Summer 1984
A Song in the Night
Walter Beuttler

Habakkuk is a book which begins with a burden and ends with a song. In verse 1 of chapter 1 we read, “The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.” The last statement of the final chapter ends with: “. . . to the chief singer on my stringed instruments.”

Within the context of these two extremes lies hidden a great secret: God’s way of turning our burden into a song.

Many an experience in life begins with a burden. At the time, we may think we will never get over it, never come out from under it. Still, when the final note is reached, lo and behold, it has been changed to a note of song, to a note of triumph.

The prophet Habakkuk was extremely perplexed, and in that state of great spiritual heaviness he sensed a great burden or weight. Something was pressing him down. There was something he could not understand: What was God doing? And Why?

Habakkuk was full of questions: ‘O Lord, how long . . . ?” “Why?” and “Wherefore?” What did God have in mind in this situation? Why does He allow such things? Do you ever ask that?

“How long shall I cry and Thou wilt not hear?” What perplexes him here is the age-old problem of unanswered prayer. “God, I cry but You don’t hear!” Well, God hears but He doesn’t always answer—at least not the way we’d like Him to.

“Why dost Thou shew me iniquity . . . ?” In other words, “God, why do You let things go on as they do? Why do the wicked prosper? Why don’t You DO something?” What bothered Habakkuk here was the suffering of the righteous, another age-old problem.

One of our first tendencies when under such heaviness is to run to someone else for the answer. But let us see what Habakkuk did in chapter 2, verse 1: “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me. . .” Habakkuk went to God. He did not run to the flea market for a variety of opinions on the problem at hand; he went to God. “And the Lord answered . . .”

However, God’s answer did not consist of an explanation; He gave a solution. The prophet’s questions were only symptomatic of a deeper problem, and if the root of the problem could be taken care of, the symptoms would disappear. God deals with causes, not with symptoms. The Lord passed by all of Habakkuk’s many questions and got to the root of the cause.

So what was God’s solution? Look at Habakkuk 2:4, “. . . the just shall live by faith.” From closer study we can find that this verse could just as accurately be translated: “and the just shall live by faith in His faithfulness.” When our faith in God’s faithfulness takes hold, then in spite of everything else, we can rest in the providence and the wisdom of God.

God wants us to have faith that is anchored not on our understanding of what He does, but on Who He is. There is a difference. Our confidence should rest on His integrity. That is real faith.

Job had this kind of faith. His wife told him to “curse God and die.” But Job insisted; “Though He slay me, yet will I trust him” Job 13:15. That was faith tried by fire.

In chapter 3:2 of Habakkuk, we begin to see evidence of a transformation that was taking place in the prophet’s experience. Two things had transpired. First he had heard the word of the Lord. But, secondly, the prophet had begun to meditate, to enumerate the past acts of God. As he did so, faith was beginning to spring up within him. As he began to recall the works of God’s faithfulness, his faith was renewed and he found a new strength of heart surging up within, refreshing his soul. His own struggles and burdens were lifted, and he began to declare: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. . .” Hab. 3:17-18.

The faith of God will hold you up when there is nothing left to stand on. “Yet I will rejoice . . . The Lord God is my strength . . .” Here the prophet has discovered the secret of strength from above; he has tapped the resources of heaven and found his faith strong. No room for any attitude of defeat in this man! Hear him as he exclaims, “The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hind’s feet, and He will make me to walk upon high places.” This is that walk of faith, that walk that will trust—in spite of whatever He does or does not do.

“To the chief singer on my stringed instruments” Hab.3:19. Here is the song of faith. It is the kind of faith that can rejoice in God no matter what He does. God can give you a song in the night. He can teach you the secret of faith in the integrity of God irrespective of what He does or does not do in your situation. Take instruction from the experience of this book which, though it began with a burden, ended with a song.