I Will Rejoice in the LORD: Habakkuk's Song

Habakkuk has just heard the LORD say, “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

One might think that the proper response is to say nothing! But when all the earth is silent – the proper response of those who love God is song.

Think of Psalm 62 – The Psalmist opens:
“For God alone my soul waits in silence.” (v1)
and when his enemies roar and attack, he replies,
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence.”

When all the earth is silent before God, then all the nations are able to hear the song of praise that pours forth from Zion!

Habakkuk 3 is a poetic elaboration of the theme of 2:4 – “the righteous shall live by his faith.” (Robertson, 214)

The opening and closing lines of the chapter are liturgical markings designed to help the musicians know how to play and sing.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. We don’t know what “according to Shigionoth” means – but it probably helped the choirmaster (v19).

Andy D. has noted that Habakkuk moves from complaint to silence to worship. But there is still a note of complaint in his worship! After all, the starting point of his song is the plea that God would “in wrath remember mercy.”