I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Habakkuk 3:18
“I know Daddy’s coming home because he sent me flowers.” Those were my seven-year-old sister’s words to our mother when Dad was missing in action during wartime. Before Dad left for his mission, he preordered flowers for my sister’s birthday, and they arrived while he was missing. But she was right: Dad did come home—after a harrowing combat situation. And decades later, she still keeps the vase that held the flowers as a reminder to always hold on to hope.
Sometimes holding on to hope isn’t easy in a broken, sinful world. Daddies don’t always come home, and children’s wishes sometimes go unfulfilled. But God gives hope in the most difficult circumstances. In another time of war, the prophet Habakkuk predicted the Babylonian invasion of Judah (Habakkuk 1:6; see 2 Kings 24) but still affirmed that God is always good (Habakkuk 1:12–13). Remembering God’s kindness to His people in the past, Habakkuk proclaimed: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (3:17–18).
Some commentators believe Habakkuk’s name means “to cling.” We can cling to God as our ultimate hope and joy even in trials because He holds on to us and will never let go.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 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.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
INSIGHT
- How does rejoicing in God help you in difficult times?
- What can you do to praise Him today?
The context of Habakkuk 3:11–19 is Habakkuk’s prayer in verse 2: “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.” The prophet implored God to perform such mighty acts once again. Included among these miracles for the benefit of God’s people are the plagues against Egypt (v. 5; see also Exodus 7–13), Gideon’s victory over Midian (Habakkuk 3:7; Judges 6–7), the stopping of the sun in the sky as Joshua’s army fought the Amorites (Habakkuk 3:11; Joshua 10:12–14), and the deliverance of the Israelites through the Red Sea (Habakkuk 3:15; Exodus 14). Habakkuk had an appropriate fear of his powerful God, and he knew he could trust Him to the end in any circumstance (Habakkuk 3:16–19).
PRAYER
Father, thank You that come what may, my future is bright with You! In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: HABAKKUK 3:11-19 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: 2 CHRONICLES 7-9; JOHN 11:1-29
