- 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.
Habakkuk's change may also have simply come from the time he spent communing with God. Whatever brought the change in Habakkuk, from complaint to praise, he was now praying for God to "Revive Your work in these years." Then he added the request that, "In Your wrath remember mercy!" Judgment must come, but moderate it with mercy.
In verses 3-15 Habakkuk describes some of God's wonders, supporting his statement of awe at God's deeds. He goes from God's dealings with man to His dealings with nature. Beginning in verse 3 with a reference to God's covenant with Israel (God comes from Teman), he then mentions plagues and pestilence he brought on the people and the tents of Cushan in distress. Going on he mentions God's dealings with the rivers, the sea, the mountains, the sun and moon, etc. Then he comes back to God's dealings with man.
In his conclusion to his prophecy, Habakkuk expresses his intent to "rejoice in the God of my salvation!" come what may. He will rejoice in the Lord, "though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines . . . ." Why? Because he knows that the Lord is his strength. What does he have apart from the Lord? These verses are reminiscent of Philippians 4:11-13 in which the Apostle Paul says, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content--whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me."
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