Habakkuk

Habakkuk 3: God gives joy in trouble

Begin in prayer

Before sharing Habakkuk’s prayer and his joy in the God who saves, please bring your family’s troubles to the Lord. Ask God to help us see His mighty mercy in Jesus and learn why His people can rejoice when food fails.

Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Exodus 15:2

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Your mighty mercy in Jesus. Help us to trust Him when life is hard and food is scarce. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Habakkuk prays to the LORD, asking Him to renew His work and make it known. God’s glory covers the heavens, and He stands and shakes the earth, then looks and makes the nations tremble. He went out for the salvation of His people and His anointed. Habakkuk trembles as he waits for the people who will invade. If fields yield no food and flocks are cut off from the fold, he will rejoice in God, who is his strength.

As you read Habakkuk 3, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God saves His people, so they can rejoice in Him even when the fields give no food.

This chapter is a prayer of Habakkuk, set to music (verse 1). He has heard of the LORD's fame, and he asks the LORD to renew His work in his own days (verse 2). The song looks back to the LORD coming from Mount Paran, in glory, as He did in Israel's early days (verse 3). The earth shakes and the nations tremble, for the LORD went out to save His people and His anointed (verses 6 and 13). Yet Habakkuk still trembles, for he must wait quietly for the day when the invaders come (verse 16). If the fields yield no food and the flocks are cut off, he will rejoice in the LORD (verses 17 and 18). He calls Him the God of his salvation and says the LORD is his strength (verses 18 and 19). This joy rests on God Himself, whose saving mercy is fulfilled in Christ.

How does Habakkuk 3 show us that God saves His people, so they can rejoice in Him even when the fields give no food?

Habakkuk asks God to make His mighty work known again.

Habakkuk has heard of the LORD's fame and stands in awe of His deeds (verse 2). He asks the LORD to renew His work in his own days and to make it known. Even in wrath, the LORD remembers mercy. Please remind your children that they can ask the LORD for help in hard days.

God goes out to save His people.

The LORD stands and shakes the earth, and He looks and makes the nations tremble (verse 6). Habakkuk remembers that the LORD went out for the salvation of His people and His anointed (verse 13). Anointed means set apart by God for His work. No enemy is greater than the LORD.

Habakkuk will rejoice in God even if the fields give no food.

Habakkuk says his body trembles as he waits for the invaders to come (verse 16). If the fields yield no food and the flocks are cut off, he will rejoice in the LORD (verses 17 and 18). He calls the LORD the God of his salvation and his strength (verses 18 and 19). The angel told Joseph to name Mary's son Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1 verse 21).

Memorise

I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

Habakkuk 3:18

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what trouble do I need to bring to Jesus for help?

Habakkuk knows that trouble is coming. His body trembles, yet he says, “I will rejoice in Yahweh”, the God of his salvation. That salvation has a name, Jesus, for the angel said He will save His people from their sins.

Our sin leaves us guilty before God, and no strength of ours can put it right. On the cross Jesus bore the punishment for His people's sin, and He paid the whole debt. Then He rose from the grave, and He lives today.

So come to Him with your sin and your trouble. Turn away from your sin and trust the Savior. He will not turn away a person who seeks Him, and there is forgiveness with Him. Food may fail, but the Savior lives, and His people have reason to rejoice in Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Jesus suffered, died and rose to give His people lasting hope through trouble. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please let a child who fears going without food tell you, and help them with patient care.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His saving mercy and the joy His people find in Him, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one offer a short prayer if they want to.

But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice, Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you.

Psalm 5:11

Lord God, thank You for Your power to save Your people and for sending Jesus to save them. Please give our children new hearts that trust Jesus. Lead them away from sin to His mercy. When trouble comes, please help our family pray, care for one another and remember that Christ lives. Amen.