Stand at Your Watchpost

Do you feel tension in the atmosphere like the calm before the storm as we are days away from our national elections? As Christians, we remember that our home is Heaven and we are sojourners on the earth. Still, the Father has placed us in this exact time and place on purpose – to seek Him, His kingdom, and His righteousness here as in Heaven. Therefore, let us say like the prophet Habakkuk, “I will take my stand at my watchpost.”

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.
... 
O LORD, I have heard the report of you,
and your work, O LORD, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
— Habakkuk 2:1, 3:2

Habakkuk wrestled with the same questions that many of us ask today: “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” (Habakkuk 1:2). And “why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:13). 

Habakkuk’s manner of asking his questions is just as important as the answers themselves. The prophet didn’t turn his back on God in bitterness and walk away. Rather, he took his sincere quandaries to God and stood before Him in humble, believing prayer. 

Tomorrow is the 503rd anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting his 95 theses. Like many of us today, Martin Luther was frustrated with the lackluster, misguided Christianity of his day. He finally decided to take a stand for the truth of the gospel when he went to the doors of the Wittenberg church and published his complaints and convictions for all to see. Martin’s boldness was not well-received by church leadership. Four years later, Luther was put on trial by ecclesiatical authorities and commanded to renounce his theses. Luther famously said, “Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”

Most of us will never stand before human rulers for the purposes of God and tilt the axis of Christianity to revival. But, all of us can stand in an even more powerful position, the same place where Habakkuk stood: “I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower.” 

The “watchpost” and the “tower” are metaphors for the place of prayer. Isaiah 62:6-7 uses the same analogy: 

On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.
You who put the LORD in remembrance,
take no rest and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.

When we set aside the things of this world and enter into prayer, we stand before the great throne of the King of all kings. The highest privilege is given to us to intercede for God’s good plans to come to pass in the name of Jesus. Prayer puts us in the honored position of waiting on God, to gain His perspective and hear His response that brings peace and purpose.

As we stand at our watchposts, let’s repeat Habakkuk’s prayer of revival and mercy:

O LORD, I have heard the report of you,
and your work, O LORD, do I fear. 
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
— Habakkuk 3:2

Holy One – Our Father, Savior, and Helper – You are God Most High. We bow before You in awe. We know that no plan of man or scheme of the devil shakes Your purposes in the slightest. Right now, we pray that You will pour out mercy on us. We need Your forgiveness of our sins and healing of our hearts so that we will seek You first and wholeheartedly. In the midst of these years, revive Your work. Revive us. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

Yours in Christ,
Chuck Hetzler, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Leader, Christian Union Day and Night