“A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet”
(See Habakkuk 3:1–19.)
Dr. Ellis T. Rasmussen wrote:
“Habakkuk’s prayer, like Job’s after the Lord’s responses to him, confessed humility and awe and a willingness to abide the Lord’s management of things (cf. Job 40:3–5; 42:1–6). He recalled the Lord’s manifestations during the Exodus and on into the conquest of the promised land (Hab. 3:3–16 and fn.).
“The prophet testified that these revelations were a humbling and overwhelming experience. He pledged he would never doubt the Lord’s management again; even though crops fail or herds perish, he averred: ‘Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation’ (Hab. 3:18). Then he closed with words of praise and thanksgiving like the closing of a psalm:
“Jehovah, my Lord, is my power:
He makes my feet like the antelope’s,
and to my exaltation He directs me.
(Hab. 3:19, translation mine)
“The vehicle of Habakkuk’s message may be complicated, but the content of it is plain: if in this world injustices seem to predominate, have patience and humbly do what you can; then trust the overall management to the Lord’s hands. While allowing agency to everyone, He will help those who trust Him when they need help. He ‘is in his holy temple’ and does not need suggestions to see that justice will be done.”
(A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament [1993], 670–71.)
