Listen Lord: We Hate it Here - Day Thirteen

Praying with Habakkuk

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”  from Habakkuk 3 

Like many prayers in scripture, this address from Habakkuk is a song, written to be set to stringed instruments. While I read it, I was drawn to verses 11-14, which describes a danger I believe we face today. We live in a land of wickedness, born by one massacre and sustained by another. Racial terror is the hallmark of this nation. No king can rise without some form of participation in it - including complicity and strategic silence. And now we face the double enemy of a sickness we cannot remedy, and a government we cannot trust. Black women with medical concerns are more likely to suffer amidst this chaos, we’re in danger everyday.

This morning I am so weary from worry that I do not know if I have the strength to embrace hope. But Habakkuk’s pleadings are given to us for a purpose: for worship in times of complaint, for wisdom in times of confusion. Habakkuk’s first two chapters are a conversation concerning the ways of the Lord that no one can fathom. Habakkuk delivers complaints because there seems to be more power in injustice than truth. The Lord answers with a prophecy against unjust nations, and a call to repentance and goodwill for all the people. The prophet responds in praise. 

I have found studying and praying through Habakkuk is helpful in times like these, when we are often unable to sing in this strange land, especially when voices are muted by doubt. Habakkuk’s song is a vision that reassures and admonishes God’s people. It’s a reminder that God is not fragile to complaints, and that God has an answer for us! The Lord both hears our confession and helps our unbelief. 

Today I am praying this response of praise to God’s promise, as a practice of building hope in nothing less.

Let’s Pray together

Passion

Lord we come to you this morning, like mourners drunk on sorrow, fatigued and fainting, bracing our bodies against the paper walls of time. We are weary of worry. We’re still surfacing to love on our far away friends, connect through art, technology and social media, but deep sleep is hard to find. We confess our disbelief that we can rest.

Lord, we cling to our anxiety like a shield. We are conditioned to the belief that worry will protect us. We wonder if rescue is actually so impossible that trepidation is often our only comfort. We employ the feeling of being afraid to test our friends' affections.

Lord, we worship our anger. Rage is our refuge. We wrap ourselves in it like a priceless garment, we display it in our homes like a trophy, we tout it in social engagement like an achievement. But without purpose, without righteousness, it is idolatry.

Lord, we make a poor excuse of our shame. Our imaginations are crippled by embarrassment. We conceive lavish deceptions to hide ourselves from authenticity, because we are incapable of enduring accountability. 

Listen, Lord: we hate it here, in this deconstructed emotional life. We need you to make us whole. We despise our vulnerability, we secretly regret our selfish demands. But You have told us that Your power is made perfect in weakness, so we confess that in this season of hardship, we often prefer to hide our weakness at the expense of remembering the truth that You are strong. 

We need You this morning, Lord. This thought is not a new notion, we know. We showed up in need, with no merit of our own. We are watching our loved ones start down the steep and slippery steps of death. This old world is beginning to rock beneath our feet. The storms of life are raging. We need to ride on by, King Jesus, and send us an answer to our soul’s complaints.

Petition

Will you turn our fears with unspeakable joy? Will you replace our rage with righteous innocence? Will you cover our shame with living love? Will you look upon our souls’ conditions and anoint us with the oil of Your salvation? Transform us, O God, clean us up from the top of our heads to the sole of our feet, so that we can be more like You, so that we can love in the way that You love, and stand against the things You hate:

Haughty eyes; Lord, we would love the sight of humility. Please cure us from our high egos.

A lying tongue; Author of Truth, make us lovers of honesty. Please mute us from bold deceptions 

Hands that shed innocent blood; Life Giver, set a protection all around Your precious ones, and move our hands to work in the same way.

A heart that devises wicked schemes; Lord You are the Architect of all our stories, help us to trust our fainting hearts to Your perfect plans.

Feet that are quick to rush into evil; Spirit who helps us bear fruit, halt our sinful steps. Then send us a day cloud and a night fire to escape threat.

A false witness who pours out lies: Judge of all our sayings and deeds, send the light of truth to uncover corruption in the courts, and call us as faithful witnesses when You do.

A person who stirs up conflict in the community: Divine Three in One, You are our example. Let us look to You to continue to testify the majesty of community

Lord of glory, Clearer of confusion, we would have our purpose set by You and no other. You’re the only One who knows. You are the One who listens. We come before You this morning because we do remember Your great deeds, and we ask You O God to remember mercy in these times of wrath.

Praise

Lord, we stand in awe of your deeds. We believe you will repeat them in our day, that in our time you will make them known; that in wrath you will remember mercy.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Listen Lord: we are hopeful in hearing from You, for Your consolation brings us joy.

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Scripture: Habakkuk 3 // Psalm 94 // Proverbs 6

Songs: Joy, Kirk Franklin // Gonna be Alright, Robert Glasper feat. Ledisi