“The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:19)

The prophet Habakkuk sees injustice all around him. As a prophet, he turns to God and asks, “How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?” (Habakkuk 1:2-3) From his viewpoint, the essence of the problem is “The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” (Habakkuk 1:4b)

God answers Habakkuk by speaking of His judgment to come. “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.” (Habakkuk 1: 5-7) It is God’s judgment which is coming and He is choosing His method of judgment.

Habakkuk’s response shows his amazement that God would use such a people as His instrument of judgment for the injustice which he had viewed. “LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, LORD, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (Habakkuk 1:12-13) Habakkuk now campaign the levels of evil and righteousness. You can almost hear Habakkuk say, we are not that bad when we are compared with them.

God’s response points out what is real righteousness and what will be judged. He says, “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” True righteousness comes from the people’s and each individual person’s faithfulness to God. God judgment will come upon all because of their lack of faith producing faithfulness to Him.

This is the foundation of the hope which comes to us through Jesus Christ. Paul would state it to the church in Rome, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17) The writer of the book of Hebrews would say, “’But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.’ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” (Hebrews 10:38-39) This righteousness come to us because of what Jesus has accomplished for us upon the cross. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! . . .. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17,21)

Habakkuk would offer this prayer to God. “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2) All that God has done is to bring all of us who have sinned, back not only to forgiveness, but also to His righteousness through His mercy. This comes through our faith and trust in Him. Habakkuk would conclude his prayer expressing his trust in God no matter what happens. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

It is through our faith in God which bring us to the heights of God Himself, where we find what we need in every situation. He is our strength who gives us the strength to face whatever comes our way,  all because He is now with us and dwells with us. Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block