Year 3, Day 254: Habakkuk 3

Habakkuk’s Submission

Habakkuk 3 reports a prayer that was given to God after Habakkuk heard the reply of the Lord.  What I love about the prayer is that it shows that not only has Habakkuk heard God, but he has submitted to God.  The complaints are gone.  The confusion is gone.  Habakkuk has accepted what the Lord is doing and how the Lord is doing it.

Look at what it is that Habakkuk is saying.  After acknowledging that he has heard the report, Habakkuk asks the Lord in the midst of the years to revive it.  He knows that the Lord has asked him to be patient and accept that the work of the Lord is most likely going to be seen after Habakkuk’s death.  Habakkuk isn’t going to be around to see the fall of the Babylonians and their judgment.  But it will happen.  Habakkuk is submitted to this truth and accepting of it.

Habakkuk also reminds us and God that mercy is desired in the midst of wrath.  It is proper for the Hebrew people to go into their time of judgment.  But the time of judgment cannot be the focus or the end goal.  The judgment sets up a greater demonstration of God’s love.  The Hebrew people deserved to be smote out of the earth completely.  But this will not happen because God is merciful.

Praise to God

Verses 3-15 give us a glimpse into Habakkuk’s praise of God.  Before I get into the praise, I want to pause and note that praise is the outcome.  Habakkuk went to the Lord with confusion.  God spoke and gave him a message that brought about more questions.  So Habakkuk went a second time with confusion to God.  God spoke again and gave Habakkuk a message that was probably a little hard to swallow: God would take care of things in His own time.  Habakkuk could have gotten angry with God at this point, but he doesn’t.  Habakkuk embraces the message of God and gives Him praise.  Genuine submission is not being obedient when you get replies that you like.  Genuine submission is a submission when the message is favorable and unfavorable.

So what praise does Habakkuk give to the Lord?  Much of it has to do with God’s omnipotence.  He is bright.  He is radiant.  The objects in the heavens that create light obey Him.  The parts of Habakkuk’s prayer that speak to light are meant to cause us to relate images of the coming of light with God.  When God comes into our life, we are enlightened.  That was Habakkuk’s experience and it should be ours as well.  Just as we can see better when the sun crests over the eastern horizon, so we can know life better when God comes and shines into our life.

Habakkuk also speaks about praise that is regarding more dark matters.  God can split the earth.  Plague and pestilence can go before and behind God.  The earth quakes and writhes in His presence.  This gives us a great understanding of balance.  It is easy to focus on the greatness of God as we saw earlier in the comparison to God and light.  But God is not only the God of love and truth.  Any true God of love and truth also has to be a God of judgment against evil and hatred.  Any God who is capable of protecting truth and love must also have the power and might to cause the world to tremble.  Being in awe of God’s love and mercy also means being in awe of God’s power and wrath.

Habakkuk’s Internalization

I love Habakkuk 3:16.  It’s not a powerful verse in form or poetry.  It’s not a powerful verse in that a person immediately grasps the potency of the words.  But it is a powerful verse in that it is the true response to God.  Having come from the presence of God and hearing His reply, Habakkuk is now keenly aware of his humanity.  His body trembles at the greatness of God.  He is aware of the rottenness at the very core of his existence.  I love this keen expression of his humanity as he comes into the presence of the Lord.

I also love his continued submission.  What does Habakkuk learn when he comes into the presence of God?  He learns to wait.  He learns patience.  He learns to bend his understanding to God’s will.  Verse 16 may not have the power of great poetry of deep theology.  But it has what we all need: human submission.

Habakkuk’s Stance

As I concluded this chapter, I couldn’t help but remember Joshua’s challenge to the Hebrew people in Joshua 24:15.  “Choose this day,” Joshua says.  Here as this book concludes we get an opportunity to actually hear Habakkuk choose.

Habakkuk tells us that even if there isn’t fruit on the vine or animal in the stall, he will still give praise to the Lord.  Habakkuk’s praise of God is not to be connected with his prosperity.  That’s an incredible statement with which we can end this book.  God is his strength, not his prosperity.  God is his might, not his national pride.  It is in God that he rejoices.

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