Habakkuk 3
3
God Racing on the Crest of the Waves
1-2A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, with orchestra:
God, I’ve heard what our ancestors say about you,
and I’m stopped in my tracks, down on my knees.
Do among us what you did among them.
Work among us as you worked among them.
And as you bring judgment, as you surely must,
remember mercy.
* * *
3-7God’s on his way again,
retracing the old salvation route,
Coming up from the south through Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Skies are blazing with his splendor,
his praises sounding through the earth,
His cloud-brightness like dawn, exploding, spreading,
forked-lightning shooting from his hand—
what power hidden in that fist!
Plague marches before him,
pestilence at his heels!
He stops. He shakes Earth.
He looks around. Nations tremble.
The age-old mountains fall to pieces;
ancient hills collapse like a spent balloon.
The paths God takes are older
than the oldest mountains and hills.
I saw everyone worried, in a panic:
Old wilderness adversaries,
Cushan and Midian, were terrified,
hoping he wouldn’t notice them.
* * *
8-16 God, is it River you’re mad at?
Angry at old River?
Were you raging at Sea when you rode
horse and chariot through to salvation?
You unfurled your bow
and let loose a volley of arrows.
You split Earth with rivers.
Mountains saw what was coming.
They twisted in pain.
Flood Waters poured in.
Ocean roared and reared huge waves.
Sun and Moon stopped in their tracks.
Your flashing arrows stopped them,
your lightning-strike spears impaled them.
Angry, you stomped through Earth.
Furious, you crushed the godless nations.
You were out to save your people,
to save your specially chosen people.
You beat the stuffing
out of King Wicked,
Stripped him naked
from head to toe,
Set his severed head on his own spear
and blew away his army.
Scattered they were to the four winds—
and ended up food for the sharks!
You galloped through the Sea on your horses,
racing on the crest of the waves.
When I heard it, my stomach did flips.
I stammered and stuttered.
My bones turned to water.
I staggered and stumbled.
I sit back and wait for Doomsday
to descend on our attackers.
* * *
17-19Though the cherry trees don’t blossom
and the strawberries don’t ripen,
Though the apples are worm-eaten
and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty,
I’m singing joyful praise to God.
I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.
Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,
I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a deer.
I feel like I’m king of the mountain!
(For congregational use, with a full orchestra.)
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Habakkuk 3: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Habakkuk 3
3
A Psalm
1 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk; according to shigionoth.#3:1 Unknown musical term.
2 Lord, I have heard the report about you.
Lord, I fear your work.
In the course of the years, renew it.
In the course of the years, reveal it.
In all this chaos, remember to be merciful.
3God comes from Teman.
The Holy One comes from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covers the heavens.
His praise fills the earth.
4His brightness is like the sunlight.
Rays of light ⌞stream⌟ from his hand.
That is where his power is hidden.
5Diseases go ahead of him.
Plagues follow after him.
6He stands and shakes the earth.
He casts a glance and startles the nations.
The oldest mountains break apart.
The ancient hills sink.
The ancient paths belong to him.
7I see trouble in the tents of Cushan.
I see trembling in the tents of Midian.
8The Lord is not angry with the rivers, is he?
If you are angry with the rivers,
if you are furious with the sea,
⌞why⌟ do you ride your horses,
your chariots of salvation?
9You get your bow ready for action,
for the arrows ⌞you⌟ promised. Selah
You split the land with rivers.
10The mountains look at you. They writhe in pain.
Floodwaters pass by.
The deep ocean roars. Its waves rise up high.
11The sun and the moon stand still.
They scatter at the light of your arrows,
at the bright lightning of your spear.
12You march through the earth with fury.
You trample the nations in anger.
13You go out to save your people,
to save your anointed.#3:13 Or “to save with your anointed.”
You crush the leader of the wicked household,
stripping him bare from head to toe. Selah
14You pierce the leader of his gang with his own arrows.
His soldiers come like a violent storm to scatter me.
They are arrogant like those who secretly eat up the poor.
15You march with your horses into the sea,
into the mighty raging waters.
16I have heard, so there’s trembling within me.
At the report my lips quivered.
A rotten feeling has entered me.
I tremble where I stand.
I wait for the day of trouble
to come to the people who will attack us.
17Even if the fig tree does not bloom
and the vines have no grapes,
even if the olive tree fails to produce
and the fields yield no food,
even if the sheep pen is empty
and the stalls have no cattle—
18even then,
I will be happy with the Lord.
I will truly find joy in God, who saves me.
19The Lord Almighty is my strength.
He makes my feet like those of a deer.
He makes me walk on the mountains.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments.
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