habakkuk pt.3

The final chapter of Habakkuk is Habakkuk’s prayer for God to do a work that was evident to everyone as a work of God. He prays for revival. Habakkuk specifically prays for the work of God, not his own work. Not only did he pray for God to do a work that was evident, but he also prayed that God would remember mercy. 

 “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” 

Habakkuk 3:2 

As Habakkuk prayed for revival, he began to praise the Lord who was bringing the revival. Habakkuk’s prayer for revival shows that revival is a work of God, not the achievement of man. Habakkuk prayed that revival would be known. He longed for God to do a work that was evident to everyone as a work of God. A work that was so evident that no one could deny that it was a work of God. 

Throughout Chapter 3 you can see a repetition of the word “Selah”. Selah means praise. Habakkuk glorified God for His power and majesty. He remembered how God had saved him in the past & it made him full of faith in what God could and would do in the present and future. We demonstrate that the Lord God is our strength when we praise Him! 

“You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.”

Habakkuk 3:13

Habakkuk praises and acknowledges how Jesus had saved them in the past. He declared that salvation is with “your anointed”– God’s anointed is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Habakkuk’s prayer continues to glorify and praise God. It is so powerful to praise God in every moment. Praising God gives the appropriate honor and glory to God, teaches and reminds us of who God is and what He has done, and builds confidence in the power and works of God. 

Habakkuk showed the proper response of a man under the sovereign power of God. He recognized his own weakness and low standing before God. Habakkuk could rejoice in the Lord because he was unchanging. Habakkuk didn’t just practice positive thinking and shut out the idea of the barren fig tree and the empty cattle stalls (Hab. 3:17). Instead, he saw those problems for what they were and remembered that God was greater than them all. 

He rightly declared that his strength was not in fig trees or vines or fields or flocks, but ONLY in the Lord God.