Unexplainable Peace
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
Habakkuk has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible. Partly because it’s one that is often overlooked for bigger, more popular prophets; but also because it’s such a clear example of Godly peace. Habakkuk was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Israel during the exile of the north. Israel was pretty obviously done abiding by the covenant with their God. They were living in sin, mixing worship, and ignoring the call their true God had made for their lives, for their nation.
We find Habakkuk crying out, not to Israel to repent and turn, but to God. Crying out over the injustice and violence happening around him. His nation was corrupt, it had become dangerous and all Habakkuk could do was cry out. (Which is a great action step by the way!) This book has the feeling of a conversation, not just between Habakkuk and God, but Israel and God. Habakkuk brings with him the voice of his people as he attempts to return to the God they had turned away from. Their relationship with God seemed to be a thing of the past, and he hoped that it could return again one day.
The image we find in Habakkuk 3:2, I think, is the truest form of peace. Habakkuk rejoices in his God’s response found in chapter 2. Habakkuk sings of the many, mighty works he has seen and heard of. He recounts his ancestors stories and calls upon God to bring this mercy once again to His people. But Habakkuk’s reaction isn’t necessarily in response to goodnews. It’s not as though God says he’s going to fix everything. He doesn’t say he’s going to come and restore order or that he’d come and tell that “bad man” to cut it out. No, he promised Habakkuk that he would build up the Babylonian people to come and bring judgement to his kingdom. That’s the opposite! Fortunately, God doesn’t stop there. He tells that Babylon will also be judged and that God’s glory will once again be known in all the earth.
And to this, does Habakkuk sing praise. From this does he find peace. To know and believe that no matter what lies ahead, be it trial or blessing, exile or global pandemic, that the only end is bringing glory to the one true God...that is where Habakkuk found peace and comfort and joy. It is also where we find peace and comfort and joy.
We live in some unsettling times. If you were to say the opening cry from Habakkuk chapter 1 came out of 2020, I would be inclined to believe you. But that doesn’t change the ending. It doesn’t change the God to whom Habakkuk cried out to. It doesn’t change to whom we cry out “in wrath, remember mercy”. Find peace in this today, knowing that no matter the trial we face, the sickness we battle, the we violence that surrounds us; we know the end. We know the one who wrote the story. We know the God who promises to bring His people to Him. I leave you with this final word from Habakkuk 3, a reminder that we need nothing more than our Savior, our Lord. In Him we have peace.
17 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,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
~ Tim Wolff
