The Lord God is my Strength.

I. THE LORD GOD IS OUR STRENGTH IN THE CONFLICT WITH SIN. Men are drawn into sin in the hope of securing some personal gratification; they yearn after some unattained good, some unrealized satisfaction, and they yield to the enticements of evil in the hope of securing that for which they are thus craving. But the man whose hope is in God, and to whom he is his "exceeding joy," has parted with these earthly yearnings; in proportion as the higher and the eternal has gained an influence over him, this attachment to the lower and the fleeting has been rooted out. With hearts uncentred from the true God, the Chaldeans craved worldly dominion, and in seeking this "rejoiced to devour the poor secretly" (ver. 14), whereas Habakkuk with God as his Portion was as unaffected by the vanities of earth as dwellers inland are by the noise of the distant sea. So the good, rejoicing in God, are unallured by the baits of temptation, and are rendered strong to war against evil.

II. THE LORD GOD IS OUR STRENGTH IN THE MIDST OF THE ADVERSE SCENES OF LIFE. Man, seeking his satisfaction in earthly things, must be feeble indeed when these fail him, since, with thoughts and affections centred in these, as they depart they leave him without comfort and in a state of orphanage. But he who has sought and found his satisfaction in God has remaining with him, when things seen and temporal have taken their flight, the unseen and the eternal to cheer and gladden his soul. Hence he is strong, and in the light of the Divine teaching and the Divine love can calmly look at his sorrows until, interpreted thus, they become to him light afflictions which are but for a moment, and which work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

III. THE LORD GOD IS OUR STRENGTH IN HOLY SERVICE. Such service is ever attended with difficulties and discouragements, and it is only as we lift up our eyes to the everlasting hills, rejoicing in God and becoming strengthened by him, that we can grapple with these and overcome them. It was this prophet's strong faith and delight in his God that enabled him to prove himself so true a witness in the corrupt age in which his lot was cast. It has ever been the case that the men who have been the most effective workers for God have been the men to whom his living Presence has been an intense reality.

IV. THE LORD GOD WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE STRENGTH OF HIS PEOPLE WHEN THEIR TIME OF SERVICE SHALL CLOSE. Whether this prophet lived to see the devastation of his country which he predicted, we cannot tell, the accounts of his life being so meagre and for the most part apocryphal. We know, however, that, from the state of mental doubt and distress in which he was when he commenced his prophecy (Habakkuk 1:2), he fought his way to unswerving trust in God; for his brief prophecy, opening with the expression of his ardent yearning for more light in reference to the mystery of God's ways, closes with notes of triumphant confidence and hope. Often, doubtless, as his faith became strengthened, did he feel himself in life to be so raised and elevated through his hope and joy in God, as to be like the hind bounding joyously to the high places: and raised above the tumults of earth, though not in heaven, yet in "heavenly places" he communed with his God. Even so we should believe that, as his life terminated, he calmly departed in peace, having seen God's salvation. And all faithful servants of Heaven shall find that when heart and flesh fail, God will be the Strength of their hearts and their Portion forever. Happy, then, in life and in death such as can say from their inmost souls, "The Lord is my Strength" - S.D.H.

The expressions are of a highly metaphorical and imaginative character, but they admit of being brought down to very plain facts, and they tell us the results in heart and mind of true faith and communion with God. It is to be noticed that a parallel saying, almost verbatim, the same is that of my text, occurs in the 18th Psalm. I note that the three clauses of our text present three aspects of what our lives and ourselves may steadfastly be if we, too, will rejoice in the God of our salvation. First, such communion with God brings —

I. GOD TO A MAN FOR HIS STRENGTH. The 18th Psalm gives a somewhat different and inferior version of that thought when it says, "It is the Lord that girdeth me with strength." But Habakkuk, though perhaps he could not have put into dogmatic shape all that he meant, had come further than that, "The Lord is my strength." He not only gives, as one might put a coin into the hand of a beggar, while standing separate from him all the while, but "the Lord is my strength." And what does that mean? It is an anticipation of that most wonderful and highest of all the New Testament truths which the Apostle declared when he said: "I can do all things in Christ which strengtheneth me within." "My grace is sufficient for thee, and My strength is made perfect in weakness. Ah! do not let us deprive ourselves of the lofty consolations and the mysterious influx of power which may be ours. That is the first blessing that this ancient believer, out of the twilight of early revelation, felt as certain to come through communion with God. The second is like unto it. Such rejoicing communion with God will give —

