Read 2 Kings 20, Habakkuk 3, and John 12.
This devotional is about Habakkuk 3.
Chapters 1 and 2 of Habakkuk record a running conversation between Habakkuk and God. In chapter 1, Habakkuk cried out to God to stop the injustice and violence in Judah and to punish the wicked who sinned in these ways (1:2-4). God responded to Habakkuk’s prayer and told him that justice would indeed come, but in the form of an attack from the Babylonians (1:5-11). Habakkuk couldn’t handle this information. It seemed downright wrong, to him, that God would punish the covenant disobedience of his people by means of a victorious attack by the even more wicked Babylonians. So, Habakkuk again questioned God at the end of chapter 1 and into chapter 2. God responded in chapter 2 by telling Habakkuk to write down this oracle of judgment.
Here in chapter 3, the dialogue between Habakkuk and God becomes a monologue from Habakkuk to God in prayer (v.1 ). Instead of trying to call God out for punishing Judah with the Babylonians, Habakkuk called on the Lord to save his people.
Habakkuk stated the thesis of his prayer in verse 2. Habakkuk told the Lord that he had heard of the Lord’s awesome works in the past; now he wanted the Lord to repeat them in his lifetime (v. 2). Then Habakkuk recounts God’s miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt under Moses in verses 3-15.
Obviously, Habakkuk believed everything he had read in scripture as well as everything he had heard about the Exodus. Although Habakkuk began his prayer by asking God to repeat this work again in his day, Habakkuk testified that he would always trust in God, no matter what God chose to do. Verse 17 describes in beautiful poetry what God’s covenant curse on Judah would be like, when it says, “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…” (v. 17 NIV). What Habakkuk described there was total devastation, even in the realm of nature. Yet, despite this devastation, Habakkuk affirmed his total faith in God in verse 18, which says, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
We don’t experience God’s judgment for the sins our nation like Judah did, but there are certainly times in all of our lives where God allows terrible things to happen to us. Can you rejoice in God in those moments of your life?
Verse 19 concludes Habakkuk’s prayer by saying, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” The point of this verse, verse 19, is that faith in God is what gives a believer stability in life, even when everything you count on collapses around you.
We think our strength and stability are in God sometimes, but when our circumstances collapse, we may learn that our faith was really in the benefits God gave us, not God himself. If you are facing some bad news, an uncertain future, or if you are grieving from some recent loss, does that make you question and feel bitterness toward God? Or, does it give you an opportunity to re-affirm your faith in God and move forward with confidence? Maybe this is a good time for you to pray, like Habakkuk did in this chapter. By all means, ask God to work again like he did in the exodus. Habakkuk did that in verse 2 and God may choose to answer that prayer. But, remember that God’s goal for your life is to teach you to trust in him no matter what. So, let Habakkuk’s prayer re-orient you to your faith in God. Then tell God you will trust him, no matter what.