Habakkuk’s Prayer of Faith

1A prayer by the prophet Habakkuk, set to music.a

2LORD, as I listen to what has been said about you,

I am afraid.

LORD, revive your work throughout all of our lives—

reveal yourselfb throughout all of our lives—

when youc are angry,

remember compassion.

3God comes from Temand —

the Holy One from Mount Paran.e

Interlude

His glory spreads throughout the heavens,

and praises about him fill the earth.

4His radiance is like sunlight;

beams of light shinef from his hand,

where his strength lays hidden.

5Before him pestilence walks,

and disease follows behind him.g

6He stood up and shook the land;

with his stare he startled the nations.

The age-old mountains were shattered,

and the ancient hilltops bowed down.

His ways are eternal.

7I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,

and the tent curtains of the land of Midian in anguish.

8Was the LORD displeased with the rivers?

Was your anger directedh against the watercourses

or your wrath against the sea?

Indeed, you rode upon your horses,

upon your chariots of deliverance.

9Your bow was exposed,

and youri arrows targeted by command.

Interlude

You split the earth with rivers.

10When the mountains looked upon you, they trembled;

the overflowing water passed by,

the ocean shouted,

and its wavesj surged upward.

11The sun and moon stand still in their orbits;

at the glint of your arrows they speed along,

even at the gleam of your flashing spear.

12You march through the land in righteousk indignation;

you tread down the nations in anger.

13You marched out to deliver your people,

to deliver with your anointed.

You struck the head of the house of the wicked;

you stripped him naked from head to foot.

Interlude

14With his own lances you pierced the heads of his warriors,

who came out like a windstorm to scatter usl —

their joy is to devour the afflicted who are in hiding.

15You rode on the sea with your horses,

even ridingm the crested waves of mighty waters.

Habakkuk’s Response

16I heard and I trembled within.

My lips quivered at the noise.

My legs gave way beneath me,n

and I trembled.

Nevertheless, I await the day of distress

that will dawn on our invaders.

17Even though the fig tree does not blossom,

and there are no grapes on the vines;

even if the olive harvest fails,

and the fields produce nothing edible;

even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold,

and there is no herd in the stalls—

18as for me, I will rejoice in the LORD.

I will find my joy in the God who delivers me.

19The LORD God is my strength—

he will make my feet like those of a deer,

equipping me to tread on my mountain heights.