Slices
Prepare
Sing, or listen to, an upbeat hymn or song of praise. You may not feel at all like it but that only makes praise all the more important. Sometimes our mouths need to sing even when our souls seem to sink!
Bible passage
Habakkuk’s prayer
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.
2 Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendour was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed –
but he marches on for ever.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
when you rode your horses
and your chariots to victory?
9 You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.
You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig-tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the sheepfold
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
Explore
In Habakkuk 2:4 God says that a righteous person will live by their faithfulness, and in the final chapter of the prophecy Habakkuk shows what faithful living looks like. To live faithfully amid calamity is to know and trust the eternal character of God, even when everything else seems to be falling apart.
The book of Habakkuk ends with a song of praise, but it is not a naive song believing that everything is going to turn out for the best. Look at verses 16–18. Habakkuk, still acting as a faithful watchman, knows that the day of calamity will come on the nation invading his land. But in the meantime, even if the olives and figs fail, the harvest collapses and the sheep die, even in the middle of this terrible disaster, he will still rejoice in God his Saviour.
The cause for his confidence in God is that he knows that the God whom he worships is the God who made the world, who brought the captive Israelites out of slavery and who has power to overwhelm even the most fearsome enemy. His prayer is that the awesome deeds that God has shown in history will be repeated in his day also (v 2).
Respond
Read Habakkuk 2:20 and remain silent, remembering God’s faithfulness.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Hosea 11,12; Revelation 3
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Matt Farley (Mission Enabler in the central region) as he works with others on the staff and communications team to develop ‘Mission Sparks’ – new multimedia ways of inspiring people in mission with children and young people.
