Ambition may be pure and lofty, and when this is the case it cannot be too highly commended. It is "the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds." "It is to the human heart what spring is to the earth, making every root and bud and bough desire to be more." Headway cannot be made in life apart from it, and destitute of this spirit a man must be outstripped in the race. Ambition, however, may take the opposite form, and it is to ambition corrupt and low in its nature that these verses refer. Observe indicated here concerning such unworthy ambition.

I. ITS AIM. The concern of the rulers of Babylon was to secure unlimited supremacy, to reach an eminence where, secure from peril and in the enjoyment of ease and luxury, they might, without restraint, exercise despotic control over the nations. "That he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil" (ver. 9). False ambition, whether in individuals or nations, is directed to the attainment of worldly distinction, authority, and power, and has its foundation in pride and selfesteem.

II. ITS UNSCRUPULOUSNESS. "They coveted an evil covetousness to their house" (ver. 9), totally disregarding the sacredness of property and the rights of man. Their acts were marked by oppression, plunder, and cruelty; they impoverished feebler nations and even "cut off many people" (ver. 10) in seeking the accomplishment of their selfish purposes. So is it ever that such ambition breaks the ties of blood and forgets the obligations of manhood."

III. ITS ISSUE. The prophet indicates that all this self-seeking and self-glorying must end in disgrace and dishonour.

1. The very monuments reared thus in the spirit of pride should bear adverse testimony. In the language of poetry he represents the materials which they had obtained by plunder and which they had brought from other lands into Chaldea, to be used in the construction of their stately edifices, as protesting against the way in which they had been obtained and the purposes to which they had been applied (ver. 11).

2. Shame and ruin should overtake the schemers and plotters themselves. "Thou hast sinned against thy soul" (ver. 10). Whatever their material gain, they had become spiritually impoverished by their course of action. They had degraded their higher nature and had incurred guilt and condemnation.

3. All connected with them should share in the disgrace and dishonour. "Thou hast consulted shame to thy house" (ver. 10); "God visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him" (Exodus 20:5); "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house" (Proverbs 15:27). Men who have sought, by grasping and extortion, or by war and conquest, to establish and perpetuate a high reputation, have, through their unrighteous deeds, passed away in ignominy, leaving to their posterity a tarnished and dishonoured name. "The house of the wicked shall be overthrown; but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish" (Proverbs 14:11). - S.D.H.

The prophet in this connection is declaring that the Chaldeans shall be punished for their cruel rapacity. Retribution is everywhere assumed as a great first-truth, which nature itself constantly teaches, and to which man's universal conscience as constantly responds.

I. THE SIN. What was the iniquity for which the Chaldean monarch is here so solemnly denounced? Not the mere outer act of building a great city, but in the manner and motive of his doing it. "He had built his city in blood, and established it in iniquity." There was sin in the motive, for the monarch only built for his selfish aggrandisement. We perceive, then, glaring ungodliness in both manner and motive of this great work of Babylon.

II. THE PUNISHMENT. The Bible does not teach that men are punished eternally for the sins committed in time. Man goes on sinning for ever, and therefore is punished for ever. By a law of a man's own mental constitution, memory and conscience are summoning from the past both ministry and material of a righteous retribution. This is retribution — a punishment really more dreadful than any material imagery whereby the Bible sets it forth — a retribution which becomes, of itself, eternal torment. We do not say that in this is all of retribution.

(Charles Wadsworth, D. D.)

Very startling was the vision which appeared to Belshazzar and his courtiers when their feasting and mirth were at their height. But not in terrible omens and supernatural visions alone do we see the Divine handwriting. To thoughtful men on every wall by the wayside appear mystic letters of profound significance. The hand itself is unseen behind the veil of nature, but the words are formed clear and distinct upon the stones of the wall, and they remain as if graven with a pen of iron. Botanists are familiar with a peculiar genus of lichen called Opegrapha, from the resemblance which the fructification of all its species bears to written characters. On the surface are numerous dark intricate lines, like Arabic, Hebrew, or Chinese letters. The likeness in some instances is remarkably close. Nature has thus mimicked in almost every wood, and on almost every rock and wall, the latest and highest result of man's civilisation; and in her humblest plant forms has written her wonderful runes. It can, indeed, be said in the highest sense of the whole family of lichens that they are God's handwriting on the wall. Lichens form the nebulae, so to speak, of the firmament of life. Lichens are in the ocean of air that covers the dry land what seaweeds are in the ocean of waters that covers the depths of the sea. They are as the pioneers of vegetation, climbing the bare crag, and penetrating into the lonely wilderness, and planting there the flag of life. As elements in the picturesque, lichens have long held a high place in the estimation of all lovers of nature. What would a ruin be without them? Lichens run through the whole chromatic scale, and show what striking effects nature can produce by an harmonious combination of a few simple lines and hues. Not less worthy of examination is the specialised organ with which the lichen decks itself than the blossom of the brightest flower. Nothing is lost in nature. God's hand. writing on the wayside wall and the weather-beaten rock writes no sentence — "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting."

(Hugh Macmillan, D. D.)

HabakkukChaldea, LebanonAnswereth, Beam, Beams, Board, Cry, Echo, Framework, Holdfast, Rafter, Respond, Stone, Surely, Timber, Wall, Wood, Woodwork1. Unto Habakkuk, waiting for an answer, is shown that he must wait by faith.
5. The judgment upon the Chaldean for unsatiableness,
9. for covetousness,
12. for cruelty,
15. for drunkenness,
18. and for idolatry.

