In The Word
Read: Habakkuk 3:1–15
God’s People Saved
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2 Lord, I have heard the report about You, and I was afraid.
Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known.
In anger remember mercy.
3 God comes from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covers the heavens,
And the earth is full of His praise.
4 His radiance is like the sunlight;
He has rays flashing from His hand,
And the hiding of His might is there.
5 Before Him goes plague,
And plague comes forth after Him.
6 He stood and caused the earth to shudder;
He looked and caused the nations to jump.
Yes, the everlasting mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills collapsed.
His paths are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under distress,
The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.
8 Did the Lord rage against the rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your rage against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
On Your chariots of salvation?
9 You removed Your bow from its holder,
The arrows of Your word were sworn. Selah
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and quaked;
The downpour of waters swept by.
The deep raised its voice,
It lifted high its hands.
11 Sun and moon stood in their lofty places;
They went away at the light of Your arrows,
At the radiance of Your flashing spear.
12 In indignation You marched through the earth;
In anger You trampled the nations.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation of Your anointed.
You smashed the head of the house of evil
To uncover him from foot to neck. Selah
14 You pierced with his own arrows
The head of his leaders.
They stormed in to scatter us;
Their arrogance was like those
Who devour the oppressed in secret.
15 You trampled on the sea with Your horses,
On the foam of many waters.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
The prophet Habakkuk began an emotional poem about the Lord’s deliverance of His people, because he stood in awe of the work of the Lord’s hand. Habakkuk asked the Lord to have compassion on Israel and to move in the nation the same way the Lord did a generation ago. Mountains quaked before Him; nations were trampled under Him. The Habakkuk trembled as he waited for the day that God would move in his generation.
The Savior has come. Jesus Christ came, died, and rose again for the salvation of all people. Our hope is in Him, not in His blessings. We do not love Him to get things; we love Him, because He first loved us. We love Him because He laid down His life for us while we were still sinners. “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, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3: 17-18). God used Job to show Satan that a man would love God no matter what he gets in return. Abraham showed God that he loved Him more than anything, even his son of the Lord’s promise. How about you today? Do you serve Him because you love Him?