The Lord God is My Strength

Habakkuk

Habakkuk is not the most popular book in the bible. It is one that is rarely preached in church or taught in a bible study. Perhaps that is because it is a conversation between a man, Habakkuk, and God about the coming destruction of Judah. It may appear irrelevant since it is all in the past; Judah was overrun by the Babylonians. However, there are some very relatable truths in this book that apply exactly to what we deal with today.

As I mentioned, Habakkuk and God are going back and forth in a conversation about Judah’s future destruction. Habakkuk actually starts the conversation off by acknowledging the wickedness of the nation. The law was powerless and there was not justice (Habakkuk 1:4). He is wondering why He has let the nation continue in their wicked ways without doing something about it. God replies by letting Habakkuk know that He is doing something about it. Judah would soon be destroyed by the Babylonian’s (Habakkuk 1:5-11).

Naturally, this takes Habakkuk off guard. He basically tells God that doesn’t make any sense to him (Habakkuk 1:12-17). Why would the almighty, powerful, and gracious God allow His chosen people to be overrun by savages? He understood that Judah was wicked, but the Babylonians were far worse. Their gods were made out of stone; they rejoice in bloodshed. Why would He allow His people to perish to such a wicked nation?

Something important that I want to note here is that Habakkuk clearly understood that God was in control. It wasn’t that God could not stop the Babylonians or the devil from overtaking Judah. He allowed it. It was part of His perfect plan. There is no question in Habakkuk’s mind that it was God Who was in complete control (Habakkuk 1:12-17).

Moving on, we see an amazing display of humility on Habakkuk’s part in Habakkuk 2:1. He says, “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.” There is no doubt that he understood on top of being all-powerful, God is also all-wise. He knows what He is doing, even when it makes no sense to us. He accepts that, and that is why Habakkuk humbly acknowledges that he would be corrected. He doesn’t understand it but he does understand that God knows what He is doing. There is a lot more that can be said about this verse, but I must keep moving on.

In chapter two, God tells Habakkuk to write down what he is about to say (2:2). He then proceeds to assure Habakkuk that the Babylonians will be destroyed in the future. Their wickedness is not being overlooked. He would remain true to the covenant he made with Abraham. God told Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land (Genesis 15:18) and God never breaks His promises (Titus 1:2).

We can see in chapter three that Habakkuk does find comfort in this, but first he is honest about his fear. He fears the imminent attack of the Babylonians. He now knows that God will not rescue Judah but has chosen to allow them to be overtaken. He accepts that this is the perfect will of God. But that does not mean he does not fear the days ahead. The days where he will see his people suffer and be killed, and perhaps he himself would perish at this time.

But now we get to the last few verses of this book, and in my opinion, the most beautiful part of this book. Habakkuk concludes by writing, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the field yield no food, though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.”

Though Habakkuk knows what will become of his people and the immediate suffering and death they would face, he trusts God. He believes that He is in control (which we saw in chapter one) and he knows God does not lie and will keep the Abrahamic covenant.

The beautiful part of this verse is that he says he will still rejoice in the Lord. He is not rejoicing in his circumstances; they were dire. He is not rejoicing in his relationships; his people were wicked. Similar to what we saw in our study of Lamentations 3, Habakkuk could only rejoice through the supernatural power of God. It was certainly not his flesh that rejoiced, it was his spirit, through the power of God. He knew God would give him the strength to continue to push on. He could continue to push forward through the strength and mercy of the Lord.

This book is not unlike what we see today. The wicked seem to go unpunished while stepping on those of us trying to do right. We may wonder why a righteous God would allow the wicked people of the world to lie and scheme their way to the top or why the conniving seem to prosper. We may work hard for a promotion just to see someone who is underqualified and selfish smooth talk their way to the top. We may wonder why we are barren while others decide to abort their children. We wonder why our wife died in the car accident while the drunk driver who hit her walked away unscathed, or why the rapist gets a short prison sentence while the innocent woman has to deal with trauma the rest of her life.

It is important to remember that God sees everything. He knows all that is going on and He is not ignoring it. It does not always make sense why these things happen, and it may never make sense to us in this life, but like Habakkuk we ought to trust Him despite our lack of understanding. We can still find joy amidst suffering. We can still trust God despite the confusion. The wicked will have their day of judgment. If we have been saved, then this temporary time we live in will be the closest to hell we will ever be. For the unsaved, this is the closest to heaven they will ever be. We must trust God and His will. He knows what He is doing.