A lot to be thankful for. When I heard, my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people,
He will invade them with his troops.
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields 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.
Habakkuk showed the proper response of man under the sovereign power of God. He recognized his own weakness and low standing before this God of all majesty and power.
He will invade him with his troops: The prophet remembered that the Babylonians were coming, and that this God of sovereign power and majesty would direct their work against Judah.
Though the fig tree may not blossom, not fruit be on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation: In almost a vision, Habakkuk sw the Judean countryside desolate, perhaps from the invading Babylonian army or perhaps from natural calamity. In the midst of this almost complete loss, Habakkuk could still rejoice in the LORD.
He knew that this God of majesty and power is not diminished because man faces difficult trials. Sometimes we think, “If God is so great and powerful, how come I am going through a hard time?” Habakkuk knew this was the wrong question and the wrong attitude. Instead, he said: “I know you are strong and mighty, and if we are in desolate circumstances it is because we deserve it. I will praise You still, and even rejoice in You.”
Rejoice in the LORD… joy in the God of my salvation: With desolate circumstances like he just described, Habakkuk could find no joy in the fig tree or in the vines or in the fields or flock; yet God was unchanged. He could still rejoice in the LORD, because He is unchanging.
Habakkuk didn’t just practice positive thinking and shut out the idea of the barren fig tree and the empty cattle stalls. Instead, he saw those problems for what they were and remembered that God was greater than them all.
Benjamin Franklin – who was not a Christian, though he had great respect for the Bible – used Habakkuk 3:17-19 to confound a group of sophisticated, cultured despisers of the Bible. When he was in Paris he heard this group mocking the Bible, and mocking Franklin for his admiration of it. One evening he came among them and said that he had a manuscript containing an ancient poem, that he was quite impressed by the poem and he wanted to read it to them. When he read Habakkuk 3:17-19, his listeners received it with praise and admiration – “What a magnificent poem!” they said, and wanted to know where they could get copies. Franklin told them to just look in Habakkuk chapter 3.
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1 Pearce Street Onehunga
+64 27 816 8392
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