Habakkuk opens with a cry of despair. The prayer experience is one of dryness and emptiness. It is ever more important to hang on to the attitude of trust and confidence, not an easy task in anyone’s prayer life. “How long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear?” This is the familiar cry of the psalmists. “The law is slacked, and justice never goes forth.” Yet, in the face of apparent triumph of evil over good, Habakkuk utters assurance that life will not sustain evil and trusts the wisdom of the ages that Good will prevail through a God who is very active in human history. At this time in history the Chaldeans are the face of evil. “They all come for violence…They gather captives like sand…whose own might is their god!” Habakkuk chastises God in a comparison of life to the sea. Humans are thought of as fish and crawling things that have no ruler. “Is he then to keep on emptying his net, and mercilessly slaying nations for ever?” This challenge is the ultimate testimony of the prophet who refuses to accept the fact that evil really is the victor, ever! The prophet completely immersed in this sea of life seems to be able to rise above the ocean for tiny glimpses of the divine action at hand and obtain enough confidence in the divine to bring back a persistent message of hope to his people. “Write the vision.” Obviously the vision will be slow in coming to those in immediate need. However, the guarantee is that it will come. “Wait for it.” Even then they did not live in isolation. The divine schedule involved many peoples and intricately interwoven events. And, how do we wait? With rebellion? With resignation? With resentment? With anticipation? Are we standing on tiptoes? “Only the righteous shall live;…by his faith.” And, it is not faith in doctrine, or faith in a church. Faith is a charged expectation that all is well because God is in charge. Habbakkuk lists the five great woes-plundering, dishonesty, exploitation of the conquered, exploitation of the individual, and idolatry. Yet, “The Lord is in his holy temple.” So we should live out of this awareness of the Presence of God even in the midst of abusive bullying where we are stripped of our very dignity. “I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.”
Habakkuk opens with a cry of despair. The prayer experience is one of dryness and emptiness. It is ever more important to hang on to the attitude of trust and confidence, not an easy task in anyone’s prayer life. “How long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear?” This is the familiar cry of the psalmists. “The law is slacked, and justice never goes forth.” Yet, in the face of apparent triumph of evil over good, Habakkuk utters assurance that life will not sustain evil and trusts the wisdom of the ages that Good will prevail through a God who is very active in human history. At this time in history the Chaldeans are the face of evil. “They all come for violence…They gather captives like sand…whose own might is their god!” Habakkuk chastises God in a comparison of life to the sea. Humans are thought of as fish and crawling things that have no ruler. “Is he then to keep on emptying his net, and mercilessly slaying nations for ever?” This challenge is the ultimate testimony of the prophet who refuses to accept the fact that evil really is the victor, ever! The prophet completely immersed in this sea of life seems to be able to rise above the ocean for tiny glimpses of the divine action at hand and obtain enough confidence in the divine to bring back a persistent message of hope to his people. “Write the vision.” Obviously the vision will be slow in coming to those in immediate need. However, the guarantee is that it will come. “Wait for it.” Even then they did not live in isolation. The divine schedule involved many peoples and intricately interwoven events. And, how do we wait? With rebellion? With resignation? With resentment? With anticipation? Are we standing on tiptoes? “Only the righteous shall live;…by his faith.” And, it is not faith in doctrine, or faith in a church. Faith is a charged expectation that all is well because God is in charge. Habbakkuk lists the five great woes-plundering, dishonesty, exploitation of the conquered, exploitation of the individual, and idolatry. Yet, “The Lord is in his holy temple.” So we should live out of this awareness of the Presence of God even in the midst of abusive bullying where we are stripped of our very dignity. “I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.”
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