be the habitude of their souls. III. IT WAS FOR A REVIVAL OF DIVINE WORK. "Revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy." Kiel thus renders the passage — "Jehovah, Thy work in the midst of Thy years call to life, in the midst of the years make it known." This may mean, Perfect the work of delivering Thy people; let not Thy promise lie as it were dead, give it new life by performing it. Do it now, in the midst of the years, when our calamities are at their height, when Thy wrath seems to be at high tide and terrible. Now "revive Thy work." Three thoughts are suggested — 1. The work of human deliverance is the work of God. 2. This work of God may appear to decline. 3. This decline of God's work can only be overcome by His intervention. "Revive Thy work." ( Homilist. ) O Lord, revive Thy work. Habakkuk 3:2 Revival B. Bailey. I. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE WORK OF THE LORD, AND ITS REVIVAL? 1. It may mean the work of creation. Or the preservation and government of the world. At other times it means the works of Christ; or the work of the ministry. 2. What is meant by a revival of this work?(1) A deeper work of grace in the hearts of those who are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.(2) When the number of believers increases. When conviction seizes the hearts of sinners, and causes them to become true penitents; when that conviction ends in true conversion. II. WHAT IS COMPREHENDED IN THIS PRAYER? 1. That the Lord would pour out of His Spirit upon His people, and accomplish in them His gracious promises. 2. That the Lord would have mercy upon sinners. 3. That the end may be answered for which Jesus Christ came into the world, the Spirit was given, and ordinances instituted. III. WHAT INDUCES THE SAINTS THUS TO PRAY? 1. The love they have to the children of God. 2. The love they have to sinners. 3. The hatred they have to sin. 4. A desire that all those evils may be removed out of the world which are the consequences of sin. 5. The promises of God. IV. WHAT MANNER OF PERSON OUGHT HE TO BE WHO THUS PRAYS? In order to ensure a suitable correspondence between his prayer and practice — 1. He himself must abstain from every appearance of evil. 2. The person who prays for a revival must use all the means in his power to do good. By example, reproof, speech in season, etc. 3. He must cultivate a spirit of tender affection for all his Christian friends, that love and unity may reign in the Church. ( B. Bailey. ) Revival of the Lord's work James Glen, A. M. This prophecy was probably written during the reign of the good King Josiah, who attempted a serious religious reformation. It proved to be only partial and temporary. It was reluctant and counterfeit on the part of many of the people; as was evinced by their speedy return to idolatrous practices after the untimely death of the distinguished reformer. What was the "burden" the prophet saw? It was intimated to him that the decree of God was unalterable, and that the day of visitation was at hand; and the very people are named who should be the instrument of God's righteous judgments on treacherous Judah. Turn now to the exercise in which the prophet engaged, in the certain anticipation of national calamity. It was the exercise of prayer. In his prayer there were three special petitions. Although the condition of his countrymen was dangerous, and their banishment inevitable, yet so long as a remnant was preserved, their case was not desperate. If he could not see his friends reformed and regenerated in their native country, he would plead for their conversion in a foreign land. "O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years." This is an earnest supplication for the revival of God's work of grace, in the hearts of His people, in the time of outward distress. Do this "in the midst of the years," that is, during the seventy years of captivity. While these melancholy years pass heavily along, let the work of repentance commence; let the tears of godly sorrow flow. The second petition is, "In the midst of the years make known." Make known Thy character, and perfection, and grace, during the years of captivity, to those now estranged from Thee. If they were unmindful of Thee in the time of prosperity; in the day of adversity let them consider. Make Thy faithfulness known as a God still in covenant with them, as still willing to be reconciled to them. The third petition is, "In wrath remember mercy." Wrath is incurred, judgment is threatened, the sword is unsheathed, and vengeance must be inflicted. But see how the man of God perseveres in prayer. If judgment may not be altogether averted, it may be mitigated. We must bear the indignation of the Lord, in submitting to slavery in a foreign land, and in being deprived of the soul-refreshing ordinances of religion. But, gracious Father, "in wrath remember mercy." It were easy to prove that all the petitions in this prayer were literally and remarkably fulfilled. That