Opening Song: Drive Out the Darkness by Dan Marotta, Isaac Wardell, John Swinton, and Paul ZachLyrics:Come O come be our lightDrive out the darknessCome Jesus comeEv'ry year under the thornEv'ry wrong that we have knownEv'ry valley will be raisedThe ancient ruins will be remadeEv'ry weapon made for warEv'ry gun and ev'ry swordWill be melted in the flameTo be used for gardeningIn the emptiness of griefThrough the night of sufferingEv'ry loss and in the tearsGod our comfort O be nearCome O come be our lightDrive out the darknessCome and end all the violenceCome and do not be silentCome we cling to Your promiseCome You'll break all injusticeCome Jesus comePassage: 1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth.For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.5 “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded.For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation,who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.7 They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on.Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour.9 They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand.10 At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh.They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it.11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!”Habakkuk's Second Complaint12 Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die.O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong,why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?Habakkuk 1 I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower,and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith2 And the Lord answered me:“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.[a]Musical Reflection: O Sacred Head Now Wounded by Hans Leo Hassler Reflection Notes: This tune by Hassler is most famously set with the text “O Sacred, Now Wounded;” the most common harmonization was popularized by J.S. Bach in his St. Matthew Passion. It conveys the pathos of Christ’s death with deep sincerity. Prayer: This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.