August 4, 2024

Habakkuk 2.20 (NIV)

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

The presence of God’s Spirit is what distinguishes his temple from the temples of other gods.*

What would be your answer if someone asked you, “Where is your God?” According to Habakkuk, God is in his holy temple. The temple in Jerusalem was already doomed so we know he was not referring to it. 

God’s holy temple is wherever God is. In II Corinthians 6.16, Paul writes, “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.”  If that is so, then we are always in his presence and should have the proper attitude: “Let all the earth be silent before him,” says Habakkuk.

Why be silent? So that we may listen to the revelation that he is about to make? Because we are speechless in his presence?  Or perhaps because “humble worship is the only logical response when a created being encounters the Creator of all.”*

The more we learn about the universe, the more reasonable it seems to bow humbly before the Creator whose power and intelligence designed it.*