II. LIGHT-FOOTEDNESS IN THE PATH OF LIFE. "He makes my feet like hinds' feet." The stag, in all languages spoken by people that have ever seen it, is the very emblem of elastic, springing ease, of light and bounding gracefulness, that clears every obstacle, and sweeps swiftly over the moor. And when this singer, or his brother psalmist in the other psalm that we have referred to, says "Thou makest my feet like hinds' feet," what he is thinking about is that fight and easy, springing, elastic gait, that swiftness of advance. What a contrast that is to the way in which most of us get through our day's work! The monotony of trivial, constantly recurring doings, the fluctuations in the thermometer of our own spirits; the stiff bits of road that we have all to encounter sooner or later; and, as days go on, the diminishing buoyancy of nature, and the love of walking a little slower than we used to do; we all know these things, and our gait is affected by them. It is the same thought, under a somewhat different garb, which the apostle has when he tells us that the Christian soldier ought to have his "feet shod with the alacrity that comes from the Gospel of peace." We are to be always ready to run, and to run with light hearts when we do. That is a possible result of Christian communion, and ought, far more than it is, to be an achieved reality with each of us. Of course, physical conditions vary. Of course, our spirits go up and down. Of course, the work that we have to do one day seems easier than the same work does another. Unless that is true, that Christianity gives to a man the Divine gladness which makes him ready for work, I do not know what is the good of his Christianity to him. But not only is that so, but this same communion with God, which is the opening of the heart for the influx of the Divine power, brings to bear upon all our work new motives which redeem it from being oppressive, tedious, monotonous, trivial, too much for our endurance, or too little for our effort. All work that is not done in fellowship with Jesus Christ tends to become either too heavy to be tackled successfully, or too trivial to demand our best energies; and in either case will be done perfunctorily, and, as the days go on, mechanically and wearisomely, as a grind and a plod. If we live in daily communion with God, another thought, too, will come in, which will, in like manner, make us ready " to run with " cheerfulness " the race that is set before us." We shall connect everything that befalls us, and everything that we have to do, with the final issue, and life will become solemn, grave, and blessed, because it is the outer court and vestibule of the eternal life with God in Christ. The last of the thoughts here is, communion with God brings —

III. ELEVATION. "He will make me to walk upon my high places." One sees the herd on the skyline of the mountain ridge, and at home up there, far above dangers and attack; able to keep their footing on cliff and precipice, and tossing their antlers in the pure air. One wave of the hand, and they are miles away. "He sets me upon my high places." Communion with God does not, only help us to plod and to travel, but it helps us to soar. If we keep ourselves in touch with Him we shall be like a weight that is hung on to a balloon. The buoyancy of the one will lift the leadenness of the other. Are you and I familiar with these upper ranges of thought and experience and life? Do we feel at home there more than down in the bottom, amongst the swamps and the miasma and the mists? It is safe up there. The air is pure; the poison mists are down lower; the hunters do not come there; their arrows or their rifles will not carry so far. It is only when the herd ventures a little down the hill that it is in danger from shots. But the elevation will not be such aa to make us despise the low paths on which duty — the sufficient and loftiest thing of all — lies for us. Our souls may be like stars, and dwell apart, and yet may lay the humblest duties upon themselves, and whilst we live in the high places, we "may travel on life's common way in cheerful godliness." So we may go on until at last we shall hear the Voice that says, "Come up higher," and shall be lifted to the mountain of God, where the living waters are, and shall fear no snares or hunters any more for ever.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

"High places" are the best things in life and experience. They lift a man up to God.

I. HIGH PLACES OF VISION. On a mountain we see more clearly. There are seasons when we get clear views of Divine truth, when they appear in a new glory. True, the revelation is made, — it is all in the book. But so the landscape exists. Yet unless your feet ascend the high places it is as though it were not there. So the revelation is in the book, but you must get up the mount of vision to see it.

II. THE HIGH PLACES OF FAITH. On "high places" we see things farthest, and so the mount of faith. Not only is there nothing between you and the distant object, but through a rarefied atmosphere there is the least possible obstruction. Moses on the heights of Pisgah saw the goodly land of promise spread out before him. It is a beautiful type of faith, Gazing upon the land which lies across the "narrow stream," a man may take out his title-deeds and contemplate his possessions.

III. THE HIGH PLACES OF ENJOYMENT. In "high places" men breathe more freely, so pure and exhilarating is the rarefied air. So it is with the soul. Drink in the quickening, inspiring influence of the Spirit. "Yield yourselves to God." "If you live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit." Be spiritually minded.

IV. THE HIGH PLACES OF EXERTION. On the heights a man can do more than on the low places of ordinary life. This is an image of spiritual life. God makes a man's feet like "hinds' feet"; that is, He makes the heavy, sluggish mortal into a light active being. To reach these heights we must climb. God will lead, but we must walk. If we would be great or high we must bear in mind they must depend on our own labour.

(Homilist.).