Daily Devotional Thursday 12th March 2020

by William Moody

Habakkuk 3:7–16

  I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
    the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
  Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD?
    Was your anger against the rivers,
    or your indignation against the sea,
  when you rode on your horses,
    on your chariot of salvation?
  You stripped the sheath from your bow,
    calling for many arrows.1 Selah
    You split the earth with rivers.
10   The mountains saw you and writhed;
    the raging waters swept on;
  the deep gave forth its voice;
    it lifted its hands on high.
11   The sun and moon stood still in their place
    at the light of your arrows as they sped,
    at the flash of your glittering spear.
12   You marched through the earth in fury;
    you threshed the nations in anger.
13   You went out for the salvation of your people,
    for the salvation of your anointed.
  You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
    laying him bare from thigh to neck.2 Selah
14   You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
15   You trampled the sea with your horses,
    the surging of mighty waters.
16   I hear, and my body trembles;
    my lips quiver at the sound;
  rottenness enters into my bones;
    my legs tremble beneath me.
  Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
    to come upon people who invade us.

Footnotes

[1] 3:9 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
[2] 3:13 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain

(ESV)

Habakkuk continues this great prayer, and he continues meditating on God’s greatness as he focuses on God’s actions of the past.

In verse 7, God is pictured as coming like a great storm passing through the nations that opposed and oppressed God’s people. These people tremble before God and speaking of their tents and curtains speak of their frailty. The strength of God’s enemies is insignificant compared to God’s strength.

God’s strength is now pictured in what He does to the natural world (v8-11). Looking at these verse gives a picture of God whose power and might are beyond our understanding or imagination. For the mention of the sun and moon standing still (v11) look up Joshua 10 v12-14.

In verses 12-13 God is again pictured marching powerfully for the deliverance of His people. Verses 14-15 seem to refer to the destruction of Pharaoh at the Red Sea. That ‘super-power’ was no match for the God of glory.

Habakkuk still has fears about the coming of the Babylonians, but there is now a patience and trust as he waits (v16).

Here we see in this prayer how thinking about God’s greatness and what He has done in the past, has changed Habakkuk’s perspective on the world around him. We need to look at the world through Biblical lenses.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.