In the Midst of the Years: when we must wait for God’s deliverance

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.

‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭3:17-18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The book of Habakkuk is the record of Habakkuk’s wrestling with the Lord. Habakkuk faces the challenge to “trust in the purposes of the Lord despite confusing perceptions of precisely what he is doing” (Robertson).  In Habakkuk we see the prophet crying out to the Lord as he faces difficult circumstances which have left him utterly confused, and through his dialogue with the Lord, he comes to a place of acceptance and joy. 

The Background

Habakkuk lives in a time when the righteous are surrounded by the wicked and it seems their violence, their strife, their perversion of justice is going unnoticed by the Lord. So Habakkuk cries out, “How long, O Lord?” He longs for the righteous to be protected and avenged by the Lord (1:1-4). 

The Lord responds to Habakkuk’s cry with an unexpected answer. He is going to discipline the wicked among His people, but He will use Chaldean invaders to do it. They will sweep through like the wind, riding on their swift horses, and tearing down every fortress they encounter. The righteous will suffer with the wicked. It will be a day of distress, a day of devastation, a day to dread (1:5-11; 3:2,16). And it is none other than the Lord Himself who has purposed these things, saying, “I am raising up the Chaldeans…to seize dwelling places which are not theirs”(1:6). 

God’s answer perplexes Habakkuk. He again turns to God with his questions and confusion. He knows the Lord to be holy and an upholder of righteousness. He cannot understand how God could seemingly allow the wicked Chaldeans to prosper and defeat God’s own people. While God’s people need His disciplining hand, Habakkuk is confused why God would allow the Chaldeans, a pagan and wicked nation, to be His chosen instrument of discipline (1:12-17). Habakkuk recognizes it is God who is appointing the Chaldeans for His people’s judgment and correction and is disturbed that God appears to look favorably on those who deal treacherously (1:13). 

But God does not leave Habakkuk without answers or hope. While it is certain that the Chaldeans will come, and they will bring devastation, bloodshed, and violence, God will not remain silent forever. They will be held guilty. The cup of His wrath will come around to them, and they will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. The righteous will live by their faith. God will go forth for the salvation of His people. His chariots of salvation will be mightier than the Chaldean’s chariots, His horses swifter, and the evil one will be struck with a mightier blow than that which they inflict on God’s people (1:11; 2:16; 3:9,15). 

But Habakkuk is seeing all this in a vision that is yet to come. He must wait both for the day of distress and the day of deliverance. God’s assurances of deliverance give Habakkuk steadfastness while he waits, and as God’s prophet he helps to prepare the people of God for the time “in the midst of the years,” the time when God’s people will have felt His disciplining hand but must wait for His deliverance.

A Prayer and a Song

By the direction of the Holy Spirit, Habakkuk composes a song for the people of Israel to sing while they live in the years awaiting God’s deliverance and restoration. They will have a psalm that will revive hope in their hearts in the years following their day of distress, while they live in the “not yet,” waiting for God to fulfill His promises to restore and revive His people. This song in Habakkuk 3 was to “be rehearsed in the congregation of Israel throughout the dark years which Israel must soon begin to experience”(Robertson). The Lord gives them a song in the night (Psalm 42:8; 77:6). A song they can sing with joy because they are dwelling in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 63:7). 

We may all experience days, months, or years like the prophet Habakkuk and the people of Judah experienced. Times when we must sit and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Times when we are perplexed, humbly asking questions in faith, and seeking to steadfastly trust the Lord in the midst of “confusing perceptions of precisely what he is doing.” What are some of the elements of Habakkuk’s prayer song that the Lord inspired him to write in order to strengthen the hearts of His people? 

There are three elements that would have encouraged God’s people and can encourage our own hearts while we linger in the perplexing, mysterious providence God has ordained in our lives. We can rely on His mercy in the midst of tumultuous times, we can remind ourselves of His great power at work for His people, and we can set our hearts to rejoice in Him regardless of any unmet longings we may have. 

God’s Manifold Mercy

Habakkuk starts his prayer psalm by saying, 

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 (3:2). 

He pleads with the Lord that in the midst of the years of turmoil, in the midst of the suffering, in the midst of the years of waiting upon the salvation of the Lord, the Lord would preserve the lives of His faithful ones, give them the understanding needed to endure, and for His mercy to be toward them in the tumultuous times ahead. In our own “times of trembling” these are blessings we too can pray for. We can beseech the Lord in our day of distress to be the upholder of our lives so that we can endure the trial before us and not lose heart. We can pray that He will give us the knowledge and wisdom we need of Himself, His Word, our own heart, and the situation so that we can endure with hope, even when we may be faced with perplexing or unjust situations or lengthy trials. We can plead with Him to pour out His manifold mercies day after day while we travel a long, barren road. Our compassionate Lord is in fact the Father of mercies and His mercies are new every morning. Each day we live “in the midst of the years” of turmoil, heartache, waiting, or longing, His sufficient daily mercy and grace shall meet us and sustain us. 

Reminders of God’s Might

Another soul-strengthening aspect of Habakkuk’s prayer song is his multiple descriptions of the greatness and power of God. 

God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power (3:3-4‬).

You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger. 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 (3:12-13‬).

A large portion of Habakkuk's psalm tells the gloriousness and power of his God. When Habakkuk is faced with the coming defeat of Judah by the Chaldeans, he must remind them and himself that their defeat is only temporary. God, whose very splendor covers the heavens, who makes the mountains tremble, who tramples the seas with His horses, is the God who is coming for His people to rescue them and restore them. He is coming on His chariots of salvation to speak peace to His people and subdue the Chaldeans who “stormed in to scatter” God’s people (Habakkuk 3:14). We serve the omnipotent God, for whom nothing is too difficult and nothing impossible. He has everything at His disposal to bring about all He has purposed for His own. His power works not only for us but in us. He will bring about the changes necessary in our circumstances and in ourselves. Look around at the majestic mountains, vast seas, or powerful storms. These are the fringes of His ways to help us get a glimpse of His power and majesty that is working for us. 

Acceptance and Joy

Finally, Habakkuk ends his psalm with submission to whatever God wills. These verses should come as more of a shock to us now that we know that God had made Habakkuk aware of what would come. Habakkuk knows distress and devastation are coming along with years of waiting for deliverance. But he gives the people, and us, these beautiful words, full of acceptance, joy, and rest in the Lord. 

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. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments (Habakkuk‬ ‭3:17-19‬).

Though faced with the deprivation of even the necessities of life, Habakkuk declares that he will rejoice in the Lord. He will take joy in God. A heart that can rejoice in God when faced with the removal of blessings is one that has torn down the idols that cause discontentment with the Lord and His hard providences. What idol does our difficult circumstance reveal? Habakkuk said, “though the fig tree does not blossom…yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” Can we place before the Lord the longed-for answer to our oft prayed petition and submit that to Him and say, “though my longed-for desire be denied or delayed, yet I will rejoice in the Lord”? 

Doddridge says of these verses: 

Concise as the form of speaking in the text is, it evidently implies or expresses the following particulars: That in the day of his distress he would fly to God; that he would maintain a holy composure of spirit under this dark dispensation, nay, that in the midst of all he would indulge in a sacred joy in God, and a cheerful expectation from Him. Heroic confidence! Illustrious faith! Unconquerable love!

In our days of distress, or years of waiting, may we gather strength from the Lord through His Word through the prophet Habakkuk. Under any dark dispensation, may we have that heroic confidence that looks to God’s manifold mercies, remembers God’s power at work for us, and humbly submits to His will and rejoices in Him though all else may be removed. 

Photo credit to krissevinc