The Prophet Habakkuk

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- Chapter 3 -

A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet on Behalf of Those Who Are Ignorant.(a)

(b)

Lord, I heard what has been said about you, and I was afraid. Lord, your work, in the midst of years, revive it. In the midst of years, you will make it known. When you have become angry, you will remember mercy.(c)

(d)

God will come from the south, and the Holy One from mount Pharan. His glory has covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.(e)

His brightness shall be like the light; horns are in his hands. There, his strength has been hidden.(f)

Death will go forth before his face. And the devil shall depart before his feet.(g)

He stood, and measured the earth. He looked, and dissolved the Gentiles. And the mountains of ages past have been shattered. The hills of the world became curved by the journeys of his eternity.(h)

(i)

(j)

I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity; the tent-skins of the land of Midian will be thrown into confusion.(k)

Could you have been angry with the rivers, Lord? Or was your fury within the rivers, or your indignation in the sea? He will ascend upon your horses, and your four-horse chariots are salvation.(l)

Being stirred up, you will take up your bow, the oaths you have spoken to the tribes. You will split apart the Rivers of the earth.

They saw you, and the mountains grieved. The great body of waters crossed over. The abyss uttered its voice. The pinnacle lifted up its hands.(m)

The sun and the moon have stood firm in their dwelling place; with the light of your arrows, they shall go forth in the splendor of your flashing spear.

With a roar, you will trample the earth. In your fury, you will cause the nations to be stupefied.

You have gone forth for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your Christ. You struck the head of the house of the impious. You have laid bare his foundation all the way to the neck.(n)

You have cursed his scepters, the head of his warriors, those who approached like a whirlwind so as to scatter me. Their exultation was like one who devours the poor in secret.

You made a way in the sea for your horses, in the mud of great waters.(o)

I heard, and my stomach became troubled. My lips trembled at the voice. Let decay enter into my bones and gush forth from within me. Then I may rest in the day of tribulation, so that I may ascend to our people well-prepared.(p)

(q)

Habakkuk Rejoices

For the fig tree will not flower, and there will be no bud on the vines. The labor of the olive tree will be misleading, and the farmland will produce no food. The sheep will be cut off from the sheepfold, and there will be no herd at the manger.

But I will rejoice in the Lord; and I will exult in God my Jesus.(r)

The Lord God is my strength. And he will set my feet like those of the stag. And he, the victor, will lead me beyond my high places while singing psalms.

Footnotes

(a)3:1 Or, ‘For Ignorances.’ The prayer of Habakkuk is probably best understood as a prayer for persons, rather than for mere situations of ignorance. Therefore, ‘ignorantiis’ is rendered as ‘those who are ignorant’ or ‘the ignorant.’(Conte)

(b)3:1 For ignorances:That is, for the sins of his people. In the Hebrew, it is Sigionoth: which some take to signify a musical instrument, or tune; with which this sublime prayer and canticle was to be sung.(Challoner)

(c)3:2 Thy hearing, etc:That is, thy oracles, the great and wonderful things you have revealed to me; and I was struck with a reverential fear and awe.(Challoner)

(d)3:2 Thy work:The great work of the redemption of man, which you will bring to life and light in the midst of the years, when our calamities and miseries shall be at their height.(Challoner)

(e)3:3 God will come from the south, etc:God himself will come to give us his law, and to conduct us into the true land of promise: as heretofore he came from the South (in the Hebrew Theman) and from mount Pharan to give his law to his people in the desert. See Deut. 33:2.(Challoner)

(f)3:4 Horns, etc:That is, strength and power, which, by a Hebrew phrase, are called horns. Or beams of light, which come forth from his hands. Or it may allude to the cross, in the horns of which the hands of Christ were fastened, where his strength was hidden, by which he overcame the world, and drove out death and the devil.(Challoner)

(g)3:5 Death shall go before his face, etc:Both death and the devil shall be the executioners of his justice against his enemies: as they were heretofore against the Egyptians and Chanaanites.(Challoner)

(h)3:6 Or, ‘have been bent by the journeys of his eternity.’(Conte)

(i)3:6 He beheld, etc:One look of his eye is enough to melt all the nations, and to reduce them to nothing. For all heaven and earth disappear when they come before his light. Apoc. 20:11.(Challoner)

(j)3:6 The ancient mountains, etc:By the mountains and hills are signified the great ones of the world, that persecute the church, whose power was quickly crushed by the Almighty.(Challoner)

(k)3:7 Ethiopia:the land of the Blacks, and Madian, are here taken for the enemies of God and his people: who shall perish for their iniquity.(Challoner)

(l)3:8 With the rivers, etc:He alludes to the wonders wrought heretofore by the Lord in favour of his people Israel, when the waters of the rivers, viz., of Arnon and Jordan, and of the Red Sea, retired before their face: when he came as it were with his horses and chariots to save them when he took up his bow for their defence, in consequence of the oath he had made to their tribes: when the mountains trembled, and the deep stood with its waves raised up in a heap, as with hands lifted up to heaven: when the sun and the moon stood still at his command, etc., to comply with his anger, not against the rivers and sea, but against the enemies of his people. How much more will he do in favour of his Son: and against the enemies of his church?(Challoner)

(m)3:10 Here mountains (high) are contrasted with a great body of water (low), and the abyss (low) is contrasted with a high point, the pinnacle. Though the ‘altitudo’ was already high, once God approaches it can lift up its hands even higher.(Conte)

(n)3:13 The head of the house of the wicked:Such was Pharao heretofore: such shall Antichrist be hereafter.(Challoner)

(o)3:15 You made a way in the sea, etc:To deliver thy people from the Egyptian bondage: and you shall work the like wonders in the spiritual way, to rescue the children of the church from their enemies.(Challoner)

(p)3:16 I have heard, etc:Viz., the evils that are now coming upon the Israelites for their sins; and that shall come hereafter upon all impenitent sinners; and the foresight that I have of these miseries makes me willing to die, that I may be at rest, before this general tribulation comes, in which all good things shall be withdrawn from the wicked.(Challoner)

(q)3:16 That I may go up to our people, etc:That I may join the happy company in the bosom of Abraham, that are girded, that is, prepared for their journey, by which they shall attend their Lord, when he shall ascend into heaven. To which high and happy place, my Jesus, that is, my Saviour, the great conqueror of death and hell, shall one day conduct me rejoicing and singing psalms of praise, ver. 18 and 19.(Challoner)

(r)3:18 The phrase ‘in God my Jesus’ is also rendered ‘in God my Savior.’ The name Jesus means Savior. The use of this word in the Old Testament is no coincidence; it is a reference to the name that would be fittingly given to our Savior.(Conte)

A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.

LORD, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Renew your work in the middle of the years. In the middle of the years make it known. In wrath, you remember mercy.

God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.

His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.

Plague went before him, and pestilence followed his feet.

He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction. The dwellings of the land of Midian trembled.

Was the LORD displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea, that you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation?

You uncovered your bow. You called for your sworn arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.

The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.

The sun and moon stood still in the sky at the light of your arrows as they went, at the shining of your glittering spear.

You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger.

You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.

You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.

You trampled the sea with your horses, churning mighty waters.

I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.

Habakkuk Rejoices

For even though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

GOD, the Lord,(a) is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.

Footnotes

(a)3:19 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”