I Will Rejoice! (Part 1 of 2)

Devotional

Day 1: Standing in Awe When God’s Power Flashes Like Lightning

Habakkuk’s complaints dissolve as God’s glory crashes over him like a storm. The prophet stands breathless before divine splendor—rays bursting from hidden power, mountains crumbling like sandcastles. This isn’t theoretical theology; it’s visceral encounter. When God unveils His majesty, even our loudest “why” questions quieten. The same power that split the earth with rivers still shakes us from spiritual numbness. Our task isn’t to manage God’s displays but to let them recalibrate our vision. [13:01]

His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.
(Habakkuk 3:3-4, ESV)

Reflection: When has God’s power—in creation, Scripture, or a moment of grace—left you speechless? How might standing in awe of His deeds shift your perspective on current struggles?

Day 2: Falling Before the God Who Makes Nations Tremble

Habakkuk’s knees buckle as God’s sovereignty becomes undeniable. The One who makes mountains writhe also holds world leaders in His gaze. This isn’t a distant deity but a King who “looks and makes nations tremble.” His control over chaos isn’t theoretical—it’s written in history’s rubble. When we stop demanding God justify Himself and start seeing His rule, even global turmoil becomes a canvas for His glory. Our trembling isn’t fear—it’s the collapse of our illusions of control. [14:06]

He stood and shook the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled, the age-old hills collapsed—but he marches on forever.
(Habakkuk 3:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: What current event makes you question God’s control? How might His eternal perspective reframe your anxiety about worldly powers?

Day 3: Waiting Patiently When the Fig Tree Bears No Fruit

The prophet’s impatient demands turn to quiet resolve. Empty fields and barren vines remain, but Habakkuk stops counting losses. Waiting becomes active trust, not passive resignation. This patience isn’t stoicism—it’s the space where God reshapes our definition of “enough.” When every earthly prop fails, we discover prayer isn’t about changing circumstances but anchoring in the Unchanging. The same God who split seas can sustain us in drought. [18:46]

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.
(Habakkuk 3:16, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you tempted to demand immediate answers? How might waiting deepen your trust in God’s character over His solutions?

Day 4: Rejoicing in the God Who Sets Your Feet on High Places

Joy erupts not from fixed circumstances but from fixed focus. Habakkuk trades his ledger of lacks for a song—not because suffering ends, but because God’s strength becomes tangible. Like deer scaling cliffs, we’re lifted above life’s swamps when we stop staring at mud and start tracing sunbeams to their Source. True rejoicing isn’t denial; it’s defiance against despair’s gravity. [03:38]

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.
(Habakkuk 3:18-19, ESV)

Reflection: What “yet” can you declare today? How might choosing joy shift your posture toward unresolved pain?

Day 5: When Life Crumbles, Clinging to the Unshaken God

Idols of self-sufficiency shatter when earthquakes come. Habakkuk contrasts mute carvings with the living God who answers—not always with explanations, but with His presence. Our invented gods (success, control, comfort) cannot sit in rubble with us. But the true God enters our tremors, His silence not absence but the quiet of a Father holding His child through the storm. [15:08]

Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, “Come to life!” Or to lifeless stone, “Wake up!”
(Habakkuk 2:18-19, ESV)

Reflection: What “idols” have you leaned on for stability? How might clinging to the Unchanging God steady you when life fractures?

Sermon Summary

Habakkuk begins where many people live, with life untidy, painful, and beyond control. The prophet sees violence, injustice, and the law paralyzed, and his questions are plain: How long? Why does God tolerate this? God’s answer initially makes the problem worse, because he raises up a pagan nation to judge his own wayward people. Yet God also declares that justice will prevail and that the earth will be filled with his glory as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk 3 records the change that comes when the prophet is brought face to face with God’s majesty. Habakkuk has heard of God’s fame and now stands in awe of God’s deeds. God’s splendor flashes like the sunrise, his power shakes the earth, and his glance makes nations tremble. God is not an invented deity, a cosmic principle to be adjusted to personal preference, or an idol carved by human hands. God is the Creator who calls people to their feet in adoration and puts them on their faces in holy fear.

Habakkuk’s growing knowledge of God becomes like another piece placed in a jigsaw puzzle. God’s answers do not remove every hard question, and Habakkuk’s circumstances do not change one bit. God displays himself, however, and that revelation changes the prophet’s posture. The man who began banging on the table now says, “Yet I will wait patiently.”