there was a revival of religion during the captivity, may be proved from the grateful and devout sentiments of the captives in the announcement of their enlargement. "When the Lord turned again the captivity," etc. We find a confirmation also in the character of those who returned from Babylon. God had evidently granted them, in the words of Ezra, "a little reviving"; and their first care on their return to Palestine was to rebuild the temple, which was lying in ruins. And as a decisive proof that the prayer of the prophet had received a gracious answer during the captivity, we find that the Jews were henceforward cured of what may be called their hereditary and besetting sin — the degrading and God-dishonouring sin of idolatry. The second part of the prophet's prayer was not less clearly answered. Was not much made known to Ezekiel, by the spirit of prophecy, during the captivity? Was not much made known to Daniel? Behold then the efficacy and fruit of prayer. The third part of the prayer was as remarkably answered as the other two parts. "In wrath remember mercy" In every circumstance that tended to mitigate the rigour of their bondage, God was fulfilling the prayer of the prophet. Learn — 1. That sin incurs the displeasure of God. 2. That prayer is the only way of averting the judgments of God. 3. That the extension of religious knowledge is the only rational means for effecting a national reformation. 4. That while Jehovah is the Supreme Governor of the universe, religion is His great work in the world. ( James Glen, A. M. ) On revivals of religion W. Thayer. I. WHAT, IN A CHRISTIAN SENSE, IS A REVIVAL OF RELIGION? It cannot better be described than by a representation of its origin and effect in the case of individuals and Christian communities. When is there a revival of religion in individuals? Suppose such as need this revival to consist of two classes. One made up of such as have a "form of godliness." They have a general faith in Christianity, and educational relations with it, and they do not openly violate any of its moral rules. Still, these persons may be examples of a sort of negative religion only. They may be spiritually inanimate and drowsy. If these men are the subjects of a genuine religious revival, their lukewarmness is abandoned. Then there is in them a consistency of character. The other class is formed of the notoriously abandoned and corrupt. In these, there is a general abdication of restraint, both moral and religious. When these are the subjects of a revival, their moral taste is changed. Their hatred of sin is excited. Their respect for Divine ordinances is enkindled. Survey the operation of a revival of religion on Christian communities. Since the first age of the Gospel, Churches and societies have been found in the lukewarm condition of the Church in Laodicea. A more awful state of a Christian community is supposable, a state not merely of lukewarmness, but of positive corruption and wickedness. If a revival of religion take place, there will be an united, vigorous, persevering effort, on the part of the members, to display in all its excellence and worth the Christian character. Nor is this revival manifest in things exclusively religious. It will appear in their worldly and social state; in their habits of industry and sobriety, etc. Give the reasons why the class of Christians, denominated liberal, have not thought favourably of, nor promoted revivals. 1. The means used to bring them about do not appear to be in accordance with the spirit and instructions of Scripture.(1) These means are heated and impassioned addresses to the feelings and passions, tending to produce an unnatural excitement of the imagination, and of the whole man, which interrupts cool reflection, and a sober and edifying attendance on religious duties. What an entire contrast do these means exhibit to those adopted by the Saviour and His apostles!(2) The persons who are held up to the world as having experienced a revival of religion, too often display fruits which are equally at variance with the test of character established by Him who spake as never man spake. Review the lessons of Jesus, enforcing secret devotion, guarding His disciples against ostentation and vain boasting, inculcating upon them humility. We cannot persuade ourselves to believe that a suspension of Christian charity is evangelical proof of advancement in religion.(3) The reason which has equally operated with others, is a knowledge of the unhappy consequences which have followed. Review the state of our Churches and towns. Where such revivals have been brought about, there will be seen a multiplication of religious societies; Christians engaged in bitter contentions and controversies; members of families alienated from each other. II. WHAT ARE THE MEANS BY WHICH A TRULY CHRISTIAN REVIVAL OF RELIGION MAY BE BROUGHT ABOUT? 