Word: Habakkuk

Habakkuk was a man with questions. Specifically, questions for God. Back in the Old Testament days, people didn't openly question God all that much. You never know when you may ask the wrong question and you'll be turned to salt or the earth will open up and swallow you, y'know? But God actually responds (sort of) to Habakkuk's questions and engages him in a dialogue.

If I'm going down, I'm taking the Chaldeans with me

Habukkuk's first question is a fairly common one. Basically, he asks "if you are all powerful, why don't you stop bad things from happening?" God says "Great question! Israel is being disobedient and I'm going to send the Chaldeans to punish you." So... that clears that question up, right? Undeterred, Habukkuk springs off of God's non-answer for his next question. "The Chaldeans are going to judge Israel? Are you serious, God? They're even worse than us!" God gives a more direct answer this time. Apparently there's plenty of judgement to go around and he basically says "don't worry, the Chaldeans will get theirs" and to prove he's serious, he drops some woes. Yes!

Sometimes a Minor Prophet gots to sing

After his chat with God, Habukkuk decides to sing. I don't know about you, but that's what I usually do after a good conversation. My wife has been asking me to cut down on that in public though. I think it's because my after-conversation-singing is so special, she wants to keep that experience just for herself. That's how much she loves me.

Even though he didn't get all the answers he was hoping for, Habukkuk proclaims his trust in God through song. One verse stood out to me:

LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

I love the succinctness of that last line. Four words that say so much. If I knew anything about poetry, I'd call it "poetic."