Christ in Habakkuk

Habakkuk 1 is one of the most honest pages in Scripture - a prophet bringing his anguish directly to God rather than carrying it away from Him. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! (v. 2). It is the same cry the psalmists raise - How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? (Ps. 13:1) - and the same cry heard at the end of all things, from the souls beneath the altar: How long, O Lord… d…

Habakkuk 2 holds one of the most quoted lines in all of Scripture, set at the very center of the gospel. The prophet, having brought God his hardest question, climbs the watchtower to wait for an answer - I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me (v. 1) - and the LORD replies with a vision to be written large and trusted: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (v. 3). At the h…

Habakkuk closes not with an answer but with a song, and that song reaches one of the highest summits of faith in all of Scripture. The prophet prays that God, even as He brings judgment, would in wrath remember mercy (v. 2) - the very prayer answered supremely at the cross, where mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Ps. 85:10). He watches the LORD come in majesty, marching through the land for the salvation of thy people, even f…