The Lord is in His Holy Temple {No Matter What Monday}

This week we’re continuing in the book of Habakkuk, where we see a conversation between God and a suffering prophet. Habakkuk cried out to the Lord for help, and God told him that He would bring the Chaldeans to oppress the people of Judah. (This was not good news!) God exhorts Habakkuk to wait with faith in God’s promises. 

As the conversation continues, God tells Habakkuk that He will eventually bring justice and punishment to the wicked Chaldeans. There will be suffering and hardship, but deliverance will come (Habakkuk 2:5-19). 

Then God speaks these words of comfort to Habakkuk: 

“But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)

When I first read these words, I couldn’t see how Habakkuk could find comfort here. This isn’t the first verse I turn to when I’m sending a “thinking of you” card to a friend. But as I dug deeper, I understood why this truth would lead to Habakkuk’s prayer of praise that we’ll look at next week. 

The Lord’s presence in His holy temple teaches us that He is ruling and reigning over all things. As He’s ruling from His throne, He also sees us. Psalm 11:4 says, “The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.” He sees the sin of others that affects us. He sees our hurt. He sees our tears. 

And since we live at this point in history, after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lord’s presence in His holy temple means even more. God the Son left the throne of heaven to dwell among us. Now His redeemed people have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us – now we are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). 

God says in Habakkuk 2:20 that He is in His holy temple – and Scripture tells us that we are God’s temple. What does that mean? It means God is with us. 

The words of this verse brings comfort to those who are in Christ because we know the Lord reigns from His throne, He sees our pain, and He resides with us in our suffering. 

No matter what you face this week, the Lord is in His holy temple. 

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