Or, The Just Shall Sing Psalms
Scripture: Habakkuk 3:1-15
Date: May 12, 2024
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Habakkuk himself didn’t know it, but we’re told that those who are filled with the Spirit and richly indwelt by God’s Word speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16). We’re told that anyone who is cheerful should sing psalms (James 5:13, the command is psalleto). And we’re also given a prophetic example that when there is corruption in the land, and when God sends ruin not revival, the right response is to (write and) sing a psalm.
Habakkuk 3 is described as a prophet’s “prayer” (3:1), just as chapters 1-2 were introduced as a prophet’s “oracle” or burden. But the final note in chapter 3 is that it was for the “choirmaster,” so a corporate not just personal prayer-song (which follows the taunt-song in 2:6-20). We also see three uses of the word “Selah,” which is some sort of musical notation, and the only books of the Bible that have “Selah” are Psalms and this chapter in Habakkuk. So Habakkuk 3 is a prophet’s prayer-psalm.
Of the commentators I read, only one argued that verse 2 is a refrain/chorus which he thought would be sung between three sections as titled before each Selah. Others weren’t as certain of that breakdown. But you can see the changes of person. Verse 2, and again in verses 7 and 16-19, have the first person “I.” Verses 3-6 talk about God’s works in the third person, and verses 8-15 address God directly in the second person, “You.” The ESV adds a break with a heading between verses 16-17, and that’s…odd.
I think we can see the Prophetic Request (verse 2), Prophetic Remembrance in two parts (verses 3-15), and Prophetic Resolution (next time, in verses 16-19).
That’s the framework of the song, but the song itself belongs with the framework of faith (a phrase used by O. Palmer Robertson in his commentary). The just shall live by faith, requesting help and remembering God’s previous help in history. Go to God with questions and complaints, get perspective from God on what He’s doing, and then worship God with the saints.
The only Asks in the entire prayer come in verse 2.
O LORD, I have heard the report of You,
and Your work, O LORD, I do fear.
In the midst of the years, revive it,
in the midst of the years, make it known,
in wrath remember mercy.
The initial framework of faith: hear and fear. This pairing is found four times in Deuteronomy (13:11, 17:13, 19:20, 21:21). The prophet heard when the LORD said, “I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5), and he was awed by it. “I hear You!”
The repeated phrase in the midst of the years seems to refer to the time between Habakkuk’s questions and the fulfillment of the LORD’s answers. This would at least be after Josiah’s death in 609 BC, then during Judah’s anticipation of then captivity to the Chaldeans, up until the Chaldeans got what they deserved. Since Cyrus took control of Babylon in 539 BC, the “midst” could have been the 70 or so years. That said, we are still waiting for all Babylon’s daughters to shut their mouths in silence, as well as for the knowledge of the glory of the Lord to cover the earth. We are at least in a related “midst” of waiting.
The three requests are: 1) revive it , meaning revive the work of the LORD. “Bring it!” 2) make it known , again the work of the LORD. And 3) remember mercy in the midst of the wrath , which is a word for wrath that relates to angered agitation. Knowing that the judgment is deserved, and knowing that the judgment will be brutal, does not mean we cannot pray that there would be mercy.
The just shall live by faith—with trust in tension, and here is faith longing for the Lord to work and depending on the Lord for His mercy.
There are two approaches to the prophet’s remembrances, descriptive (third person) and then direct address (second person). But all of this reminds us about the value of knowing our history, especially the history of the works of the Lord.
The just live by faith, not by waiting to gather all possible data. We often don’t feel comfortable because we think we don’t have enough information. For some decisions that makes sense. But for sake of our peace, even when the foundations are crumbling, the inspired psalms demonstrate that we should not lean on our own understanding but trust in the God of deliverance.
Habakkuk rehearses the work of the Lord in a way that expects the Lord to show up again and work.
He starts: God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran , which are places near the southern border of Judah, places that recall when God delivered Israel out of Egypt and then near Sinai where He revealed Himself and gave them His law. That was where His splendor covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. Selah.
Verses 4-5 recall God’s works in and through nature. He can raise up nations, like the Chaldeans, but He also uses lightening and what men call “natural” disasters to accomplish His supernatural purposes.
That God measured the earth shows the scope of His dominion. Even the parts of creation that seem the most dependable, such as the mountains, tremble compared to Him. The eternal mountains and everlasting hills can’t stand or last, though His were the everlasting ways .
In verse 7 Habakkuk slips back into first person, and though Cushan is only mentioned here in Scripture, Midian is a place that recalls Gideon’s conflict with the Midianites in Judges 7. His men blew 300 trumpets and the Midianite soldiers killed one another in the confusion. This is what happens when the LORD goes to work.
Verses 8 to 15 speak directly to the LORD.
The questions about the wrath against the rivers and indignation against the sea seem to be obviously no; God was not mad at them. But during the flood and at the Red Sea the waters God shook them out of their normal patterns for His purposes.
The imagery of horses and bow and arrows at the end of verse 8 and into verse 9 remind us that God battles with all resources available in His arsenal.
More waters in verse 10, then the sun and moon in verse 11, and that they stood still in their place recalls the day God made long to enable victory for His people under Joshua (Joshua 10:12-13).
Amidst all this wrath there is mercy.
You went out for the salvation of Your people,
for the salvation of your anointed. (verse 13)
The LORD does His work in both judgment and salvation . The parallelism indicates that Your people (a singular collective noun) and Your anointed (also singular) refer to the same group (see also Psalm 28:8). Salvation TIMES TWO is emphasized for the saints!
Verse 14 is a reference to providential self-destruction, You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors.
“Rather than being terrified at the strength of their enemies, God’s people ought to rest confidently in the assurance that the strength of the enemies’ power only displays their capacity to destroy themselves.” (Robertson)
More about horses and water and effective judgement in verse 15 to complete the prophetic remembrance.
We’ll see Habakkuk’s resolution in verses 16-19 to finish off the psalm next Lord’s Day.
Unprecedented times? More precedented praise!
“history…is the master and commander of the good and blessed life, from which all our usages proceed and from which all experience concerning public administration and policy is brought to life.” —Ermolao Barbaro, introduction to his translation of Aristotle’s Physics, published in 1480
Recall God’s works in creation, the Exodus, different battles, His power over nature and nations.
The song/psalm in the third chapter is distinct from the burden and complaints in the first two chapters. But it is the last response of the prophet to the news of ruin. Here is a test to know whether you’re living by faith or not. Do you hear and fear? Can you trust Him enough to request mercy? Can you remember His works and ask Him to work again? Can you sing psalms?
Here is the framework of faith, to seek mercy and salvation while singing psalms with the saints.
There are many kinds of music, and many of the many can be enjoyed, cranked up, danced to, sung in the shower. All are yours. And make sure the Psalms are in your arsenal. Are you suffering? Pray a psalm. Are you cheerful? Praise with a psalm. Encourage one another with psalms!
“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand!”
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:8–11 ESV)