A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet.

LORD, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD.
Repeat them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.

God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed—
but he marches on forever.
I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

Were you angry with the rivers, LORD?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
when you rode your horses
and your chariots to victory?
You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.
You split the earth with rivers;
the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.

Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.

I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.

–Habakkuk 3 (NIV)

Today we continue to look at what the Bible tells us about God, his character and his intentions for his people. I picked this passage because of its language. As we read this passage and its sometimes peculiar language (at least to our ears), we are reminded that we have a God who acts in history and this passage reflects the historical and cultural milieu in which it was written. Too often we moderns get tripped up by this fact and miss the message contained in the language. So the first thing I would point out is to not focus so much on the idiosyncrasies of the passage/writer that you miss the what the writer is telling us about God and his relationship with us.

The God of biblical history is also the God of your history.

Having said that, what does this passage reveal about God and his character? Here we see a God of wondrous grace who remains faithful to his promises to redeem his people and rescue them from their exile. Even in the midst of impending judgment, God remains faithful to his promises. We see this illustrated here where Habakkuk talks about God’s past track record of punishing Israel’s enemies and his mighty power manifested in multiple ways so that the reader has no doubt that God has the power and desire to deliver his promises. In other words, Habakkuk is reminding us about God’s track record with his stubborn, rebellious, and wayward people. And because of that track record, the prophet can have a real basis for hope because God always remains faithful and true to himself and his promises to us.

That is why the last two verses are so wonderfully poignant. Despite God’s impending judgment of his people in the form of the Babylonian conquest, the prophet remains faithful to God. He does not stop trusting God or putting his ultimate hope in God, even as his heart pounds and his knees knock in fear over anticipation of the coming invasion. No, Habakkuk remembers God’s qualities and character, and is consequently reminded that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Despite the impending disaster that will befall Judah and Jerusalem, the prophet knows that God has not totally abandoned his people. Notice that this does not make the prophet immune from fear. Rather, Habakkuk’s faith helps sustain him in the midst of it. Likewise with us.

The next time you are facing calamity in your life, remember Habakkuk’s prayer (and numerous other passages in the Bible) to help bolster your pounding heart and weak knees. This faith in action is pleasing to God and you will not regret maintaining it, even in the most dire of circumstances.

Do you know God well enough to have the kind of faith Habakkuk had?