1. Every member of society, however ignoble and obscure, may have an agency in this great work. 2. Those more elevated either by wealth, rank, education, etc., have a still greater degree of responsibleness. See in this matter the importance of family religion, and the value of attendance on the duties of the Sabbath, habitual piety, and the solemn act of prayer. ( W. Thayer. ) Revival of the Lord's work John Lindsay. The writer of this book mourned over the spiritual degeneracy of his times, and was apprehensive of the entire removal of the privileges which were so much despised. The "years" mentioned were years of spiritual declension and backsliding, and prevailing wickedness, and consequently years of God's righteous displeasure; and therefore he says, "O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years." 1. In what does this work consist? By the "work of the Lord" we are to understand the redemption and recovery of this ruined world. This is the work which the Holy Spirit, through the medium of His enlightening, renewing, and sanctifying influence on the human heart, is ever active in promoting. Surely it is a work of the greatest interest and importance. This work may be said to be making progress in the world, when a general interest is felt in matters of religion. 2. What is the object of the prayer in regard to the work of the Lord? In the moral government of God, there exists an inseparable connection between the offering of prayer and the obtaining of spiritual blessings. In answer to prayer we find that in Scripture God has often promised the richest manifestations of His grace. But nowhere has He warranted us to suppose that without prayer these blessings can be obtained. The object of the prophet in this prayer was that God would grant a revival to the Jewish Church. And we have no reason to doubt that in answer to prayer, God will yet arise, and plead HIS own cause in the world, and revive His own work. Whatever be the relationship in which we stand to those around us, we have, as Christians, a message given us to all, and that is the message of God the Father's love, and of God the Son's death, and of God the Spirit's sanctifying grace, a message so plain that none can mistake it, so imperative that none with impunity can neglect it, and so pressing that none can delay it. ( John Lindsay. ) God's work in the midst of the years Leonard Bacon, D. D. Time, like eternity, is full of God, and of the glory of His power. God's ceaseless work in nature is maintained unchanging "in the midst of the years." But there is a work of God to which everything in nature is subordinate. It is His work of grace; His work of redemption and recovery in this lost world; His work of establishing His own kingdom in the hearts of men. In the mind of the prophet, this work of God was identified with the welfare of that chosen nation, that peculiar people, which God had placed in covenant relation with Himself. What lessons may we gather from the prophet's words? In the first and second chapters of his prophecy, the prophet sees God's judgments coming upon Israel, then upon Israel's oppressors. We see what years those were of which the prophet speaks in the text. They were years of declension and prevailing wickedness, and years of God's displeasure. The prophet's first and foremost thought is that of the paramount importance of God's spiritual and saving work. Then he knows — the spirit of faith assures him — that God's great work will live, and will outlive every catastrophe. He not only prays that God will make His work to live, but that He will make it known. Learn — 1. The prayer for the revival, or the keeping alive of God's work, is the spontaneous utterance of a heart touched by God's Spirit. 2. God's work is often going on in the world when it is not seen or made known, when even His own people are not permitted to discern its progress. 3. Sometimes it is necessary for God to carry on His work by dispensations of wrath. 4. Blessed are the years in which God makes known His work as a work of power and mercy. ( Leonard Bacon, D. D. ) Revival in the midst of the years J. Leckie, D. D. The utterance of God made the prophet afraid. The period of chastening must be fulfilled. But one thought fills the prophet's mind: during this period of suffering the work of God might be revived. God in His wrath remembers mercy most when He does not stay His chastening, but deepens penitence, stirs up prayer, creates heart-searching and earnest endeavours after a new life. I. THE FIRST PART OF THE PRAYER IS THAT GOD WOULD REVIVE HIS WORK. We believe in a God who works, now and always, both in the natural and in the spiritual. God not merely wills, He works. Work occupies a foremost place in the Divine arrangement. God's works on matter illustrate and explain His working on mind. There is one feature common to both the natural and the spiritual sphere, the requirement of human co-operation. God waits on man's working. On account of the sin and sloth and heedlessness of man, God's work declines, and God seems to withdraw. It is here that