Habakkuk 3:1-19

Jehovah comes To Judgment

This is one of the most brilliant poems in the OT. It was written by a man of imagination as well as of faith. It is not quite certain whether Habakkuk 3:8 are intended to refer to a past or future manifestation of Jehovah: in any case, there is the hope, or rather prayer, that history may repeat itself (Habakkuk 3:2). The poem rests upon older theophanies: cp. Judges 5; Deuteronomy 33. Long ago at the exodus Jehovah had shown His power to interpose in history against all hope. He had come in the terrors of judgment and taken vengeance on the enemies of Israel: and what he did then, the Psalmist prays that He will do again. The power which He revealed on Israel's behalf at the dawn of her history, He can make known again in the midst of the years.