Habakkuk’s prayer also changes. The prophet asks God to renew his deeds and make them known, pleading, “In wrath remember mercy.” God’s wrath against sin and God’s mercy toward sinners finally meet at the cross, where Christ bears righteous judgment and completes the work of redemption. Habakkuk’s review of God’s mighty acts in history shows that nature and nations alike remain under the control of the Creator, whose wisdom is unsearchable.

The prophet therefore learns that faith is not pretending that calamity is small. His heart pounds, his lips quiver, and his legs tremble. Yet God’s sovereign strength enables joy even when the fig tree does not bud, the fields produce no food, and the stalls stand empty. God himself becomes the strength beneath unsteady feet and the one who enables his people to go on the heights.

Key Takeaways

1. God’s answers may deepen the mystery. God does not always answer human questions by making circumstances immediately clearer or easier. Habakkuk receives an answer that creates a second problem, because divine judgment arrives through a wicked nation. Faith must reckon with the fact that God’s wisdom is not obliged to fit neat human calculations. [10:26]
2. A bigger God changes anxious hearts. God’s majesty brings Habakkuk first to his feet and then down to the ground. The prophet’s fear is not erased by a smaller view of trouble, but by a truer view of the One who rules over trouble. Idols cannot sustain anyone when the wheels fall off, because they are only extensions of human imagination. [17:10]
3. Waiting patiently is learned before God. Habakkuk begins with “How long?” and arrives at “I will wait patiently.” God does not alter the prophet’s circumstances before altering the prophet’s response. Patient waiting grows when God reveals enough of himself to make restless demands give way to reverent trust. [18:46]
4. Wrath and mercy meet at Calvary. Habakkuk’s plea, “In wrath remember mercy,” reaches its fullest answer in Christ crucified. Jesus bears God’s righteous wrath against sin while displaying God’s mercy toward sinners. The cross shows that divine mercy is never sentimental and divine judgment is never careless. [20:30]
5. God remains strength in empty fields. Habakkuk does not rejoice because crop failure, loss, and calamity become pleasant. God himself becomes the ground of joy when every visible support is removed. The sovereign Lord gives deer-like feet for hard terrain, not an escape from every height and hazard. [03:23]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:38] - When Circumstances Do Not Change
[04:13] - Life Is Untidy and Beyond Control
[05:45] - The Bible as God’s Word
[08:30] - The Problem of God’s Goodness and Power
[09:17] - Habakkuk’s Questions: How Long and Why
[10:08] - God Raises Up Babylon
[10:43] - Justice Will Surely Prevail
[11:51] - Habakkuk Reacts in Awe
[14:25] - The Futility of Invented Gods
[17:42] - Knowing God Like a Jigsaw Puzzle
[18:46] - From Complaint to Patient Waiting
[19:31] - In Wrath Remember Mercy
[20:49] - Habakkuk Reviews God’s Mighty Acts
[22:44] - God Rules Over the Nations

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Habakkuk 3:17-19
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.” [03:21]

Habakkuk 3:2
“O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” [01:14]

Habakkuk 2:14
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” [10:53]

Observation questions

What repeated losses and shortages are described in Habakkuk 3:17, and what do they reveal about the severity of the situation?
In Habakkuk 3:2, what has Habakkuk heard about God, how does he respond, and what three things does he ask God to do? [11:57]
What physical words does Habakkuk use to describe his fear in Habakkuk 3:16, and what decision does he make despite that fear?
According to Habakkuk 2:14, what future certainty does God give in the middle of injustice and judgment? [10:43]

Interpretation questions

Why does Habakkuk’s growing awareness of God’s power lead him both to awe and to trembling, rather than simply making him feel comfortable? [13:50]
Habakkuk’s circumstances do not immediately improve, yet his response changes from demanding answers to waiting patiently. What does this show about the kind of answer God often gives to suffering people? [18:46]
What does Habakkuk mean when he asks God, “In wrath remember mercy”? How does the cross of Christ show both God’s righteous judgment against sin and his mercy toward sinners? [20:20]
Why is rejoicing in God in Habakkuk 3:17–19 different from pretending that loss, hunger, or calamity are not painful?

