The entire book of Habakkuk is the prophet’s prayer to God and God’s response. In fact, Habakkuk’s side of the conversation reads like the Psalms while the five woe oracles of God’s response in chapter two are more similar to proverbs. While still written as a psalm, the prayer that we find in chapter three is different in character and tone from the prophet’s earlier prayers. The difference in tone is noteworthy because of its placement in the whole book, as James Boice points out: this is “a prayer in context and cannot properly be understood apart from the entire prophecy” (James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2: Micah–Malachi; An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1986))
Before we dig into the actual prayer, don’t miss the repetition of Habakkuk’s title as “the prophet” in the superscription of 3:1: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet.” We’ve already been given his title in the opening verse of the book (1:1), so by repeating it here, we’re “reminded that even though the words of this chapter are a prayer to God, they are also a word from God to us” (David G. Firth, Habakkuk, ESV Expository Commentary, vol. VII). What then, is this prayerful word from God to us? It is that the demonstration of God’s sovereign majesty and power leads to the right-ordering of prayer. This is the lesson learned by Job, Isaiah, and countless other God-fearing saints: a right view of the LORD humbles and redirects our prayers.
The book of Habakkuk began with prayers of dismay to God. And I want to be careful to emphasize that Habakkuk was not wrong in his initial prayers. He was lamenting grievous things, and he was right to do so. We must bring our laments to God. But Habakkuk’s worries and fears foreshortened his view of faith. Yes, he was calling upon God, but he was looking toward the circumstances that disturbed him and motivated his prayers. To lament is to cry out from the depths of our souls about wrongs that only our wise, loving, sovereign God can make right. But when we lament, in our vulnerability it’s easy to slip and shift our focus from God and onto our circumstances. When praying in the dark, we lose track of where we should look. And as we do so, the dark circumstances will loom larger and larger until the corrective lenses of our faith refocus on the LORD of hosts who ordains all that comes to pass for one high and holy purpose: so that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (2:14).
As God pronounced the woes in chapter two upon the oppressors and idolaters and declared his sovereign purpose, power, and justice, Habakkuk’s faith was refocused. The prophet saw clearly at last that not an iota of greed, injustice, violence, perversion, or idolatry escapes the Lord’s notice, but instead it is being stored up, every bit, for a day of reckoning. In God’s timing there will be a measure of justice in this life. But full and perfect justice won’t be realized until the day of judgment. In the meantime, the sovereign Lord is overseeing his work in the world, and the greed, injustice, violence, perversion, and idolatry are—in his unsearchable ways—tools in the hands of the evildoers serving his holy will.
God finished his reply to his prophet by declaring that while it appears that the chaos of wickedness in the world is winning:
“[T]he Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.”
And so, with a clearer vision of the holiness of God, Habakkuk bows himself in humility, adoration, and supplication for 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)
In this prayer, Habakkuk affirms the past actions of the Lord, which is significant in the context of the book since he began by lamenting the inaction of the Lord. But now he declares that he has heard the report of God’s work, and he stands in awe, asking that the Lord would revive his work and make it known. It’s as if he prays: “Remind your chosen people who you are and what you have done, O Lord! Bring spiritual revival and renewal to Israel! Act mightily against your enemies who face your imminent judgment!” “The implication is that both those who have suffered under injustice and those who have practiced it might come to know Yahweh’s work—although each would experience this knowledge rather differently” (Firth). Throughout history the Lord has often used times of tribulation to bring revival, why not now? Indeed—why not now?
And then Habakkuk pleads, “in wrath remember mercy.” “Although he longs to see Yahweh active once again, he knows from his experience that this excludes neither pain for those who are faithful to him nor judgment for those who are not. So, in the [wrath] that comes from the revival of Yahweh’s work, Habakkuk knows that mercy is needed” (Firth). This is a simple, yet profoundly beautiful request. As Boice writes, “God is the God of mercy, so to pray for mercy (even in the day of his wrath) is to plead for that which is central to his character.”
Habakkuk’s prayer now turns to a theophany—an appearance of God to his people.
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.
His brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.
Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed at his heels.
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.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
In the beginning of verse three, the way the prophet describes this powerful arrival of the Lord indicates that his arrival is either already happening or is imminent, even as Habakkuk prays. “Only the powerful coming of God, as he has come in the past, will bring justice for his people. . . Just as God, the Holy One, had powerfully been with Israel in their journey through [the wilderness] in the exodus, so now again he similarly comes to his people” (Firth). Habakkuk then shifts to descriptions of the majesty and splendor of God covering the whole of creation (“the heavens, and the earth”) and filling it with his praise. The brilliance of his glory flashes forth in verse four, even though his power is veiled. And then the prophet describes the powerful working of the Lord through pestilence and plague, and the shaking and sinking of the nations and mountains. “The hills were as old as creation, but it is God’s ways that are truly eternal. So also, the nations that stood in the way of God’s journey tremble. . . . God is coming, and everything else is shown to be powerless in comparison” (Firth).
Where do you need the Lord to come in the awesome might of his power, friend? Are you perplexed by his actions or his seeming lack of action? Do you find yourself in circumstances so dark you don’t know where to turn? God’s word to us through Habakkuk’s prayer is both a call to trust God amid our own perplexing, dark, and challenging circumstances, and a promise of God’s presence through them. Whether by reading your bible or through the words of a trusted friend in the faith, remind yourself of the faithfulness of the Lord. And remembering, entrust yourself to him again.
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
Grateful 