Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation, (3:18).
The questions that once filled Habakkuk’s mind have turned to a payer that fills his heart with overflowing praise from his lips. Time in His Presence will do that.
Habakkuk had heard before. Every Jewish child was raised hearing the accounts of all that God had done to deliver His people out of Egypt. And now, His mighty hand would bring down His judgment again, but this time on His chosen people. And as Habakkuk bowed in reverent fear, he prayed that God would remember His mercy when He sends His wrath.
Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear.
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy, (3:2).
I tried to put myself in Habakkuk’s shoes. While we certainly live in some very tremulous times, we have no idea the course our nation’s history will eventually turn. But what if we did? What if we knew exactly? And just imagine God allowed us to see a vision of what was actually coming and it was anything but comforting, frightening really. That is exactly what happened to the prophet Habakkuk
The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw, (Habakkuk 1:1).
And this time, His coming judgment would not come against His enemy through signs and wonders. This time He would judge His people using the treacherous army of the Babylonians to accomplish His will, and none would escape God’s fury. No wonder Habakkuk bowed before God in awe and fear, and in intercession.
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth, (3:1).
Shigionoth: It probably, then, means a psalm with music expressive of strong emotion, “erratic” or “dithyrambic.” Habakkuk’s title, on Shigionoth (plural) then would mean upon, or (as we should say,) “set to” music… Barnes’ Notes on the Bible.
Habakkuk’s prayer is composed like a psalm and written in poetic fashion, using lyrical language to depict God’s radiant splendor and eternal dominion over His creation, as well as His terrifying Presence that causes mountains, rivers, and the sun and moon to quake and flee at His indignation. And while the language may be rhythmical, Habakkuk’s prayer does not dance around the impending doom headed their way, graphically portraying how God had sliced through the head of their Egyptian enemy to save His people, and now the spear was aimed at them
Is it any wonder Habakkuk found himself quivering in horror and trembling with fright? And with this knowledge what was he to do? Wait until it all happened; and wait quietly at that.
I heard and my inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us, (3:16).
And today, we will consider the truth of God in Habakkuk’s final words of praise, truths that will strengthen our faith in Him, the God of Our Salvation.
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation, (3:18).
Consider Him, the God of Our Salvation
In the Hebrew language, there is no conjunction connecting verse 18 to the previous verse. It is a statement of the prophet’s reality, “I will.” A profound prayer of faith, professing that the circumstances in this world do not change the reality of Who my God Is. He is the God of my salvation. And even when the things of this earth scream that He is not, “I will” exult and rejoice in the Lord because I know Who He Is.
Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
18 Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places, (3:17-19).
And when we have trusted Christ and confess Him as our Lord Who died for our sins and was raised from the dead, we too will know Him as the God of Our Salvation.
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, (Romans 10:9)
And because He Is the God of Our Salvation, He is our Strength, our Sufficiency, and our Shelter.
He is the Rock Who empowers us in our weakness. And because He is the God of Our Salvation, He is our Strength: “The Lord God is my strength,”
For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God,
32 The God who girds me with strength
And makes my way blameless? (Psalm 18:31-32).
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, (Ephesians 3:16).
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, (Philippians 4:13).
He is the Provider Who equips us in every need. And because He is the God of Our Salvation, He is our Sufficiency: “And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,”
He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And sets me upon my high places.
34 He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze, (Psalm 18:33-34).
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing, (John 15:5).
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me, (2 Corinthians 12:9).
He is the Faithful God Who establishes us on solid ground. And because He is the God of Our Salvation, He is our Sustainer: “And makes me walk on my high places.”
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
36 You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped, (Psalm 18:35-36).
Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, (1 Corinthians 1:18-9).
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, (Jude 1:24).
How do we respond to Him, the God of Our Salvation?
We must begin by asking ourselves, is He the God of my Salvation?
…“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31).
When we trust Jesus as the God of Our Salvation, we are forgiven our sins and receive His Gift of eternal life; but as we all know, that does not mean a life without hardships and suffering. Every day, we must not allow our confidence to be consumed by all that is temporary, but we must continue to live by faith as we fix our eyes on the assured eternity we have in Him, the God of Our Salvation,
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal, (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
And as we fix our eyes on Him, the God of Our Salvation, He will be faithful to build us up in our faith, that no matter what is or isn’t going on around us, we too would be enabled to say, “I will.”
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation, (3:18).
Oh, that we would so grow in our faith, that even in our sufferings we would determine to look ahead to His glorious promise for our eternity and live this life with the “I will” mentality, that we would daily exult and rejoice in Him, the God of Our Salvation.
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you, (1 Peter 5:10).
Let us learn well from Habakkuk, that we would fully trust Him to be our Strength, our Sufficiency and our Security as we wait patiently for Him, the God of Our Salvation to empower us in our weakness, equip us in every need, and to establish us on solid ground.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm, (Psalm 40:1-2).