Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read 2 Kings 20, Habakkuk 3, and John 12. This devotional is about Habakkuk 3. This is a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, according to Shigionoth. O Lord, I have heard the report of you. I stand in awe, O Lord, of your deeds. Revive them in these years. Make them known in these years. In your wrath, remember mercy. God came from Temen, and the Holy One from Mount Perun, Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth. His radiance was like the sunlight, rays flashed from His hand, where His power is hidden. Plague went before him, and fever followed in his steps. He stood and measured the earth. He looked and startled the nations. The ancient mountains crumbled. The perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Kushan in distress. The curtains of Midian were trembling. Were you angry at the rivers, O Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode on your chariots of salvation? You brandished your bow, you called for many arrows, Selah. You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and quaked. Torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice, and lifted its hands on high. Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of your flying arrows, at the brightness of your shining spear. You marched across the earth with fury. You threshed the nations in wrath. You went forth for the salvation of your people, to save your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked and stripped him from head to toe, Selah. With his own spear you pierced his head. When his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak, you trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. I heard and trembled within. My lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones. I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us. Though the fig tree does not bud, and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold, and no cattle are in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like those of a deer. He makes me walk upon the heights. This is God's Word. Chapters 1 and 2 of Habakkuk record a running conversation between Habakkuk and God. In chapter 1, Habakkuk cried out to God to stop the injustice and violence in Judah and to punish the wicked who sinned in these ways. That's in chapter 1 verses 2 through 4. God responded to Habakkuk's prayer and told him that justice would indeed be done, but it would come in the form of an attack from the Babylonians. You can see that back in chapter one, verses five through 11. Habakkuk couldn't handle this information. It seemed downright wrong to him that God would punish the covenant disobedience of his people by means of a victorious attack by the even more wicked Babylonians. So Habakkuk again questioned God at the end of chapter 1 and into chapter 2. God responded in chapter 2 by telling Habakkuk to write down this oracle of judgment. Here in chapter 3, the dialogue between Habakkuk and God becomes a monologue from Habakkuk to God in prayer. We saw that in verse 1. Instead of trying to call God out for punishing Judah with the Babylonians, Habakkuk called on the Lord to save his people. Habakkuk stated the thesis of his prayer in verse 2. And there Habakkuk told the Lord that he had heard of the Lord's awesome works in the past. Now he wanted the Lord to repeat them during his lifetime. We saw that in verse 2. Then Habakkuk recounts God's miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt under Moses in verses 3 through 15. So those are the things that Habakkuk heard in the past, and now he wants God to deliver his people victoriously in the present. Obviously, Habakkuk believed everything that he had read in scripture, as well as everything he had heard about the Exodus. Although Habakkuk began his prayer here in chapter 3 by asking God to repeat this work again in his day, Habakkuk testified that he would always trust God, no matter what God chose to do. Verse 17 describes in beautiful poetry what God's covenant curse on Judah would be like when it says, Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, Though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food. Though there are no sheep in the pen, and no cattle in the stalls. And that's verse 17 in the NIV. What Habakkuk described there was total devastation. It was beautifully described, but it was describing a terrible thing. Total devastation, even in the realm of nature. Yet, despite this devastation, Habakkuk affirmed his total faith in God in verse 18, which says, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. And again, that's verse 18 in the NIV. We don't experience God's judgment for our sins in our nation the way that Judah did. But there are certainly times in all of our lives where God allows terrible things to happen to us. The question is, can you rejoice in God in those moments of your life? Verse 19 concludes Habakkuk's prayer by saying, The point of this verse, verse 19, is that faith in God is what gives a believer stability in life, even when everything you count on collapses around you. We think that our strength and stability are in God sometimes, but when our circumstances collapse, we may learn that our faith was really in the benefits God gave us, not in God himself. If you're facing some bad news, an uncertain future, or if you are grieving from some recent loss, does that make you question and feel bitterness even toward God? Or does it give you an opportunity to reaffirm your faith in God and move forward with confidence? Maybe this is a good time for you to pray like Habakkuk did in this chapter. By all means, like Habakkuk did, ask God to work again like he did in the Exodus. Habakkuk again did that in verse 2, and God might choose to answer that prayer. But remember that God's goal for your life is to teach you to trust Him no matter what. So let Habakkuk's prayer reorient you toward your faith in God. Then tell God that you will trust Him no matter what. If you found this devotional helpful, Go to my website, dailypbj.com slash subscribe, enter your email address there, and you'll be subscribed to my free email subscription. 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