The book of Habakkuk is a very short book in the Bible. Habakkuk was a prophet called to awaken Judah to their wickedness and warn them of the impending judgment. The book itself recounts a conversation between God and Habakkuk. The book explores God’s justice, faithfulness, and sovereignty. Habakkuk wrestles with profound questions, such as why evil persists, how God views wickedness, and how the faithful can remain steadfast in their devotion to God amid suffering.
The first two chapters begin with a prayer of Habakkuk to God and then provide God’s response. The first chapter focuses on Habakkuk’s sorrow over Judah’s wickedness and frustration at God’s seemingly disinterest or inaction. God’s assures Habakkuk He is aware and that He will use the Babylonians to punish Judah. In the second chapter, Habakkuk expresses concerns that the Babylonians wickedness will not go unchecked and escape punishment to which God again reassures Habakkuk that even though they will be used to fulfill God’s punishment of Judah – the Babylonians will also face judgment. In the third chapter, Habakkuk reflects on God’s answers and past deeds which brings Him further comfort and reassurance.
Habakkuk begins his praise and reflection with the following statement:
O Lord, I have heard of what You have done, and I am filled with fear. O Lord, do again in our times the great things which You have done before.; and in wrath, remember mercy.
At the beginning of his prayer of praise to God, Habakkuk reflects on all of God’s mighty works of the past. God’s wonders feel him with fear and awe. He asks God to perform those works again. Recognizing that Judah’s judgment is imminent, Habakkuk pleads with God to temper His wrath with mercy. Instead of unleashing “fire and brimstone” upon Judah, Habakkuk asks God to remember His compassion. Yet, Habakkuk also knows that God will punish the wicked, so he concludes his prayer:
Even if the fig tree does not grow figs and there is no fruit on the vines, even if the olives do not grow and the fields give no food, even if there are no sheep within the fence and no cattle in the cattle-building, yet I will have joy in the Lord. I will be glad in the God Who saves me. The Lord God is my strength. He has made my feet like the feet of a deer, and He makes me walk on high places.
Even when God’s judgment comes and the faithful endure suffering alongside the wicked, Habakkuk resolves to find joy in serving God, for it is God who brings salvation. Habakkuk understood that even in the midst of God’s wrath, He would remember to mercy to the faithful.
So, when life is hard, and you begin to wonder why the wicked succeed or why the faithful suffer alongside the wicked, trust that in God’s wrath, He will also remember His mercy. #Remember
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