Habakkuk 3

This is reality!

Habakkuk 3

Habakkuk 3:2

O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. (use)

Habakkuk 2:2

And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. (use)

Psalm 66:5

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. (use)

Psalm 71:15

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. (use)

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Chisholm, T.O., 1923. Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father.
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Psalm 145:1

A Song of Praise. Of David. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. (use)

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit, Till released from flesh and sin, Yet from what I do inherit, Here Thy praises I'll begin; Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.

Robinson, R., 1757. Come Thou Fount of every blessing.
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Deuteronomy 8:2

And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. (use)

1 Samuel 7:12

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” (use)

Joshua 4:7

then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever. (use)

Isaiah 63:7

I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. (use)

God is in control. He is in control of great geopolitical events; the Babylonian invasion and victory happened because God gave Nebuchadnezzar that victory. The God who had given them great blessings through Judah's history and their lives was also the God had given the besiegers is victory. God was responsible for the exile of his people; God was responsible for the destruction of his temple. Nebuchadnezzar would take the credit, but the Lord was the one who oversaw it.

Begg, A., 2021. Brave by Faith. pg. 25
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Habakkuk 3:5

Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. (use)

Habakkuk 3:6

He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. (use)

Habakkuk 3:8

Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation? (use)

Psalm 68:7–8

O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. (use)

Psalm 77:9

Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah (use)

Exodus 34:6

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, (use)

Habakkuk 3:10

The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high. (use)

Habakkuk 2:19

Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. (use)

Habakkuk 3:11

The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear. (use)

Joshua 10:12–13

At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. (use)

Isaiah 38:8

Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps." So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. (use)

In the exodus, God is a God who delivers; in the giving of the law, he is a God who makes demands; and in the provision of the tabernacle, he is a God who draws near.

Begg, A., 2004. The Partial Kingdom - God's People, Part Two.
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Since God then is not inexorable towards his people—nay, while he chastises them he ceases not to be a father; hence the Prophet connects here the mercy of God with his wrath.

Calvin, J., 1555. Commentary.
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Habakkuk 3:13

You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah (use)

Yahweh had gone forth like a Warrior to save His people and to deliver His anointed one. This may refer to Moses in his battles with Israel's enemies, or it may refer to a coming anointed one: Cyrus (cf. Isa. 45:1), or Messiah (cf. Ps. 2:2; Dan. 9:26), or the Davidic kings generally, or more than one of these.

Constable, T., 2022. Expository Notes.
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From start to finish, Israel's God is shown to be the victor over all individuals and nations and the champion of those who follow in His train.

Patterson, R.D., 1991. Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary series. pg.238
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God of old went forth in his power and providence for the salvation of his people, whom he chose above all people to be his special and peculiar people; making use of Moses and Aaron in bringing them out of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness, and of Joshua to introduce them, and settle them in the land of Canaan; who were all types of Christ in the salvation of the chosen people.

Gills, J., 1748. Exposition of the Bible Commentary.
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Genesis 50:20

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (use)

Exodus 3:2

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. (use)

Joshua 5:14

And he said, "No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?" (use)

Many people visualize a God who sits comfortably on a distant throne, remote, aloof, uninterested, and indifferent to the needs of mortals, until, it may be, they can badger him into taking action on their behalf. Such a view is wholly false. The Bible reveals a God who, long before it even occurs to man to turn to him, while man is still lost in darkness and sunk in sin, takes the initiative, rises from his throne, lays aside his glory, and stoops to seek until he finds him.

Stott, J., 2013. Basic Christianity, First edition. ed. IVP, Nottingham.
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Their deliverance would not have been effected but through thy interference.

Clarke, A., 1831. Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible.
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Habakkuk 3:16

I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. (use)

Habakkuk 3:18

yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (use)

Habakkuk 3:17

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, (use)

Habakkuk teaches us to face our doubts and questions honestly, take them humbly to the Lord, wait for His Word to teach us, and then worship Him no matter how we feel or what we see.

Wiersbe, W.W., 2002. "Habakkuk." In The Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets. pg.422
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Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. (use)

Habakkuk 3:19

GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. (use)

Habakkuk 1:2

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save? (use)

Today the world asks, 'Why doesn't God do something about sin?' My friend, God has done something about it! Over nineteen hundred years ago He gave His Son to die. He intruded into the affairs of the world. And He says that He is going to intrude again in the affairs of the world--yet today the world goes merrily along picking daisies and having a good time in sin. But God is moving.

McGee, J., 1983. Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee. pg.840
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From the affirmation of faith's agnosticism we come to the affirmation of agnosticism's faith.

Morgan, G.C., 1912. Living Messages of the Books of the Bible.
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God's promises and covenants are a better indication of reality than circumstances.

Constable, T., 2022. Expository Notes.
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Habakkuk 2:4

Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. (use)

Judges 6:10

And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice." (use)

Our God is the God who delivers. He delivered his people from the bondage of Egypt, bringing them out with his outstretched hand. He delivered his people from the power of the Philistines, through the victory of his king, David. He would deliver his people from the exile that he had delivered them into, through changing the heart of another, later, king: Cyrus of Persia. And supremely he delivered his people for our bondage to sin and death and judgement through the death and resurrection of his Son, our Lord Jesus.

Begg, A., 2021. Brave by Faith. pg. 57
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Habakkuk 1:5

Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. (use)

Daniel 1:2

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand{Nebuchadnezzar}, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. (use)

Daniel 2:47

The king{Nebuchadnezzar} answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” (use)

Acts 13:30

But God raised him{Jesus} from the dead, (use)

Topics and Themes

Key Verse

Habakkuk 3:18

yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (use)