1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
2O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.3God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
4And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.5Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.6He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.8Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?9Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.10The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.11The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.12Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.13Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
14Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.15Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.16When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:18Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.19The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
What’s happening. Habakkuk has wrestled with God about injustice and learned that Babylon will invade. His book ends with this prayer-song.
What it means. Even if the crops fail and the animals are gone, meaning the loss of everything that kept a family alive, Habakkuk chooses to rejoice in the Lord. His joy is anchored in God himself, not in his circumstances. It is one of the Bible’s boldest statements of faith in hard times.