Habakkuk 3:18

Verse of the Day Devotion: Habakkuk 3:18

“Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” – Habakkuk 3:18   

Do we give God the glory in everything?  I imagine that when something we have been waiting for finally comes to pass, we rejoice in God that He has provided what He has for us.  When the big raise comes in, or the incredible promotion happens, or when our kids succeed beyond our expectations, I know I say, “Praise God!!”.  However, what happens when things do not work out as we desire?

In chapter 1, Habakkuk cries out to God regarding God’s supposed non answer to a prayer.  “How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save.  Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists, and contention arises.  Therefore, the law is ignored, and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore, justice comes out perverted.”  Habakkuk 1:2-4.  God answers them by saying I am about to do something they would not believe if they were told.  “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs.  They are dreaded and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves.”  Habakkuk 1:6-7.

Habakkuk then responds, “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.  Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You cannot look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?” Habakkuk 1:12-13  He knows who God is and he knows He is good.  However, he is questioning what he sees.   He asks the ‘why’ questions. He knows God but sees something that is contrary to what he knows.  How many times in these situations do we call out Why, why?

Habakkuk then prays to the Lord.  He speaks of Him, declaring what good He has done in past times for His people.  “In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You struck the head of the house of the evil to lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.” Habakkuk 3:12-13.  He knows trouble is coming, and he is fearful.  “I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.” Habakkuk 3:16.

However, next he declares his trust in the Lord no matter what.  “Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls,”  Habakkuk 3:17.  What Habakkuk is saying is no matter what the results of the Chaldean attack is, if there is no food in the fields or animals in the barns and stalls.  If there is nothing left to meet their needs, God is still good.  “Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:18. What a beautiful picture of complete trust.  When we find ourselves in situations that appear hopeless; where our means of meeting a need does not look like it will happen, can we rejoice in God?  Do we rejoice in God?  Nothing is impossible for God.  “‘Ah Lord GOD! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,’” Jeremiah 32:17.  We need to praise His name no matter what situation we find ourselves.  There is nothing He cannot do.  And if this is true, and He is a loving and faithful God, which He is, then there is nothing for us to be concerned with, and we should rejoice in the idea we shall see His hand work on our behalf.  Do we trust God in our difficulties and trials as Habakkuk did in his?

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.