Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
- Habakkuk 3:17-19 (esv)
Habakkuk was a prophet to Judah just before the Babylonians (Chaldeans) conquered them. Chapters 1 and 2 show a dialogue between Habakkuk and the Lord where Habakkuk goes to the Lord two times with a complaint and then Lord responds to him two times with an answer.
There is so much heartache, confusion, and yet beauty in this short, three-chapters book. One of the first things that struck me was how the Lord responded to Habakkuk after each of his complaints. He didn’t chastise him, he didn’t rebuke him, he didn’t ignore him. Rather, He answered him. What comfort that gives to us believers when we go to God with a heart full of sorrow, grief, confusion, anger, you name it – knowing that our good and kind Lord will answer us in His time.
Before we dive into the last three verses of the book, we need to know that at the beginning of the book Habakkuk went to the Lord confused and angry about the wickedness going on within and among the people of Judah; they lacked reverence and honor for the Lord, His commands, and His people. The Lord answered Habakkuk that He saw it too. And His response to all the evil in and among his people would be met by destruction and captivity by the wicked Babylonians. This chastisement was to bring His beloved nation back to himself in repentance.
Moreover, in His initial response, the Lord told Habakkuk to wait and see and wonder and be astounded at what He was about to do (1:4). God was calling Habakkuk to shift his focus from the horizontal to the vertical. Said differently, to not be so consumed with the things of this world and what’s going on, but rather with the heavenly purposes and divine will of the Lord.
Habakkuk’s closing words of adoration and trust took him a while to get there. During their dialogue, the Lord not only reminded Habakkuk of some pretty powerful past happenings of His deliverance but also revealed some pretty powerful truths. Habakkuk was then faced with two choices: either to deny and hide or admit and submit.
Should Habakkuk choose to deny, then he would have to ‘forget’ all the things that the Lord revealed of Himself both past and present and choose to not believe that the Lord would be bringing about the captivity and destruction of Judah for the good of his beloved nation. Further, he would have to hide from the Lord’s coming just judgment.
Instead, he chose to admit and submit.
He admitted the Lord had done all those past things for his beloved nation such as deliverance from slavery in Egypt (3:5) and that the Lord always fulfills his promises such that the said destruction would come upon the Babylonians due to their evil (2:17). Consequently, he submitted to the Lord’s plan of Judah being conquered by Babylon, believing that it was part of His good and righteous plan to bring a wandering nation back to himself.
As a result, his heart sang:
Though the trees do not bud, though there are no fruit on the vines, and the fields produce no crops, though the livestock dies and there are none left in the stalls, YET…
YET – despite all of that, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk chose to admit and submit which resulted in his attitude and response. His attitude was one of gratitude and his response was one of praise.
You see, Habakkuk shifted his perspective from the horizontal to the vertical. He chose to fix his eyes on the Lord, trusting in the goodness and faithfulness of His character. Habakkuk lived through some hard things and knew even harder things were along the way. Yet, his heart could rejoice in the Lord despite his circumstances. He would take joy (actively) in the God of his salvation. His gaze was fixed vertically on the eternal not horizontally on the temporary.
Habakkuk ends with saying that the Lord makes his feet like the deer, which are swift and agile. Interestingly, in chapter one, the Lord likens the Babylonians to leopards, wolves, and eagles who are quick to destroy and devour and have no mercy. Did you know that deer (while they have numerous predators) are hunted by those three animals? Habakkuk knows full well that the terror the Babylonians will bring will be like those carnivorous, merciless animals and that Judah will be hunted like a deer.
And YET God, the God who brought about salvation, the God who is good and faithful, would strengthen Habakkuk to make his feet like the deer, going forward with spiritual confidence on the high places of challenge, uncertainty, and trepidation.
Beloved, so often we are consumed by the hard things of this world. But look up. Shift your perspective vertically to the Lord. Look, wonder, and be astounded at His sovereignty, not in the temporary of this world. Like Habakkuk, choose to look upon the goodness and faithfulness of our Lord. Yes, the hard things will still be there and they will still be hard but He in His kindness will give you the grace and strength to go forward with spiritual confidence. You will be able to rejoice not in the things of this world, but in the God of your salvation.
May you be able to sing echoing the words of Habakkuk:
Though expenses be high nor money be abundant, be it my loved ones endure sickness and pain, though my body or mind fails, even if our nation be at war, and the discouragement from the world has me cast down, YET I will rejoice in the God of my salvation, the one who is ever faithful, who gives me the strength to go through the hard and dark places.
Reflect:
- Is going to God when you’re hurting difficult for you? Do you fear being rebuked? Being chastised? Being ignored? How does knowing that God answered Habakkuk in His own timing bring you comfort? Take time to bring those hard things to the Lord trusting that He too will answer you.
- What horizontal things (whether good, neutral or bad) of this world have your attention? Is it politics? Is it your family? It is sports or fitness? Money? What about your career and being successful? Take time to identify the horizontal things that have your attention and ask the Lord to shift your perspective to Him.
- What things about the Lord and His character are a wonder to you? What has He done in your life (past and/or present) that astound you? How have you seen Him move in your life or the life of someone else when the situation seemed immovable or impossible?
- Are you currently in a high and challenging place? What makes it challenging? Take time to think through the difference between happiness and joy. What steps can you take to trust and take joy in the God of your salvation?