a place for revival is found. And explanation of it includes both the Divine sphere and the human. God's working in nature goes on in cycles. So does man's working all through. Uniformity of action would not be adapted to man. The fluctuation which covers the regions of politics, literature, science, and art, extends also to religion. Religious earnestness is under the same law. An enthusiasm is awakened at times for the supreme object of religion which it is not in human nature to sustain. The departure of such a period may be either the deepening and broadening of the channels of life, or it may be a period of stagnation. This is true of the individual, as well as of society at large. Revival is a fervour or intensity resolved on the highest aims, a deeper sense of the meaning of life, a determination to subordinate all to God. The fact that such times in a community are often characterised by excitement, and by a kind of contagion in which religion seems to be less a matter of individual conviction than a diffused influence is, again, only in accordance with the laws of human nature. Why should the spread of religious conviction not be aided by the contagion of feeling? May not genuine and deep feeling be aroused in this way? Why may not the surging of a vague enthusiasm through the hearts of men work great things in religion as in other matters? If religion is a genuinely human thing; if it is in the true sense the most human of all, must it not partake of the usual characteristics of human feeling? What a force there is in the expression of the text, Make Thy work to live: put life into Thy work. How often the work seems to have everything but life. Life comes, and all is changed. God's working is the hope of the natural world, and equally of the spiritual. We wait for God. And our waiting utters itself. It is an eager, earnest feeling that pours itself out in supplication. It is in this way that our energy most fully unites itself with the Divine. II. THE PRAYER IS ALSO THAT GOD WOULD "MAKE KNOWN." That is, reveal Himself and Divine truth. The prayer is, that God would not only work but reveal; that God would show men the reality. Clouds lie between them and the spiritual and eternal. It is well that these two things are joined together, reviving of God's work, and making known. III. What weight is given to the prayer by the addition, "in the midst of the years"? There is an argument, or plea, in the thought, that many years are gone beyond recall, and that so many years fewer are to come. The irrevocable past, as it rises before us, brings bitter regrets. How different those years might have been! The words seem suggestive of the confusion and dark. ness of time. And the fleetingness and evanescence of the years rise before us in contrast to the immutable and eternal of the Divine life. ( J. Leckie, D. D. ) The necessity of a great spiritual change throughout the James Parsons. world : — I. AS TO THE STATE OF THE PROFESSING CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1. Note the ignorance of the Church. 2. The divisions of the Church. 3. The worldly conformity of the Church. 4. The want of activity in the Church. 5. The deadness of prayer in the Church. II. AS TO THE STATE OF THE UNCONVERTED AND UNGODLY WORLD. 1. In relation to civil governments, and to publicly recognised social institutions and authorities. Refer to despotism, corruption, war, etc. 2. In direct relation to religion. Nominal Christians. Note the positive crimes by which the country is stained; Sabbath-breaking, profane-swearing, fraud, drinking, etc. III. CERTAIN SYSTEMS WHICH MUST BY. SWEPT AWAY. Such as popery, Judaism, infidelity, Mohammedanism, heathenism. Surely we may well pray, "O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years." ( James Parsons. ). Means of promoting the revival of religion James Rudge, D. D. 1. Does the man of sincere goodness observe vice prevalent, and spreading its unhappy influence through all ranks and degrees of the community? This is a powerful inducement to desire and to work for its reformation. 2. The decay of religion is not more owing to open wickedness than to inconsiderate negligence. A good man, who has the happiness of the species at heart, will offer up his most fervent petitions to the Father of Lights, that He would be pleased to spread abroad in the breasts of the people a spirit of prayer and reformation. ( James Rudge, D. D. ) The revival of the Lord's work W. Horwood. 1. The prayer of the text rises to heaven in the time of affliction. 