Habakkuk {Prayer, Meditation

O Lord, I read of how a prophet stands before you in Israel as one who had a complaint. He knows of your righteousness, and he believes that you, the Holy One, judge the wicked, yet he is confounded that it seems “you look idly at wrong” while forcing him to “see iniquity” (Hab. 1:3 ESV). To our imperfect human judgment, even your law seems feeble when we do not presently see the wicked punished by your enforcement (cf. v.4). And from this confused and honest prophet, the greatest complaint comes with acknowledging your holiness, your power and authority to judge, and the purity of your eyes that, it seems, “idly look at traitors” (v.12f.). I do not think him a fool to make such a complaint—or, I am a naïve man like him. You do not hold it against such a righteous man to make a complaint, and you are not hesitant to rebuke him with fatherly love, since you know that he searches for your answer and does not trust his own speculations. He is faithful and desires not to live in confusion. He wants to have all doubt exiled and his heart delivered from vexation. So he teaches how to properly seek greater knowledge of your ways:

I will take my stand at my watchpost

and station myself on the tower,

and look out to see what he will say to me,

and what I will answer concerning my complaint. (2:1)

O Lord, what stance can I take? What posture should I have? “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mat. 26:41). By your Spirit, then, let me be as this prophet. Only show me my watchpost, so that I may fix myself obediently in the city. I will take my stand where I may find revelation from you for myself and for my people. Your revelation is good, and your promises are peace to my soul, and the gift of knowing your law is sweetness to me. You answer him, and also answer me, because I share the prophet’s complaint, and his confusion, and his honesty. And I believe that you answer those who call out to you in honesty and conviction.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and kind in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he also hears their cry and saves them. (Ps. 145:17-19)

So then the God-fearing, truth-saying prophet:

And the LORD answered me:

“Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so he may run who reads it. (Hab. 2:2)

You answer him promptly, Lord, and so you answer me. But I must not treat you as common, nor consider your audience lightly, nor receive your words with indifference. Keep me from self-righteousness. Keep me from expecting your service. Keep me from approaching your throne or your Scriptures with pride. Keep me, a mere watchman, from claiming more authority in the city than what has been given. Your righteous servants consider themselves privileged only by your grace, not entitled, when they approach you. The prophet’s complaint is not against your promises but in desperate thirst for them. The prophet cries out to you, not because he is faithless, not in contempt, but because he knows you to be faithful and can trust none but you. You give him strength to bear your answer, and your instruction is for even the simplest mind. Let me follow the prophet’s example in listening.

You tell him, as you tell others, in response to his complaint, that humankind will reap the proper yield of what is sown (vv.6-10; cf. Job 4:8, Ho. 8:7, 10:12-14, Ga. 6:8). And no one can hide from his own works, nor cover his evil with fine ornaments, “for the stone will cry out from the wall” (v.11), and you will hear this cry as you heard the blood of Abel (Ge. 4:10). So even though you, O Rock, seem to be idle and silent in the presence of such wickedness, the vision avers “righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne” (Ps. 89:14, 97:2f.). Your answer is a reiteration of the law he already knows. What the earlier prophets wrote confirms this prophet’s words, for

your righteousness is righteous forever,

and your law is true. (Ps. 119:142)

When you plainly give the judgment that concurs with the written Law, which condemns the wicked, then the prophet and I are encouraged. You give us great hope to someday see the earth being filled with the knowledge of your glory (Hab. 2:14). This post I have, as a watchman, is a charge to wait—for your answer to come with the singing birds, for your sun to dawn, for the execution of your word, for the revelation of your glory. Though I yet see with my eyes that the wicked are triumphant, now I see in your light that you will bring “utter shame” upon their glory (v.16). At present, the fullness of the judgment has not come,

for still the vision awaits its appointed time;

it hastens to the end—it will not lie.

If it seems slow, wait for it;

it will surely come; it will not delay. (v.3)

So the prophet rejoices in what you say, and he fears you (3:1). The vision you give him is terrible, and your wrath is proclaimed. His anxiety is assuaged, and he receives your gentle rebuke as most precious knowledge, for “a rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool” (Pr. 17:10). He finds an audience with you, the Almighty, who “looked and shook the nations” (Hab. 3:6), and trembles at his new meditation on your holiness (v.16). When he raises his complaint he knows you to be just and pure, but after your answer he has greater fear, greater reverence, and confirmation of your law. His faith is increased because he obeys your commandment to wait for the vision, saying, “I will quietly wait” (ibid.). The vision tarries, but he will no longer let his heart be vexed by the Lord’s absent judgment, because you have set his feet upon a rock and confirmed your law to him. So he will rejoice in you, God of salvation (v.18).

The prophet fears you, seeks you, and hopes in you. The prophet knows your purity, is outraged at humankind’s injustice, and thirsts for greater knowledge of your law, which bears witness to the righteousness that comes from faith (cf. Ro. 3:21f.). When he complains, you answer. When you answer, he listens, trembling, and obeys, and so increases in the knowledge of your glory. O Father, thank you for the example of this prophet, and let his revelation be mine also. I will stand at my watchpost in the city. I will take my place under the shadow of your wings, in the presence of your Spirit, covered by the authority and command of your Son.

Amen.