Habakkuk 3: The Worshiping Prophet

The Worshiping Prophet, Habakkuk 3.

From worry to worship.

Opens with a question mark and ends with an exclamation mark.

He goes from doubts to shouts!

In Chapter 1, he complains; in Chapter 2, God replies; and in Chapter 3, He sings.

Habakkuk moves from burden to blessing, from wonder/worry to worship, from restlessness to rest, from a problem to God’s Person, and from a complaint to consolation, from confusion to confidence!

Only our great God and Savior can supernaturally turn sighing into singing.

We must like Habakkuk take time to wait before Him in prayer.

Go to our watchtower and wait and listen to His Word.

It is always "worth the wait!"

He can do the impossible, nothing is too hard for HIM.

1. Habakkuk’s Prayer to God (1-2)

2. Habakkuk’s Praise of God (3-15)

Habakkuk moved from petition to praise in his prayer.

This theophany recalls the events of the Exodus and Sinai, which forms the background for God’s future deliverance of His people.

Verses 3-15 contain two poems recounting God’s deliverance in the Exodus.

The poems emphasize His preservation in the wilderness and His triumphal leading into the Promised Land.

Habakkuk was confident that God could and would deliver them from the Babylonians and bring them back home to Judah.

He was leaning on the promises of God!

a. God’s awesome appearance (3-7)

Holy One--used in Habakkuk 1:12, also in Isaiah. Some 30x.

This name expresses God's absolute holiness, His set apartness so to speak from sin and all things unholy.

b. God’s victory march (8-15)

Habakkuk now dynamically describes God’s power as Israel follows Him marching through the wilderness.

He reviews the history of Israel and the wonderful works of the Lord and His mighty power.

Habakkuk knew that God had worked in the past, and he could trust Him now and in the future.

The mountains trembled before the Lord and so would the wicked Chaldeans.

“Jehovah is a man of war.”

Israel was His people; He would care for them.

3. Habakkuk’s Faith in God (17-19)

Finally, the prophet praises with one of the greatest confessions of faith found in the Bible.

The Old Testament version of Philippians 4:11-13; Habakkuk had no strength but God’s.

Warren Wiersbe's closing comments on Habakkuk are priceless--“Habakkuk teaches us to face our doubts and questions honestly, take them humbly to the Lord, wait for His Word to teach us, and then worship Him no matter how we feel or what we see. God doesn’t always change the circumstances, but He can change us to meet the circumstances. “

The just shall live by faith!