2. The prayer of the prophet is founded upon need. 3. Observe whose work it is that is implored to be revived — it is the work of God. And He alone can accomplish it. 4. Consider the use of certain means for the spread and establishment of the Divine work. He has commanded us to call upon His name, to trust in Him, to seek Him, to repent of our misdoings, to do battle against evil wherever found, and to assemble ourselves together for Divine worship. ( W. Horwood. ) Nature and origin of revivals E. Bickersteth, A. M. I. THE STATE CALLING FOR A REVIVAL. A revival is a return to life and vigour from a state of languor and decay. The Church of Christ needs revival. It is not in a lively state as to deep and practical godliness. There are comparatively few flourishing Churches. There is much disunion. There is a low standard of devotedness to Christ. This state of things calls for a revival in the Church generally. As individuals is our condition satisfactory? Is there not a state of worldliness, lukewarmness, and formality? The apostle speaks of many in his day as having "the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." This surely is a state calling for a revival. II. THE NATURE OF THE REVIVAL OF GOD'S WORK. What is God's work in the heart of man? It is very different from man's work. It is marked by a new birth. It is marked by Christian graces. It is marked by walking in all good works. It is the work of grace in the heart of man. What is the revival of this work? 1. An increase of zeal on the part of God's people. 2. An awakening among careless sinners. III. THE ONLY SOURCE FROM WHICH IT CAN FLOW. "O Lord, revive Thy work." The Holy Spirit is the great source of the revival of the work of grace in the heart of man. If you desire revivals, the means must be diligently used — reading God's Word, prayer in secret, social prayer, public worship, self-examination; but if you stop at the means you deceive yourselves; this is the proper posture for the Christian, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him." IV. THE TIME IN WHICH IT SHOULD BE SOUGHT. "In the midst of the years." Before the day of sickness comes. Before the day of old age comes. Before the judgments of God come on the world. Before the Saviour appears Before the final sentence is pronounced. Seek a revival, while the day of grace continues; while God's ministers invite you. While opportunity is afforded. Then — 1. Search into the state of your own hearts. 2. Seek revival from God by prayer in private. Devote yourselves afresh unto God. ( E. Bickersteth, A. M. ) God's work revived Hugh Allen, M. A. I. THE WORK ITSELF. The salvation of the sinner is the peculiar work of Jehovah. It implies the exercise of infinite mercy. It requires Divine care. II. WHY MAY IT VERY PROPERLY BE CALLED GOD'S WORK? Because it glorifies God. III. WHEN MAY GOD BE SAID TO REVIVE HIS PEOPLE? When His people are preserved alive. When His people grow in grace. When His people axe led to surmount trouble, affliction, and sorrow. When the backslider is restored. ( Hugh Allen, M. A. ) Lent, a season of revival to the soul The Christian life has its ebb and flow, like the currents of the ocean, and no one need hope to preserve the same uniform frames and feelings at every step of his earthly probation. If we are ever enabled to do right, it is because tim good Lord has helped us. There is a revival which we all need; such a revival as shall lead us to forsake our sins, and crucify our corrupt affections and lusts; such a revival as shall render us more devout and devoted to God's service. I mean nothing akin to the unwholesome modern system of revivals. The Church has a revival system of her own, which has been practised with most abundant success from the earliest days of Christianity until now. Her revival season begins with the four weeks of Advent, when she calls men to repentance and amendment, that they may make themselves ready to welcome the Saviour afresh on the return of His birthday. Another revival season is the forty days of Lent; when the motive appealed to is the love of God, manifested in the gift of His only Son. Throughout the whole sacred season, His life, His teaching, His miracles are kept constantly before us, deepened in its penetrating power by lastings and prayer. ( John N. Norton. ) Revivals I. THE CHIEF NEED OF THE WORLD TO-DAY IS A GENERAL REVIVAL OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. The preconceptions of most of us are not favourable to revivals. Theories, however, cannot stand for a moment against stubborn facts. There is one fact which renders a revival necessary for a vast number of people. All scientists recognise that retrogression is as much a fact of nature as is evolution or progress. History is full of illustrations of the decay of races and the decline of nations. Only one remedy is open to us, when the decay concerns our religious life. It is a revival — the regaining, by a supreme moral effort, of the spiritual heights which have been lost. II. REVIVALS ARE NORMAL. We are inclined to think that with the world and the Church in an ideal state, a movement closely corresponding to revivals would still take place. Life moves in periods or cycles. III. BOTH THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE CONFIRM THIS VIEW OF CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. The Church has always made her great conquests under revival influences. Revival of religion was inaugurated by the Wesleys and Whitefield. was a great religious revival. The began as a revival of religion. The Christian Church was born in a revival which swept three thousand souls into the kingdom on the day of Pentecost. IV. HOW MAY WE PROMOTE A REVIVAL? 