Application questions

Where are you most tempted to ask God, “How long?” or “Why?” What would it look like to bring that question honestly to God without demanding that he explain everything immediately? [09:43]
When life feels out of control, what do you tend to look to for security—health, money, plans, relationships, political outcomes, or something else? How might those things become unable to carry the weight of your trust? [16:05]
What part of God’s character do you most need to remember in your current circumstances: his power, wisdom, justice, mercy, or faithfulness? How could you put that truth before yourself this week? [17:44]
Habakkuk asks God to renew his deeds and make them known in his own day. What specific situation in your family, church, neighborhood, or world should move you to pray, “In wrath remember mercy”? [19:41]
Is there an area where fear has made your heart race, your thoughts spiral, or your confidence weaken? How can Habakkuk’s honest trembling help you bring that fear to God rather than hiding it? [03:06]
What would it mean for God himself—not changed circumstances—to be your strength this week? Name one practical moment when you could choose to rejoice in him even if the outcome remains uncertain. [03:30]
How can the group help one another wait patiently for God’s timing while continuing to pray and obey faithfully? [19:31]

Sermon Clips

“Well, that's a bit of a change, isn't it? Because you weren't wast waiting patiently when you started your little prophecy, Habacook. No, you were shouting. You were banging on the table. How long, oh Lord? How long is this going on? Why is this happening? Why isn't this sorted out now? Look at the change. I will wait patiently. What happened? Did he get an answer? Yes. Did he get the answer he expected? No. Did his circumstances change? Not a bit. God just displayed himself.” [00:18:44]

“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 go on the heights” [00:03:21]

“Incidentally, a prayer that would only finally be answered if you fast forward 700 years to a scene outside of the walls of Jerusalem and to the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son, hanging on a cross and declaring, ‘It is finished.’ What is finished? The work of redemption whereby he he took in himself all of God's righteous wrath against sin and he displayed in himself all of God's mercy provided for the sinner.” [00:20:20]

“No, you see, the God of the Bible is a God who calls people to their feet. Is a God who demands attention. Is a God who in the display of his sovereign power and majesty causes men and women to put their hands over their mouths, brings them to their feet in adoration and in awe, and puts them down on the floor of their bedroom before the displays of his majesty and his power.” [00:17:00]

“For the believer in this God, the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we also have the challenge that comes as a result of affirming that God is all good and he is all powerful. And yet we face disappointment, disease, chaos, heartache and violence. And so people justifiably will ask the question, if this God of creation is all powerful and all good, then why are things the way they are?” [00:08:30]

“You see what Habacook is doing here in his very own prophecy is that every display of God's power, every revealing of God's character is like for the prophet another piece of the jigsaw. He reaches as it were into the box that God has provided and he picks out another piece and he places it in the picture that is being formed. He is, if you like, developing his own theology as he goes along. Logos, the word or knowledge, theos God, knowledge of God.” [00:17:44]

“But I want you to know, especially for those of you whose view of the world differs from this, that all of our study of the Bible starts from the position that the Bible is God's word. that God in his word has said exactly what he wants to say and that he has said it in precisely the form that he wants it to be said.” [00:05:42]

“Well, God replies in chapter 2 and he says, ‘Well, the actual fact of the matter is that justice will inevitably prevail, that the earth will be filled with the glory of God, verse 14 of chapter 2, as the waters cover the sea.’” [00:10:43]

“Life by its very nature is untidy. It constantly defies our attempts to control it. We are challenged by it on multiple levels on virtually a daily basis. Physically, we are clearly not in charge and silly if we think it to be other than that.” [00:04:13]

“What the Bible says is that God has set eternity in their hearts, that they know of God by their very creation. And although they turn their back on God, and they marshall arguments in order to make it possible for them to deny God, yet when the chips are down, he is once again reintroduced, not as a God to be praised, but as a God to be abused.” [00:08:05]

“Now, just pause here for a moment and think this out because this is the issue of idolatry. The issue of idolatry is that it is not only futile, but it is foolish. It is eminently foolish” [00:15:08]

“So what we discover is this that the complaints with which he has begun how long and why are now replaced with awe and with wonder. And there in verse two of the chapter you will see that he stands to attention as it were before the display of God's power.” [00:12:30]

“Spiritually by our nature without God, left to ourselves, we are confused. We are like those who are always learning and yet never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” [00:04:56]

“How long is this going to last? And why do you tolerate it? Again, I say to you, those are contemporary questions. The answer that God provides begins in verse 5 of chapter 1.” [00:09:55]

“It provides a magnificent and a frightening picture of God's acts in history. It displays his power not only over nature but also over all of the nations.” [00:21:39]

Ask a question about this sermon

Alistair Begg This sermon · AI assistant

How does awe transform Habakkuk's response to suffering?

What changes when circumstances remain completely unchanged?

How does God's wrath reveal his mercy?