Standing at Watch for God's Word: Benjamin Smith
The following homily was shared at our Sunday Evening Eucharist Service 11/2/25.
O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” and you will not save. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds. I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, then he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4)
I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.
So, for a couple of weeks now during our Tuesday evening sermon series, we have been talking about the words “in accordance with the scriptures” from 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, and two Sundays ago, Austin talked about the importance of prayer. When I read this passage from Habakkuk I think of lectio divina, which, if you have never heard of it, means “divine reading”, and has been practiced by a lot of Christians throughout history. It is the prayer form taught at the ACF. It is a slow, meditative approach to prayer where you listen for God’s word through the reading of the Scriptures. Going back to the passage, I see Habakkuk standing at watch, or being ready, to receive whatever God wants to tell him. For those of you who have done lectio. you know that sometimes it may feel like a long time before you hear God, depending on your current circumstances and what is distracting you at the moment (which for me is a bird or squirrel most of the time). However, as Pastor Pete said in his sermon last Tuesday, “be inconvenienced.” Have patience, listen, and God will speak to you, which is a great segue into the next section.
In verse 3, the Lord says, “for the vision is yet for an appointed time: but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” As Gandalf the Grey said, "A wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.” The same can be said for both God’s word and His goodness towards us. We need to have patience, whether we want something that has not been given to us or if we have a necessity that has not been met yet, God already knows all of it. Along with patience we need to have trust, because you may wait and wait and wait, but unless you trust, you are waiting in vain. There is nothing you need that God doesn’t want to give you, and more. However, God can see and has seen the bigger picture. You have not, so if you don’t have something that you want, or think you need, there will be a time and place for you to receive that kindness from God. And sometimes, we just need to admit to God and ourselves that we don’t know what’s best.
Amen.
Benjamin Smith is a sophomore from Richmond, TX majoring in Business Administration. A member of this year’s Discipleship Team, we are so grateful for his presence and the blessing he is to our ministry at ACF. Benjamin enjoys annoying people (AKA Austin and Tayt), going for walks, having conversations, and eating good food. We look forward to the ways God will continue to move in his life!