Habakkuk 3:11-19

11 ¹Sun and moon stood in their places; They went away at the ²light of Your arrows, At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.

12 In indignation You ³marched through the earth; In anger You ⁴trampled the nations.

13 You went forth for the ⁵salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your ⁶anointed. You struck the ⁷head of the house of the evil To lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.

14 You pierced with his ⁸own spears The head of his throngs. They ⁹stormed in to scatter us; Their exultation was like those Who ¹⁰devour the oppressed in secret.

15 You ¹¹trampled on the sea with Your horses, On the ¹²surge of many waters.

16 I heard and my inward parts ¹³trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my ¹⁴bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must ¹⁵wait quietly for the day of distress, For the ¹⁶people to arise who will invade us.

17 Though the ¹⁷fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the ¹⁸olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the ¹⁹flock should be cut off from the fold And there be ²⁰no cattle in the stalls,

18 Yet I will ²¹exult in the LORD, I will ²²rejoice in the ²³God of my salvation.

19 The Lord GOD is my ²⁴strength, And ²⁵He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my ²⁶high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

Habakkuk 3:11-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HABAKKUK 3

The title of this chapter is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, composed after the manner of a psalm of David, and directed to the chief singer, Hab 3:1,19. The occasion of it is expressed, Hab 3:2 in which the prophet declares his concern for the work of the Lord, and the promotion of the kingdom and interest of Christ; and observes the various steps that were, or would be, taken for the advancement of it; for which he prays, and suggests that these would be after the manner of the Lord's dealing with the people of Israel, and settling them in the land of Canaan, Hab 3:3-15 and there being several things awful in this account, both with respect to the judgments of God on his enemies, and the conflicts and trials of his own people, it greatly affected the mind of the prophet, Hab 3:16 and yet, in the view of the worst, he expresses his strong faith in the Lord, as to better times and things, that would most assuredly come, Hab 3:17-19.

Cross References

• 1. Joshua 10:12-14
• 2. Psalms 18:14
• 3. Psalms 68:7
• 4. Isaiah 41:15; Jeremiah 51:33; Micah 4:13
• 5. Exodus 15:2; 2 Samuel 5:20; Psalms 68:19, 20
• 6. Psalms 20:6; Psalms 28:8
• 7. Psalms 68:21; Psalms 110:6
• 8. Judges 7:22
• 9. Daniel 11:40; Zechariah 9:14
• 10. Psalms 10:8; Psalms 64:2-5
• 11. Psalms 77:19; Habakkuk 3:8
• 12. Exodus 15:8
• 13. Daniel 10:8; Habakkuk 3:2
• 14. Job 30:17, 30; Jeremiah 23:9
• 15. Luke 21:19
• 16. Jeremiah 5:15
• 17. Joel 1:10-12; Amos 4:9; 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9
• 18. Micah 6:15
• 19. Joel 1:18
• 20. Jeremiah 5:17
• 21. Exodus 15:1, 2; Job 13:15; Isaiah 61:10; Romans 5:2, 3
• 22. Psalms 46:1-5; Philippians 4:4
• 23. Psalms 25:5; Psalms 27:1; Isaiah 12:2
• 24. Psalms 18:32, 33; Psalms 27:1; Psalms 46:1; Isaiah 45:24
• 25. 2 Samuel 22:34
• 26. Deuteronomy 33:29

Footnotes

• [a] Or "thresh"
• [b] Lit "foundation"
• [c] Lit "shafts"
• [d] Or "warriors" or "villagers"
• [e] Lit "me"
• [f] Lit "belly"
• [g] Or "To come upon the people" who "will"
• [h] Lit "produce"
• [i] Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD