From Trembling to Transformation | Habakuk 3:16-19

June 1st, 2025

The walk through Habakkuk can be compared to many of the same feelings, emotions and perspectives a person experiences when hiking a breathtaking, scenic mountain trail, particularly one that carries with it significant difficulty and steep ascents, one in which physical challenges and mental doubts creep in regarding your ability to finish, to complete the hike to the trail’s highest peak.  Yet, once you summit that peak, taking in the breathtaking view from it (this “high place”!), your thoughts change and your strength seems restored.  As you make your descent, your feet are now sure, your perspective has changed.  You are able to finish with an energy and confidence you did not have before.

“The righteous shall live (walk) by his faith” (2:4) is the main theme of Habakkuk.  Faith is trust, resting in what God has done.  For the believer, it is trusting in what God has done through Christ; however, living out that faith is more like the climb of a difficult mountain trail.  We see this difficulty brought out in the book of Habakkuk, where he begins with a trembling and troubled soul, brought about by the message from God that weighs heavily on his heart.  With a troubled heart, Habakkuk offers up his first lament, wanting to understand what he perceived to be God’s lack of justice, to which God defends  and in a most astounding way (Habakkuk 1:5-11).   God’s justice will be done in only a way that God understands, that only God can bring about.  Be shocked and wonder is God’s call to Habakkuk!

With this understanding, Habakkuk then offers a second lament (1:12), as he struggles to reconcile what he knows about God’s character with what He sees God doing, with the method of God’s justice: using a wicked nation to execute it.  As we reach the end of this second lament (2:1), we see that Habakkuk is resolved to trust God, moving from trembling to trust.  God has moved him to understand that what will happen will surely happen and that Habakkuk (and all who are righteous!) “...shall live by his faith” (2:4).  We can equate this place in Habakkuk, this strain he is feeling, to the halfway mark of the climb on that mountain trail where people either pause and turn back, the trail is too demanding, or they tenaciously keep going.  Despite his circumstances, despite what lies ahead, Habakkuk must rest in the Lord, taking the remaining ascent step by step.

The trail gets even harder as God reveals to Habakkuk, and also to Israel, the intense justice He is about to unleash not only on the Chaldeans, the instrument of His justice, but also on the people of Israel for their disobedience.  Yes, these woes against the Chaldeans will have its necessary effect on Israel.  God’s justice will surely prevail against all evil, against all unrighteousness.  This realization brings them to a silent meditation, a quiet reflection, “the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him” (2:20).

The summit is in view, but we are not quite finished.  The glimpse of something unseen is seen, now within your reach, giving a renewed vigor, a renewed feeling that will move you to complete your ascent, has come upon you.  This is Habakkuk as we enter chapter three with this “wild song”, this soaring praise full of raw emotion and a God-centered exaltation.  Habakkuk is now moving forward, being informed by God’s earlier declaration that, “the righteous will live by his faith” (2:4).  This single verse is the hinge upon which the prophet’s transformation swings.

Today, as we finish our study of Habakkuk , focusing on the remaining four verses, we have ascended to the very peak of our trail.  Habakkuk’s perspective is transformed and his heart becomes full in the face of adversity.  Here, in the highest of places, there is no sadness: joy and excitement prevail.  For the righteous, to summit the peak is to understand what it means to walk by faith.  This faith is not theoretical, some intellectual ascent to the belief that life lived rightly will be easy.  Faith is a reality to be experienced, that life is to be lived one step at a time.  In these last few verses, just like on our hike, we will walk with the reminders of the trembling, trusting, tenacity and transformation that has been occurring throughout our journey.

May we enter into these concluding verses with a thankful heart.  May the truths of this book bring us to a similar place in our journey, the place where we are resolved like Habakkuk to walk through life, through all adversity, with absolute faith in our God.       

1. Trembling (v.16)

   A. Faith Begins with Hearing

“I heard and my inward parts trembled”.  This song opens with Habakkuk indicating that he has heard the report of God’s past acts and he fears (3:2).  We remember that this report fueling the worship of Habakkuk and the congregation is the shema, the declarations of divine, redemptive acts that speak of the Exodus, Sinai, the victories of Israel – moments when God’s power was unveiled, the great testimonies of God who delivered His people.  The hearing of this report begins to stir up the emotional response of fear in Habakkuk's heart, fear being a natural response created by God to remind us of our smallness and of His greatness.  In Habakkuk, this fear is the sound of a heart gripped by the weight of God’s glory.  He is seeing God’s character in its full light, granting him spiritual clarity, which launches the wild song (vv.8-15).

The first “heard” (3:2) is a looking back at what God has done while the second “heard” (3:16) is looking forward to the wondrous wrath of God that is coming, to the cosmic confrontation, paralleled with what took place at Calvary on the cross and the ultimate triumph over evil of our King.  Habakkuk’s “hearing” is moving from declaration to deliverance from the sin committed against Yahweh.  The imagery given is as if Habakkuk has seen this vision and he has walked through it.  He is seeing as if this is a first-hand experience for him.  It is here that this divine weight of judgment, justice and glory are laid upon him.

As the reality of the coming wrath of God is internalized, Habakkuk’s heart is moving from a theological to an experiential hearing and his body trembles, it is reacting to what his soul now understands.  This is the movement of faith, just as in our own lives, which begins by hearing.  “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).  Salvation does not distinguish from Jew and Gentile in the way it comes.  It comes through faith (trust, belief!) in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  In Romans 10:16, Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1, where Isaiah reports to Israel regarding the Anointed one, God’s Messiah.  In this hearing of the report, we have an immediate parallel to Habakkuk, “For salvation will come with your anointed” (3:13).

Paul’s report is the Gospel, which is a report of God saving people from His deserved wrath.  In order to believe the report, the report must be received.  It must be heard and the hearing is made possible by the Spirit of God who opens the heart to hear (refer to Acts 16:14).  The report is the vehicle through which faith is awakened and directed toward Christ, the Messiah.        

B. Faith’s Effect

Habakkuk shows not just the order of faith, but also the experiential nature and shape of faith.  Faith always begins with revelation, a theological hearing, understanding by the Spirit-induced reality of who God is, which produces a reverential fear, yet the process for internalizing the truths continues.  In Habakkuk, we are seeing the internal collapse of a man who had first-hand contact with the living God.  At the seat of his emotions, Habakkuk was overwhelmed and trembled.

Coming to Christ has the same effect.  As we come to understand our sin before God, the knowledge of the coming judgment of God, the truth of the Gospel…that God came to save us from Himself, to deliver us from His own judgment by imputing to us His  righteousness…as these truths become real to us and we confess Christ, for the first time we experience the love of God, overwhelmed with the nature of salvation.  It is as much experiential as it is confessional.

As we read 3:16, Habakkuk was overwhelmed in his experiential vision, this settled truth, of what is to come.  When someone has seen and tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:3), that truth envelops him and there is a natural intimacy in the conversation because you know he loves the same God that you love.  Such was the faith of Habakkuk.  As Jonathan Edwards stated, “There is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of that holiness and grace”.  At the heart of this statement is that faith should be experiential in nature.  Faith is a gift from God that experientially moves from the mind to the heart, seizing the entire person.  The physical symptoms Habakkuk expressed were his body’s response to a soul overwhelmed by the presence of God.  We find a similar reaction from Daniel (Daniel 10:8) when he is given a vision of the pre-incarnate Christ.  

C. Faith’s Clarity

Habakkuk’s confidence in self is crumbling and he is being rebuilt on faith.  He is beginning to understand what it means to “walk by faith”.  The imminent judgment of God is real.  Habakkuk now understands the weight of the report.  With this understanding, Habakkuk responds with a Spirit-enabled submissiveness to God’s plan.  “I will wait quietly for the day of trouble”.  In waiting, in abiding in Christ, Habakkuk resolves to cease anxiously striving, he will trust in what God is going to do.  We find this same quietness in 1 Peter 3:4.  To “wait quietly” is to move from wrestling with God to resting in God.  Because Habakkuk resolves to live by faith, He is enabled to abidingly live in the face of adversity.  With hope (and faith!), despite the physiological toll of the trail before him, Habakkuk resolves to continue forward, to walk and live by faith, to summit the high places to which God is leading him.  

d. Faith’s Result

True faith is not a single event, but rather a way of life.  It is the way a believer lives.  It is not a formula for escape from the difficulties encountered throughout life; it is the anchor that holds while everything else gives way beneath us.  It is a trust built on the understanding of who God is.  Habakkuk’s collapse was not the end of his faith, but rather the clearing of everything else that competed against it. 

2. Trusting (v.17)

A. Layers of Loss

“Though the fig tree should not blossom….” This verse unfolds in a crescendo of calamity, each line stripping away another layer of stability in self and in human comfort.  As the people march forward into ruin, understanding and settled in their hearts with what they know is coming, allowing God to have His way with them, they are singing this song and doing so with divine peace.  Without this settled nature, this divine peace, there is something wrong in our relationship with God.  In the execution of God’s justice for Israel, there was going to be loss of personal enjoyment and the cultural blessing of God, their joy would wither and loss would be felt within their home and temple life.  The luxuries of walking in obedience would be stripped away, experienced emotionally through the sacrifice of spiritual and physical comfort.

“...and the fields yield no food….” Here, God’s judgment is cutting deeper, the essentials are gone.  “...though the flock should be cut off from the fold” Community stability is beginning to fall apart, their livelihood is disappearing.  This is complete economic collapse, the nation depleted at every level.  It is agricultural, economic and spiritual ruin coming as a result of disobedience.  In the midst of this understanding, Habakkuk peacefully rests.

What about you when all of your blessings dry up?  When the job is gone, when your health fails, when your family is fractured, where is your faith?  In the face of ruin, is God enough?  Are you able to quietly wait for the provision of God, to sing in the midst of ruin?             

B. The Pivot of Faith

“Though the fig tree should not blossom….” Habakkuk is resolved in the face of certain ruin to march forward in faith, welcoming God’s plan for him.  No longer is he bargaining with God for the improvement of circumstances,  but with Job-like faith, “Though he slay me, yet I will trust Him” (Job 13:15), Habakkuk continues with trust in the Lord.

3. Tenacity (v.18)

Habakkuk’s faith trembling, moving him to trust, gives rise to his tenacity. “Yet I will exult in Yahweh, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”  This is the fruit of holding fast in praise.  It is an experiential movement of faith, God moving him from theology to doxology, just as we strive to do in our Southside worship, opening with the Apostle’s Creed and concluding with the Doxology.   

A. Foundation of Joy            

To hold fast in praise becomes the foundation of our joy, allowing us an uncontrollable delight, affording us an overwhelming, ecstatic celebration that we share with those around us, sourced in our salvation and God’s covenant faithfulness.  Note that this exaltation and rejoicing are intense emotions not based on circumstance, but on the truth of who God is.  

B. Object of Joy

Habakkuk rejoices because of His relationship with God.  In the midst of ruin or trial, Yahweh does not change!  He remains steadfast, true to His name and to His character; therefore, like Habakkuk, we can stand in adversity.  Nothing or no one but “The God of my salvation” is the object of his joy.  Again, if you lose everything, is God enough?  Do you trust yourself or the God of your salvation?  Joy can only come from abandonment to the Redeemer.  

4.  Transformation (v.19)

When you reach the summit of your hike, your heart exults not just in what you see, but in what you have endured to get there.  It is a joy birthed through surrender.  You now have a different perspective…you have been transformed.  “Yahweh the Lord is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet; and He makes me tread on high places.”

A. Strength Received

As we live by faith, we are transformed from feeble, trembling people to courageous followers of Christ!  It is God who enables the prophet to walk in ways he could not walk on his own and the strength of our faith, enabled by God, reorients our hearts and turns trembling into sure footing.   

B. Footing Granted

In the ancient rocky, mountainous regions of Judah and Edom, hinds (mountain deer or gazelle) were known to move swiftly and securely across steep, treacherous terrain, even where other animals stumble or fall.  This hinds imagery would have been very familiar to Habakkuk who likely had observed these animals navigating seemingly impossible heights with grace and confidence.  This is a vivid symbol of spiritual transformation and readiness.  As we pair that with Ephesians 6:15, “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace…”, which describes our spiritual footing as believers, fully equipped, secured and prepared to stand firm in spiritual warfare, we are able to make multiple connections in that both texts…

• picture divine enablement - God grants the sure footing (Hab 3:19) and the gospel (report) provides readiness (Eph 6:15);

• stress moving from fear to freedom - the hind is not anxious and the gospel-shod believer is not shaken; and, 

• reflect transformation - Habakkuk was collapsing, now he is climbing; the believer once wandering, now standing firm.

C. Perspective Lifted

To be given hinds’ feet is to walk with a gospel-fitted life.  Faith grants us hinds’ feet that give access to high places, where we experience victory, perspective, elevation, and success.  We see this same idea presented in Isaiah 40:31.  With your faith secure in Christ and your focus is stayed on Him, the adversities of life will not drag you down.  You are able to walk victoriously, which yields a ready platform for the Gospel.  When you finally summit the peak of your trail, you find that trembling has been transformed into confidence and excitement.  Your posture and perspective have changed.  Faith ALWAYS produces transformation.

What is the message having submitted the book of Habakkuk?  God is our strength.  As we walk by faith, He causes us to walk in high places, readied with the ability to share our faith with other people.  With personal testimony of what God has done in our lives and with the truth of Scripture, we are armed with the Gospel of peace able to lead others into the Kingdom of Christ.

Let us thank God for the book of Habakkuk.  Let us thank God that His word is not just information, but that there is an experience through the Spirit in our faith.  May we choose to walk by faith God grants and not by what we see, to be strengthened, to soar to high places, with sure footing and energy to walk confidently through this life and all of its adversities, truly as ambassadors of the living God.     

Selah

• When the job is gone, when your health fails, when your family is fractured, where is your faith? If you lose everything, is God enough or is your faith in yourself?  

• God commands the righteous to live by faith.  Like Habakkuk, has God brought you to the place in your faith where you are resolved to walk through any and all adversity with absolute abandonment through faith in Christ?  If not, will you ask Him to make it so?   

• Does the life you daily live testify to those around you that Christ is the Lord of your life?

• Are you ready to tread on high places, to be the platform for Christ that you are called to be?