1. By earnest prayer. 2. By determined, personal effort. ( J. W. Bashford. ) Lessons of the Reformation J. B. Remensnyder, D. D. 1. The Reformation was providential. It was the handwriting of God visible to men. 2. It was a reformation of the Church. It was a conten tion raised within, about, and by the Church. 3. It was a reformation of doctrine. It began on a point of doctrine. Its weapons were argument and learning. 4. It was a reformation of public worship. Here, most especially, it came in touch with the people. 5. It was a reformation of personal piety. If it had not led to this, all else would have been of little moment. But this it did. Upon us it devolves not to be heedless of the lessons of the Reformation, but to profit by them, and transmit them to others. ( J. B. Remensnyder, D. D. ) Religious revivals Homilist. I. GENUINE RELIGION IS THE WORK OF GOD IN THE SOUL. "Thy work." What is genuine religion? Not theology, not ceremony, but simply this, supreme love to God. The production of this in the soul is the work of God. He produces it, it is true, by means; nevertheless, no one else can or does produce it but Himself. II. THIS WORK OF GOD IN THE SOUL IS LIABLE TO DECAY. There are many things in and outside of man that tend to impair, weaken, and destroy this supreme love. Carnal impulses, impure associations, social influences, engrossing worldly cares, these are all detrimental. They are to it like a blighting atmosphere to vegetation. III. THIS DECAY SHOULD BE OVERCOME BY A REVIVAL. "Revive Thy work." Revive this supreme love — quicken, energise it, give it more force and influence in the soul! This is the true revival. ( Homilist. ) The revival of God's work implored Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. I. SOME PARTICULARS RESPECTING THIS WORK. 1. The work itself; or what is meant by the work here spoken of? It is certainly the work of Divine grace in the souls of mankind. 2. Why it may be called God's work. Because no one but God can effect it. 3. When God may be said to revive it. God revives His work when souls are raised from the death of sin to the life of righteousness; and when they grow in grace. II. HOW WE MAY AND SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS ITS REVIVAL. 1. We should labour for it. 2. We should live for it. 3. We should pray for it. III. WHY WE SHOULD THUS INTEREST OURSELVES IN ITS REVIVAL. 1. We are excited to this by piety. 2. We are urged to this by philanthropy, or love to mankind. 3. We are obligated to this by prudence. 4. We are animated to this by a well-supported hope. Applications —(1) The state of God's work among us should excite correspondent affections in us.(2) We should consider and deplore our deficiencies.(3) We should improve our convictions by renewed application to God; for pardoning mercy, and gracious help. ( Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. ) Revivalism R. H. Haddew, B. A. Following closely upon Jeremiah, Habakkuk was face to face with the woes which were hastening for the dissolution of the kingdom of Judah. He, more than any other of the prophets, represents the perplexities, not of the nation, but of the individual soul, the peculiar trial which tormented so many exalted spirits of his day. He saw with grief the increasing contrast of sin and prosperity, innocence and suffering — this was his burden. It is essentially personal: he takes it all upon himself. Our text is always a good, a wise, a necessary prayer. The work of the Lord is never so forward that we need not pray, for its further advance. But what is to be said about the movement known as Revivalism"? It begins with, and proceeds upon the assumption that man can only be reconciled to God in one particular way. It recognises but one type of religion, and that the most delusive one. It repudiates the idea that God is ever pleased with a dutiful, earnest, moral life. It regards as positively dangerous a mere intellectual grasp of the Christian faith. Revivalism tells you that, unless at a certain time, and at a certain place, and under conditions that you can recall and define, you have undergone an emotional process which has changed the whole drift of your life, and given you an assurance of nearness to God hitherto unfelt, you are not a Christian at all. Revivalism confronts you like a spiritual footpad, and holds to your head the pistol of modern pharisaism: "Are you a Christian? Is your soul saved? Have you found the Lord?" The answer involves an awful alternative. You must either surrender the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free to the monstrous claims of this pretentious crusade, or consent to be branded as