Lord Have Mercy

Hab 3

opening

Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (III. Habakkuk’s Prayer (3:1–19))

The questions of life are many.The questions of life are many. Two of the most vexing are: Why do the righteous suffer and why does God often appear to remain silent. Having asked such questions, Habakkuk found answers in an unexpected fashion. He found he “must alter his perspective on the ways of God with mankind.” The ultimate answer to such difficult questions always takes the questioner back to God himself.

after having his questions answers, he breaks into praise

Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (III. Habakkuk’s Prayer (3:1–19))

Habakkuk questioned God, but ultimately the prophet came back to the profound answer for all the questions of life—he returned to the theme of the greatness and the majesty of God. “In chapter 3 his doubts have been satisfactorily answered. Here he breaks forth in prayer, praise, and joy. He makes a triumphant expression of undaunted faith.

Habakkuk 3:2 ESV

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.

and

Habakkuk 3:17–19 ESV

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.

Daily Devotional Guide - Habakkuk 3:1-5

READ -  “I have heard all about You, LORD.  I am filled with awe by Your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as You did in years gone by. And in Your anger, remember Your mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2 NLT EXAMINE - “I have heard all about You, LORD.  I am filled with awe by Your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as You did in years gone by. And in Your anger, remember Your mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2 NLT APPLY - After hearing about the great works of the LORD, Habakkuk was afraid and filled with awe (Habakkuk 3:2). Habakkuk then asked two requests of the LORD: revive/repeat Your work and remember Your mercy. Like sinful Judah and arrogant Babylon, America deserves the pestilence and plague that accompany the LORD (Habakkuk 3:5). But in humility and repentance, we should ask the LORD to repeat His works of deliverance and remember His mercy. Since we have asked God to remember mercy, today let’s have mercy on those who have wronged and hurt us. PRAY - Father God, come to our rescue in splendor and glory! Repeat Your great revivals of the past and send a Spiritual Awakening across our country so that our nation can return to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

NOON lesson

so-At all points God has proved faithful. Regardless of how bleak the national situation becomes, Habakkuk promises to watch, wait, and hope for the Lord to act (3:16–18). As 1:5 promises, the prophet is amazed at God’s answer (3:16), but this dismay is preferable “to a growing distrust in the sovereign God.” In this hymn of praise the prophet “extols the virtues of the Lord. God’s power (3:2), glory (3:3), splendor (3:4), wrath (3:8), mercy (3:13), and grace (3:19) are celebrated.” Thus Robertson can see the entire psalm as a “poetic elaboration of 2:4. Despite all the cataclysmic calamities and judgments that shall come from the hand of God himself, ‘the justified (by faith) shall live by his steadfast trust.’

AWE

what is he in awe of?

verses 3-7: account of mighty deliverance

Habakkuk: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Introduction)

the historical occasion to be the Exodus. Yet Egypt is not in plain view; the stage is cosmic in its expanse; the spectators are the nations; Israel is not named as either the locus or the beneficiary of this display of power. The strophe has a high mythological component, obvious in the reference to the two associate “gods”—Plague and Pestilence.

verse 12-15

Habakkuk: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Introduction)

In the third strophe (vv 12–15) God is involved in history. The setting is the world (v 12); the purpose is deliverance (v 13); the enemy (unnamed) is almost represented as an individual (v 14); and a final reference to the waters makes the Exodus the most likely referent, although this is far from proved.

anger

be merciful