CHAPTER 3 Dec. 14 
A Prayer of Habakkuk 
A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music. 2Yahweh, I have heard of Your fame. I stand in awe of Your deeds, Yahweh. Renew your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, You remember mercy. 3God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.  His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth. 4His splendour is like the sunrise. Rays shine from His hand, where His power is hidden. 5Plague went before Him, and pestilence followed His feet. 6He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. 7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction. The dwellings of the land of Midian trembled. 8Was Yahweh 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? 9You removed the sheath from Your bow, You called for many arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers. 10The mountains saw You, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by, the deep sea roared and lifted up its hands on high. 11The sun and moon stood still in the sky at the light of Your arrows as they went, at the shining of Your glittering spear. 12You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger. 13You went forth 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. 14You 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. 15You trampled the sea with your horses, churning mighty waters. 16I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the sound. 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. 17For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labour 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: 18yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the musical director, on my stringed instruments.

Commentary

3:2 In wrath, You remember mercy- God’s anger and judgments aren’t the wrath of an offended deity who is more powerful than us, as it were hitting back at us because we have upset Him. His judgments incorporate mercy, and are aimed at bringing good out of evil, teaching others His ways through them (Is. 26:9).
3:16 After twice approaching God with the question of “Why?”, and each time being given fresh insights into the awful nature of the judgment to come as a response, Habakkuk ends up with a trembling body and lips that ‘quivered at the sound’ of God’s word… and yet, at the very same time, feels that he still “will rejoice in the Lord” (:18), even though he doesn’t fully understand. Faith involves an element of acceptance that God is right, even though we don’t understand. 
3:17 These were all the blessings promised for obedience. Habakkuk had been obedient, but didn’t seem to have received these blessings. Yet still he had the faith to rejoice in God’s grace, even though he didn’t understand the exact relationship between obedience and blessing in this life. 
3:18 Yet will I- Even if others amongst God’s people turn away and are punished for it, yet we personally can still rejoice in our personal relationship with God.