"GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments." - Habakkuk 3:19  (ESV)

By only glancing at the passage above, the reader might wrongly assume that Habakkuk is full of gratitude and happiness. The truth is quite the opposite. While Habakkuk ends on a positive note, the bulk of Habakkuk consists of the journey from questioning Yahweh to praising him. 

The Big Idea of Habakkuk

I have taught the big idea of Habakkuk as the following: Yahweh Is Trustworthy Despite Evil Circumstances. Habakkuk appears to be written during the time of the kings during the rising power of the Babylonian empire. Habakkuk lived during a time when evil seemed to be out of control and Yahweh seemed to be absent. Although we do not live in the exact same circumstances as Habakkuk, we can understand his sense of confusion and consternation at the evil in the world. Nevertheless, evil circumstances do not crowd out or nullify the goodness of God. Instead, the evil we experience ought rather to motivate us to depend more wholly on God, since he is never thwarted or intimidated by circumstances. Come what may, Yahweh is trustworthy. 

An Outline of Habakkuk

 Habakkuk 1:1-2:1 - Habakkuk's Complaint: Why Don't You Act?

Habakkuk opens with a cry of complaint to Yahweh, asking why Habakkuk must see so much evil while Yahweh appears to do nothing. Yahweh responds by mentioning the great nation of the Babylonians he is raising up. Habakkuk answers in turn by questioning how long all this evil must go on before Yahweh will do something about it. The wicked seem to flourish with no intervention from Yahweh. As the book enters the second chapter, Habakkuk declares that he will take his place at his post and wait to see what Yahweh will answer.

 Habakkuk 2:2--20 - Yahweh's Answer: Holy Yahweh Really Reigns

Yahweh answers Habakkuk with a declaration of judgment against the proud who build cities by blood and treat others unjustly. Yahweh pronounces woes on those who get gain by unrighteous means and indulge in too much wine. Yahweh finishes his answer with a final woe against those who pray to gods which are only idols they fashion themselves. 

 Habakkuk's Conclusion: I Shall Trust Yahweh

Habakkuk makes a significant turn in chapter three, where he expresses awe, fear, and admiration at the power and wrath of Yahweh. He prays to Yahweh a description of Yahweh’s power in wrath that seems to be poured out on the earth even while it is against the nations. For this reason, at the beginning of the prayer, Habakkuk pleads with Yahweh, “…in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). Habakkuk concludes with a moving psalm of trust in Yahweh regardless of how bleak the circumstances may be.

Benefits of Habakkuk

Habakkuk is one of those books in Scripture that may strike us with its honesty. It is common enough for Christians to fall into a rut of ritualistic religiosity, worshipping and serving Yahweh more by rote and habit than with earnestness and heart. Then, when some sort of trouble strikes or difficulty arises, it is as though they are awakened out of a spiritual slumber and really begin to look around themselves and take account of their surroundings.

It is common for people to talk about losing their faith in God. I have heard people use this language and similar phrases to describe how, when tough circumstances arose that brought tragedy, heartache, or disappointment, they concluded that they could no longer trust God. Why does this not happen to Habakkuk? What is the difference between Habakkuk, whose faith was reaffirmed in tough circumstances, and others, whose faith is shattered by similar circumstances?

When people talk about losing their faith in God, they typically mean that God has failed them in some way that they find insupportable. They depended on God, but he did not come through for them. 

When Habakkuk was challenged, he did not lose his faith in God. Instead, his understanding of what faith in God means was challenged. Habakkuk’s circumstances drove him to re-center and re-orient his perspective of his circumstances around a refreshed perspective of God. Habakkuk’s perspective of his circumstances changed in relation to his perspective on God. When people “lose faith” in God, their perspective of God changes in relation to their circumstances.

For many people, God is only as good as their current circumstances indicate that he is. As long as things are going well, or seem like they could go well, they trust in God as the best chance of favorable circumstances. But if circumstances do not improve, their trust in God diminishes accordingly.

A clear difference between the one who loses his faith and Habakkuk who kept it is that, for the person who loses faith, their ultimate priority is their understanding of the good. When circumstances change and God does not meet expectations, faith in God is discarded in favor of an alternative that might grant their idea of the good. With Habakkuk, by contrast, his ultimate priority is God himself. When circumstances change and God does not meet expectations, Habakkuk’s idea of the good is discarded in favor of a clearer understanding and stronger relationship to God. For the person who loses faith, their own ideas are ultimate. For Habakkuk, God himself is ultimate. 

Perhaps the most basic question Habakkuk prompts us to ask is whether we could sing the song that concludes the book. It is no easy thing to stare down the barrel of poverty and starvation and maintain the resolve to rejoice in God. Yet, by the end, that is precisely what Habakkuk is doing.

An important caution is that when we face difficult circumstances, we may have to move through the same stages as Habakkuk before we can resonate with his concluding psalm. Habakkuk 3 does not begin the book but ends it. The psalm at the end reflects the results of Habakkuk’s meditation on the person, power, and promises of Yahweh. If our hearts are going to change, we must also allow some time for the change to take place. Habakkuk shows us the process by which it happens. It is right to desire to respond the way Habbakkuk does by the end, but we should remember that he does not start by expressing trust and confidence but by expressing weakness and anguish.