Habakkuk 03 (Contemporary English Version)
- This is my prayer:
- I know your reputation, LORD, and I am amazed at what you have done. Please turn from your anger and be merciful; do for us what you did for our ancestors.
- You are the same Holy God who came from Teman and Paran to help us. The brightness of your glory covered the heavens, and your praises were heard everywhere on earth.
- Your glory shone like the sun, and light flashed from your hands, hiding your mighty power.
- Dreadful diseases and plagues marched in front and followed behind.
- When you stopped, the earth shook; when you stared, nations trembled; when you walked along your ancient paths, eternal mountains and hills crumbled and collapsed.
- The tents of desert tribes in Cushan and Midian were ripped apart.
- Our LORD, were you angry with the monsters of the deep? You attacked in your chariot and wiped them out.
- Your arrows were ready and obeyed your commands. You split the earth apart with rivers and streams;
- mountains trembled at the sight of you; rain poured from the clouds; ocean waves roared and rose.
- The sun and moon stood still, while your arrows and spears flashed like lightning.
- In your furious anger, you trampled on nations
- to rescue your people and save your chosen one. You crushed a nation's ruler and stripped his evil kingdom of its power.
- His troops had come like a storm, hoping to scatter us and glad to gobble us down. To them we were refugees in hiding-- but you smashed their heads with their own weapons.
- Then your chariots churned the waters of the sea.
- When I heard this message, I felt weak from fear, and my lips quivered. My bones seemed to melt, and I stumbled around. But I will patiently wait. Someday those vicious enemies will be struck by disaster.
- Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant--
- but I will still celebrate because the LORD God saves me.
- The LORD gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains. To the music director: Use stringed instruments.
This chapter, which is a conclusion to the book, is referred to by some as a doxology, or a hymn of praise to God. It begins with Habakkuk's request that God renew His work in His day, which is something God has already told him He would do. Having made this request the prophet thinks back to the days of Israel's exodus and points to God's awesome work at that time. At that time God came to Israel from Teman, this "Holy One from Mount Paran." This is our first clue that this is an exodus reference, for Teman and Mount Paran are in the region of Israel's exodus.
Then there is the reference to plague and pestilence and the question, "Are You angry at the rivers, Lord?" References, we might imagine, to the plagues brought on Egypt and parting the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan River. "You march across the earth with indignation; You trample down the nations in wrath." (v. 12) A reference to God going before Israel, as she marched across the wilderness to the Promised Land, and helping to clear the nations in her path?
At the thoughts of what God told him about dealing with Israel and with Babylon and the remembrance of what God did earlier during the exodus, Habakkuk "trembled where I stood." Now, he says, " I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us." Habakkuk is content to let God do His work and patiently wait for His timing. He is confident that God has it all under control and will do what must be done when the time is right.
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