Habakkuk 3:16-19 [16] I hear, and my body trembles; | Family Bible Fellowship of Ridgeville

Habakkuk 3:16-19

[16] I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.

Habakkuk Rejoices in the LORD

[17] 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,
[18] yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
[19] GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.

After receiving the prophecy of impending doom for himself and his people, the prophet Habakkuk is left with such an overwhelming dread that he describes it as: “…my body trembles; my lips quiver…rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me.”
This is a man who knows who God is…he has just revisited many of God’s great acts at the start of this chapter, he knows who God is and what He and He alone is capable of. Habakkuk knows that God is:

Habakkuk 1:12

[12] Are you not from everlasting,
O LORD my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.

He knew God. God is eternal, He is sovereign and He is holy! This is where his faith rested…and ultimately why the prophet was able to then profess: “…yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

Even in the face of utter ruin for his nation and his people, even though Habakkuk knew his circumstances were going to be horrible, he chose to rejoice! Verse 17 expresses his understanding that things would get so bad that even the figs and olives would cease to produce…the herds would be cut off…these represent natural processes ending.

Yet Habakkuk chooses to rejoice…how? Because he knows who God is and what God is capable of and then his strength is restored:

Habakkuk 3:19

[19] GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.

How about you and me? Do we know our Heavenly Father so well that even coming destruction doesn’t rob us of our joy in Him?

When we find ourselves sickened with fear over our circumstances do we turn to God and choose to rejoice in Him?

May we each this day choose rejoicing over fear…May we each this day choose knowing God as He has revealed Himself through His Word over the understanding of man! Only then will we each truly find our joy restored!

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