I Will Stand Upon My Watch

In Habakkuk 1 the prophet asked the Lord two questions. The first about how long he would have to behold the wickedness of Judah. The Lord answered by saying that the Babylonians would come and destroy the people and take them captive. This led, though, to a second question from Habakkuk. He questioned, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” (1:13) In other words, while Judah was wicked, the Babylonians were much more wicked so why would the Lord suffer the latter to come destroy the former. After asking his question, the prophet wrote this powerful declaration: “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” I love that attitude: he had questioned the Lord and would thereafter wait and watch until he got an answer. While the answer comes in the next verse, I’d like to think that there was a lot of time that took place between verses 1 and 2. I do not believe that the answer came easily to the prophet, and often for us we must watch and wait for a long time to find answers to our questions to the Lord. But if we will have the attitude of Habakkuk then those answers will come. But we must be prepared that sometimes the answer will be this: “The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:1,4). As we watch and wait on the Lord to understand His ways and the incongruities of the world around us, He may answer simply: “Live by faith.”

            And yet, the Lord did answer Habakkuk’s question in more detail as well. He said of the Babylonians, “Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein” (Habakkuk 2:6-8). In other words, the wicked Babylonians would also get what was coming to them as well: they would eventually receive the recompense of their evil deeds. The Lord allowed one wicked nation to scatter and afflict another, but that perpetrator would also face the sword of justice. As Mormon would later explain, “But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed” (Mormon 4:5). Ultimately for all wicked, the judgments of God will eventually overtake them all. The message of Habakkuk, though, is that the Lord will hear the righteous, and as we watch and wait and look for Him we will find answers to our questions and strength in Him. I love His final words of faith: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places” (Habakkuk 3:18-19). No matter what the people around us are doing, we can rejoice in the Lord and find strength in Him who will raise us up to high places above the wickedness of the world.