Habakkuk 2:11

     5478   property, houses

Habakkuk 2:6-11

     8812   riches, ungodly use

Habakkuk 2:6-20

     9250   woe

Habakkuk 2:9-11

     5589   trap

September 15. "Though it Tarry, Wait for It, for it Will Surely Come, and Will not Tarry" (Hab. Ii. 3).
"Though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, and will not tarry" (Hab. ii. 3). Some things have their cycle in an hour and some in a century; but His plans shall complete their cycle whether long or short. The tender annual which blossoms for a season and dies, and the Columbian aloe, which develops in a century, each is true to its normal principle. Many of us desire to pluck our fruit in June rather than wait until October, and so, of course, it is sour and immature; but God's purposes …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Crowned Christ Reigning
(Revelation, Chapters xx: 4-xxii.) "On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits." "A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! Rose plot, Fringed pool, Ferned grot-- The veriest school Of peace; and yet the fool Contends that God is not-- Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool? Nay, but I have a sign; 'Tis very sure God walks in mine." Day Is Coming. It's a long lane that has no turning. Every valley leads up a hillside to a hilltop. Every storm ends in sunshine …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

A Sermon on a Text not Found in the Bible.
MR. JUSTICE GROVES.--"Men go into the Public-house respectable, and come out felons." My text, as you see, my dear readers, is not taken from the Bible. It does not, however, contradict the Scriptures, but is in harmony with some, such as "WOE UNTO HIM THAT GIVETH HIS NEIGHBOUR DRINK." Habakkuk ii. 15; "WOE UNTO THEM THAT RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, THAT THEY MAY FOLLOW STRONG DRINK."--Isaiah v. 11. "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES LEST AT ANY TIME YOUR HEARTS BE OVERCHARGED WITH SURFEITING AND …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The Season of Epiphany.
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him."--John ii. 11. The Epiphany is a season especially set apart for adoring the glory of Christ. The word may be taken to mean the manifestation of His glory, and leads us to the contemplation of Him as a King upon His throne in the midst of His court, with His servants around Him, and His guards in attendance. At Christmas we commemorate His grace; and in Lent His temptation; …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Sum and Substance of all Theology
Note: On Tuesday, June 25th, 1861, the beloved C. H. Spurgeon visited Swansea. The day was wet, so the services could not be held in the open-air; and, as no building in the town was large enough to hold the vast concourses of people who had come from all parts to hear the renowned preacher, he consented to deliver two discourses in the morning; first at Bethesda, and then at Trinity Chapel. At each place he preached for an hour and a quarter. The weather cleared up during the day; so, in the evening, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

Habakkuk-On his Watch-Tower
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. i. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower."--Hab. ii. i. HABAKKUK'S tower was not built of stone and lime. Hiram's Tyrian workmen, with all their skill in hewn stone, and in timber, and in iron, and in brass, had no hand in building Habakkuk's tower. "The Name of the Lord" was Habakkuk's high tower. The truth and the faithfulness and the power of God--these things were the deep and broad foundations of Habakkuk's high tower, into which he continually …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Meditations Before Dinner and Supper.
Meditate that hunger is like the sickness called a wolf; which, if thou dost not feed, will devour thee, and eat thee up; and that meat and drink are but as physic, or means which God hath ordained, to relieve and cure this natural infirmity and necessity of man. Use, therefore, to eat and to drink, rather to sustain and refresh the weakness of nature, than to satisfy the sensuality and delights of the flesh. Eat, therefore, to live, but live not to eat. There is no service so base, as for a man …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

"Hear the Word of the Lord, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Give Ear unto the Law of Our God, Ye People of Gomorrah,"
Isaiah i. 10, 11, &c.--"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah," &c. It is strange to think what mercy is mixed with the most wrath like strokes and threatenings. There is no prophet whose office and commission is only for judgment, nay, to speak the truth, it is mercy that premises threatenings. The entering of the law, both in the commands and curses, is to make sin abound, that grace may superabound, so that both rods and threatenings …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Letter vi (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He protests against the reputation for holiness which is attributed to him, and promises to communicate the treatises which he has written. I. Even if I should give myself to you entirely that would be too little a thing still in my eyes, to have recompensed towards you even the half of the kindly feeling which you express towards my humility. I congratulate myself, indeed, on the honour which you have done me; but my joy, I confess, is tempered by the thought that it is not anything …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Faith
What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for our sin? Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means, whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption. I begin with the first, faith in Jesus Christ. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.' Rom 3: 25. The great privilege in the text is, to have Christ for a propitiation; which is not only to free us from God's wrath, but to …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ...
Humility is the root of charity, and meekness the fruit of both. There is no solid and pure ground of love to others, except the rubbish of self-love be first cast out of the soul; and when that superfluity of naughtiness is cast out, then charity hath a solid and deep foundation: "The end of the command is charity out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5. It is only such a purified heart, cleansed from that poison and contagion of pride and self-estimation, that can send out such a sweet and wholesome …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Right Understanding of the Law
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Before I come to the commandments, I shall answer questions, and lay down rules respecting the moral law. What is the difference between the moral laud and the gospel? (1) The law requires that we worship God as our Creator; the gospel, that we worship him in and through Christ. God in Christ is propitious; out of him we may see God's power, justice, and holiness: in him we see his mercy displayed. (2) The moral law requires obedience, but gives …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Habakkuk
The precise interpretation of the book of Habakkuk presents unusual difficulties; but, brief and difficult as it is, it is clear that Habakkuk was a great prophet, of earnest, candid soul, and he has left us one of the noblest and most penetrating words in the history of religion, ii. 4b. The prophecy may be placed about the year 600 B.C. The Assyrian empire had fallen, and by the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., Babylonian supremacy was practically established over Western Asia. Josiah's reformation, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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