Worship With Fear & Trembling — An Overview of Habakkuk

July 22, 2026

The trust of God’s people was in empires. Not in Jehovah. Not anymore. For too long, Israel and Judah trod on pagan paths, worshiping false gods and swearing allegiance to foreign kings. Now Israel was no more– conquered by Assyria and assimilated with its people. Ten tribes– lost. The southern kingdom of Judah barely held together. Refusing to learn from their northern brothers, they continued doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 

Abuses abounded. The Law long neglected. Every man lived for himself and did what was right in his own eyes. There was no care for the widow, the orphan, or the foreigner living among them. No provision was made for the poor. The wealthy grew richer. The powerful grew stronger. And their appetites for sin increased a hundredfold. Carnal, debaucherous, and blood thirsty– evil in the eyes of the Lord. 

In one generation, King Hezekiah turned to Jehoavah. Sweeping religious reforms seemed to clean the Kingdom of Judah. But there was a fatal flaw that would become Judah’s undoing. When envoys from Babylon came calling, Hezekiah could not resist boasting of Judah’s riches. He showed the Babylonians all the gold in the Temple. It wasn’t his to boast of– it belonged to God Most High. And when God rebuked him for his folly, Hezekiah’s reply was that the undoing wouldn’t come in his time. 

In another generation, King Josiah walked in the light of the law. For one shining season, Judah called on the name of Jehovah for the forgiveness of their sins. Pagan shrines were smashed. The law was read. Passover observed once more. 

It would not last. God’s people refused to keep their trust in Jehovah. Within three months, Josiah’s heir Johoahaz had done what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his forefathers had done. His punishment came in Egyptian chains. And his brother, Eliakim was put on the throne by those selfsame Egyptians who demanded tribute in gold and silver. They called him Jehoiakim which means ‘Jehovah has raised up.’ 

If Jehovah was in this, Habakkuk couldn’t see it. Jehoiakim did not turn to Jehovah for guidance. He did not humble himself before the Most High God. Instead, he did what was right in his own eyes.. Taxing the people to pay his tributes first to Egypt and then to Babylon. Desperate to keep favor with the empire. How far had God’s people fallen from the days of David and Solomon. Their puppet king was a vassal to Babylon, an empire of violence and cruelty. When confronted by the prophet Jeremiah, Jehoiakim burned the scroll. As though a man could destroy the Word of God

At last, Habakkuk could not take it anymore. The corruption of his people seemed complete. How could Jehovah tolerate this? Why wasn’t He doing something? 

 “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” Habakkuk cried out. Pouring his broken, and frankly, outraged heart out, he listed Judah’s sins for God, even accusing Him of tolerating this wickedness. 

And God replied. He heard Habakkuk’s anguish and lament, and answered him. “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.”

Babylonians?I That was Jehovah’s response? His plan to deal with the corruption of Judah was to bring a more corrupt kingdom into power over them? 

Perhaps Habakkuk should have been more mindful in his reply to Adonai, King of the Universe. But in his fear, frustration, and utter confusion, he demanded of God, “You’re leaving your people to be scooped up like fish in a net? To be sacrificed to a pagan nation who worship their own power? They live in luxury, conquering nations and exploiting their captives. And you’re okay with this?!” 

Confused, perhaps indignant, Habakkuk declared that he would stand and wait for God’s response, like a lookout in the watch tower. 

Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation  and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous person will live by faith. ”

He explained to Habakkuk, “Babylon will not rule forever. Every empire that rises will also fall. Doomed to destruction by their own greed and violence. Their security is in themselves and their own power. Drunkenness and debauchery will be their downfall. Their false gods and idols cannot save them. I will allow the power of the wicked to play itself out and bring my people back to me. But I do not delight in it. Their wickedness does not please me.” 

Realizing that his world was going to get darker before it got lighter, Habakkuk could only think of one thing to do. Choosing his words carefully, he wrote a prayer, a song. Indeed, it was a song to be played on stringed instruments. 

He asked God to temper his judgment with mercy. He recalled the power and might of the Lord– splendor and majesty. He wrote of the wrath of Jehovah, but also deliverance. 

“You came to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.” 

The anointed one, the promised one, the Messiah. The covenant made to David in the glory days of Israel that one of his line would always sit upon the throne.

“Remember this promise,” Habakkuk pleaded with the Almighty, “even though the worst is yet to come.” 

Inhaling sharply, tears in his eyes, Habakkuk ended his prayer, “I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones,  and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. 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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”

All hope could not be lost, no matter how dark the days ahead. Not for one whose faith is in the LORD. 

Prayer

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I thank you for your constant presence in a world gone mad. Tune my ears to hear your voice, open my eyes to see where you are working, and use me for your purposes. I don’t always understand your ways. You often do things that I wouldn’t choose. Keep my heart soft to you and safe within your refuge. You are the Holy One, sovereign, wise, and good. Help me to trust you and to worship you, even in the dark. You are with me in the dark, you are with me in the light. You are with me. Amen. 

Reflection Questions: 

• Is there anything happening in your life or in the world today that you just don’t understand why God is allowing it to happen? 

• What do you do with those feelings of confusion, frustration, sadness, or even anger? 

• What do you think it looks like to trust God when His plans look painful? To hold onto hope when things are looking hopeless?