The Berean Pursuit
This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:
How long, O LORD, must I call for help
but You do not hear,
or cry out to You, "Violence!"
but You do not save?
Why do You make me see iniquity?
Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
"Look at the nations and observe-
be utterly astounded!
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would never believe
even if someone told you.
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans -
that ruthless and impetuous nation
which marches through the breadth of the earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
They are dreaded and feared;
from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.
Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead,
and their cavalry comes from afar.
They fly like a vulture,
swooping down to devour.
All of them come bent on violence;
their hordes advance like the east wind;
they gather prisoners like sand.
They scoff at kings
and make rulers an object of scorn.
They laugh at every fortress
and build up siege ramps to seize it.
Then they sweep by like the wind
and pass on through.
They are guilty;
their own strength is their god."
Are You not from everlasting,
O LORD, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
O LORD, You have appointed them
to execute judgment;
O Rock, You have established them
for correction.
Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate the faithless?
Why are You silent
while the wicked swallow up
those more righteous than themselves?
You have made men like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things that have no ruler.
The foe pulls all of them up with a hook;
he catches them in his dragnet,
and gathers them in his fishing net;
so he rejoices gladly.
Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet
and burns incense to his fishing net,
for by these things his portion is sumptuous
and his food is rich.
Will he, therefore, empty his net
and continue to slay nations without mercy?
Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you. Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.
For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction-conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time. And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of God. On account of this, we are encouraged.
In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus. For his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling. I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.