“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 3:16 ESV)
We often struggle to truly appreciate the holiness of God and the sinfulness of sin. We are prone to dismiss sin as insignificant and to walk through life with hardly a thought of the magnitude of God’s wrath toward the wickedness of man. To combat our incomplete understanding of God, man, and sin, we often need an up-close-and-personal reminder of just what it means for God to take vengeance on the wicked.
We must first realize that we are, by nature, members of “the wicked.” By the grace of God and the sufficiency of the person and work of Christ, we can be justified by faith alone, but, as Paul says, we “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:3). God’s holiness demands that he judge the wicked for their sin.
Habakkuk’s front-row seat to the judgment of God, not only on the nations but on Israel, deeply impressed upon him the transcendent holiness of God.
Throughout his prayer, he has expounded on God’s sovereign rule over the earth and its nations. He now turns to his own personal experience as he encounters God in this intimate way—a reaction he describes in vivid terms. He says, “I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound.” He has experienced something so incomprehensibly awesome that he cannot keep his body from trembling and cannot maintain the proverbial “stiff upper lip.” His physical flesh and blood are demonstrating the state of his heart and mind before the Lord. As when one is caught in an earthquake or hurricane, even after the immediate events have passed, he or she continues to be “shaken up” for some time as a result of the trauma of the event.
In addition, the oracle Habakkuk received revealing both the Lord’s justice and his mercy has produced in him, as similar experiences should produce in us, a profoundly reverent response. He continues that “rottenness enters into my bones.” John Calvin notes, “No doubt the Prophet describes here the dread, which could not have been otherwise than produced by the dreadful vengeance of God.”
Habakkuk has been humbled, in a unique way, as God has responded to his complaints and questions. It is as if he is not even able to stand before the throne of God because “[his] legs tremble beneath [him].” Similar to Isaiah, when he received a vision of the throne room of God, it is as if Habakkuk is saying, “Woe is me! for I am undone” (Isaiah 6:5 KJV). Any semblance of presumption in Habakkuk has melted away and is replaced with an echo of Job’s words, “I am of small account” (Job 40:4).
Yet, this undoing of Habakkuk is really what binds him together as a restored person before the Lord. He concludes this verse by saying, “Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.” Amidst the turmoil of heart, mind, and body, there is a steady peace which he has received along with the oracle.
To again quote Calvin,
They who had been moved and really terrified by God’s vengeance, would be in a quiet state when God executed his judgements. How so? because they would calmly submit to the rod, and look for a happy deliverance from their evils; for their minds would be seasonably prepared for patience, and then the Lord would also console them, as it is said in Psalms 51:17, that he despises not contrite hearts. When, therefore, the faithful are in a suitable time humbled, and when they thus anticipate the judgement of God, they then find a rest prepared for them in his bosom.
The mind of Habakkuk has been “seasonably prepared for patience” as he has discoursed with his Creator about Judah’s dire situation. The fruit of his traumatic encounter, when rightly understood and directed, was beautiful and lasting.
So it should be with us. We need to experience the manifestation of God’s judgment to be appropriately sobered by our sin and his holiness, in order that we might, like Habakkuk, come to a place of humble peace as we trust the Lord and “quietly wait” for his words to come to fruition.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Show us your holiness in such a way that we, like Habakkuk, may tremble before you. Keep us from sinful presumption and work in us to bear the godly fruit of patience as we wait on you.
For Christ’s sake, amen.
Prayer Requests:
- Tuesday: Pray for the fundraising and ongoing ministry of the South Asia Ministry Center.
- Wednesday: Pray for the students and staff of the International Christian School of Budapest.
- Thursday: Pray for the GROW publishing ministry in Chile.
- Friday: Pray for the urgent staffing needs of the Hospital of Hope in Togo to be met.
- Saturday: Pray for missionaries who work with the military through the Centurion Project.
- Sunday: Pray for missionaries serving in Nicaragua.
- Monday: Pray for missionaries who are serving with national partners.
Featured Serving Opportunity:
Administrative Assistant
Location: Togo
Tasks for this position include general office work and data entry for hospital administration. Other duties include scheduling the logistics of travelers and short-term volunteers coming to serve at the Hospital of Hope.
