“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 deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.” Habakkuk 3:18,19
During the ministry of the Lord Jesus, there came a day when he entered into a certain village and was received by a certain woman into her house. This woman had a sister named Mary, who being overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord Jesus, and captivated by His words, sat at Jesus’ feet, certain that there she would be undistracted, and able to hear every word that He spoke. Martha would later complain to the Lord Jesus that Mary did not respond to her request to come and help her with receiving and caring for the guests. Jesus very graciously quieted Martha’s restless, and anxious spirit, by addressing her individually: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41,42) In Jesus’ response He revealed in this most simple of settings, in the midst of many who were gathered, what is one of the greatest truths of Christianity, and it is that there is LIFE in Christ’s words, communicated by the Spirit. In the hearing of those life-giving, quickening words, there is power, love, and truth. On that day when Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to hear His words, she chose as the highest priority of her life, to fix her hope, and joy, upon Christ, and to know the blessed power of His presence, and person, communicated through His words. As she listened, most certainly, as was the case sometime later when two disciples were walking along the road to Emaus, discussing the events that had occurred in Jerusalem with regard to Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and His appearing to many, and them testifying after that when Jesus, who had come alongside them to speak to them of the Scriptures concerning Himself, declared that their hearts burned within them when Christ spoke. Why? Because He did not speak like any other man. No man ever spoke like Him with the power and authority that had been given to him from the Father. And so, Mary was captivated by Christ, and the revelation of His person and nature to her heart by the Spirit, according to His words. Mary had found the delight of her soul in the living Christ, and had chosen the greatest, and most singular reality, that one can truly sit at Jesus’ feet and know Him, receiving from Him, according to the truth of Scripture, life, love, and power which the Spirit of God will give.
Scripture tells us that Moses was “…was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3) What made this man to be such, when he had all the talents and capabilities to be otherwise? It was because of what he saw and discovered in the worship of God. We find Moses spending much time in the tabernacle, communing with God, and this, in spite of his multiple responsibilities. It was in the act of worshiping God that God would reveal Himself to him, speak to Him, and transform Moses into a meek, humble man, whose great delight was to know God. David would write of the same experience when he declared in Psalm 27:4: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”
After Habakkuk the prophet received the vision of the impending invasion of Israel by the Chaldeans, as a result of the people’s abandonment of God, he knew that it would result in trouble, suffering, and famine. However, Habakkuk’s delight would not change, for he would rejoice in the Lord, his joy being in God his salvation. (Hab. 3:18)
Dear Father, Be our everlasting joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.