an outcast from the flock of the Good Shepherd. This barrier of separation between converted and unconverted has no sanction to which any follower of Jesus Christ is called upon to submit. We must not, however, cease to pray, "O Lord, revive Thy work." Revive it, O Lord, in politics, in public life, in commerce, in trade, in toil of every kind, so that in all places and at all times men shall realise Thy presence. ( R. H. Haddew, B. A. ) The law of revivals S. D. Burchard, D. D. Are revivals of religion under law, or the result of any previously operating and well-defined cause? By the revival of religion we mean a quickened state of religious activity and prayer, resulting in the conversion of sinners, the increased efficiency of the Church, and all the effect of the Divine Spirit in conjunction with the appointed means of grace. Our position is, that it is a rule of God's economy to bestow His grace or Spirit upon the employment of means, just in proportion as those means are adapted to the result. Observe that the results are predicated, not of the means as a power in themselves, but of the Spirit's conformity to this law of operation. 1. In favour of our position our first argument is from analogy. There is such a law of adaptation in all the world of nature — an established and reliable connection between means and end, and results correspond with the nature — the perfection or imperfection of the antecedent cause. This law is observable in all the world of industry, science, and art. It is fair to infer that the same law is observed

3:1,2 The word prayer seems used here for an act of devotion. The Lord would revive his work among the people in the midst of the years of adversity. This may be applied to every season when the church, or believers, suffer under afflictions and trials. Mercy is what we must flee to for refuge, and rely upon as our only plea. We must not say, Remember our merit, but, Lord, remember thy own mercy. 3:3-15 God's people, when in distress, and ready to despair, seek help by considering the days of old, and the years of ancient times, and by pleading them with God in prayer. The resemblance between the Babylonish and Egyptian captivities, naturally presents itself to the mind, as well as the possibility of a like deliverance through the power of Jehovah. God appeared in his glory. All the powers of nature are shaken, and the course of nature changed, but all is for the salvation of God's own people. Even what seems least likely, shall be made to work for their salvation. Hereby is given a type and figure of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ. It is for salvation with thine anointed. Joshua who led the armies of Israel, was a figure of Him whose name he bare, even Jesus, our Joshua. In all the salvations wrought for them, God looked upon Christ the Anointed, and brought deliverances to pass by him. All the wonders done for Israel of old, were nothing to that which was done when the Son of God suffered on the cross for the sins of his people. How glorious his resurrection and ascension! And how much more glorious will be his second coming, to put an end to all that opposes him, and all that causes suffering to his people! 3:16-19 When we see a day of trouble approach, it concerns us to prepare. A good hope through grace is founded in holy fear. The prophet looked back upon the experiences of the church in former ages, and observed what great things God had done for them, and so was not only recovered, but filled with holy joy. He resolved to delight and triumph in the Lord; for when all is gone, his God is not gone. Destroy the vines and the fig-trees, and you make all the mirth of a carnal heart to cease. But those who, when full, enjoyed God in all, when emptied and poor, can enjoy all in God. They can sit down upon the heap of the ruins of their creature-comforts, and even then praise the Lord, as the God of their salvation, the salvation of the soul, and rejoice in him as such, in their greatest distresses. Joy in the Lord is especially seasonable when we meet with losses and crosses in the world. Even when provisions are cut off, to make it appear that man lives not by bread alone, we may be supplied by the graces and comforts of God's Spirit. Then we shall be strong for spiritual warfare and work, and with enlargement of heart may run the way of his commandments, and outrun our troubles. And we shall be successful in spiritual undertakings. Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, ends it with joy and triumph. And thus faith in Christ prepares for every event. The name of Jesus, when we can speak of Him as ours, is balm for every wound, a cordial for every care. It is as ointment poured forth, shedding fragrance through the whole soul. In the hope of a heavenly crown, let us sit loose to earthly possessions and comforts, and cheerfully bear up under crosses. Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry; and where he is, we shall be also.