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God's Salvation of His People

¹ A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to ^(F1)wild and enthusiastic music.

² O LORD, I have ^(C1)heard the report about You and I ^(C2)fear.
O LORD, ^(C3)revive ^(C4)Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath earnestly ^(C5)remember compassion and love.

³ God approaching from Sinai comes from ^(C1)Teman (Edom),
And the Holy One from ^(F1)Mount ^(C2)Paran. Selah (^(F2)pause, and calmly think of that).
His ^(C3)splendor and majesty covers the heavens
And the ^(C4)earth is full of His praise.

⁴ His ^(C1)brightness is like the sunlight;
He has bright rays flashing from His hand,
And there in the sunlike splendor is the hiding place of His ^(C2)power.

⁵ Before Him goes the ^(C1)pestilence of judgment as in Egypt,
And the burning ^(C2)plague of condemnation follows at His feet as in Sennacherib's army. ^(VR1)

⁶ He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and ^(C1)startled the nations,
Yes, the eternal mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills bowed low and collapsed.
His ways are ^(C2)eternal.

⁷ I Habakkuk, in my vision saw the tents of Cushan under ^(C1)distress;
The tent curtains of the land of ^(C2)Midian were trembling.

⁸ Did the LORD rage against the ^(C1)rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your wrath against the Red ^(C2)Sea,
That You ^(C3)rode on Your horses,
On Your ^(C4)chariots of salvation?

⁹ Your ^(C1)bow was made bare;
The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah (pause, calmly think of that).
You ^(C2)split the earth with rivers bringing waters to dry places. ^(VR1)

¹⁰ The mountains saw You and they trembled and writhed as if in pain;
The downpour of waters swept by as a deluge.
The deep ^(C1)uttered its voice and raged,
It lifted its hands high.

¹¹ The ^(C1)sun and moon stood in their places as before Joshua;
They went away at the ^(C2)light of Your swift arrows,
At the radiance and gleam of Your glittering spear. ^(VR1)

¹² In indignation You ^(C1)marched through the earth;
In anger You ^(C2)trampled and threshed the nations.

¹³ You went forth for the ^(C1)salvation of Your people,
For the salvation and rescue of Your ^(C2)anointed people Israel.
You struck the ^(F1)(C3)head from the house of the wicked
To lay him open from the thigh to the neck. Selah (pause, and calmly think of that).

¹⁴ With the enemy's ^(C1)own spears, You pierced
The head of his hordes.
They ^(C2)stormed out to scatter us,
Rejoicing like those
Who secretly ^(C3)devour the oppressed of Israel.

¹⁵ You have ^(C1)trampled on the sea with Your horses,
On the ^(C2)surge of many waters. ^(VR1)

¹⁶ I heard and my whole inner self ^(C1)trembled;
My lips quivered at the sound.
Decay and rottenness enter my ^(C2)bones,
And I tremble in my place.
Because I must ^(C3)wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the ^(C4)people to arise who will invade and attack us.

¹⁷ Though the ^(C1)fig tree does not blossom
And there is no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the ^(C2)olive fails
And the fields produce no food,
Though the ^(C3)flock is cut off from the fold
And there are ^(C4)no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ Yet I will choose to ^(C1)rejoice in the LORD;
I will choose to ^(C2)shout in exultation in the victorious ^(C3)God of my salvation! ^(VR1)

¹⁹ The Lord GOD is my ^(C1)strength my source of courage, my invincible army;
^(C2)He has made my feet steady and sure like hinds' feet
And makes me walk forward with spiritual confidence on my ^(F1)(C3)high places of challenge and responsibility.
For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.