Habakkuk 3
January 16
Reading: Habakkuk 3
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2 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.
3 God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed at his heels.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations;
then the eternal mountains were scattered;
the everlasting hills sank low.
His were the everlasting ways.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your indignation against the sea,
when you rode on your horses,
on your chariot of salvation?
9 You stripped the sheath from your bow,
calling for many arrows. Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
the deep gave forth its voice;
it lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their place
at the light of your arrows as they sped,
at the flash of your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the earth in fury;
you threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows
the heads of his warriors,
who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
the surging of mighty waters.
16 I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
Habakkuk 3 is a psalm. It is the final response of the prophet to the actions of God, first against His people, using Babylon, then against Babylon. In this chapter, Habakkuk does not so much agree with God and His plans, but the prophet submits to God’s better judgment without necessarily understanding that judgment.
The psalm that is Habakkuk 3 begins with a prayer. (vs. 2) It is a prayer addressed to God, who is to be feared. It is a prayer that asks for the answer sooner than later, “in the midst of the years.” It is one of the shortest prayers in the Bible: “In wrath remember mercy.” The prophet knows that the people of God deserve the judgment of God. He understands that the judgment is coming. It cannot be avoided. But, even so, he prays for mercy. Mercy means that we do not get what we deserve for our sin. If it were not for God’s mercy, we would all perish.
In verses 3-15 the prophet Habakkuk delivers a terrifying vision of the wrathful judgment of the Lord. He sees what is coming, first upon God’s people, then upon the Babylonians on behalf of God’s people.
The essence of the prophet’s response to this judgment of God, presented throughout the book in response to Habakkuk’s questions, is in verses 16-19. In these four verses the prophet gives us an amazing look at the heart that we all need to have when it comes to what God does that we do not understand. First, he trembles in fear because of the judgments of God. (vs. 16) Then we see a heartfelt expression of faith in the Lord. (vss. 17-18) No matter what may happen, no matter how dreadful things may get, he will keep rejoicing in God who saves him. Finally, he tells us that the Lord is the one who gives him strength to get through all the things that the future holds. (vs. 19) This is strength, not to just survive, but to leap upon the mountains.