THIS SONG COMES FROM HABAKKUK, a little-known prophet with a big heart for God. When we suffer a massive loss, we wonder what’s left to say. This prophet says it all.
THIS IS THE DAY HABAKKUK MADE. I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Today I’ve released the only song I’ve ever released into the universe. All my other songs have been for me and my family. But this song is for everyone. It comes from a guy I never met and most Christians, I suspect, never heard of.
Yet there’s a three-chapter book in the Bible with his name on it. Habakkuk. I pronounce it huh-BACK-uk.
If you can find a prayer of faith in God anywhere in the Bible that’s stronger than Habakkuk 3:17-19, I’d like to hear it.
Abraham offered his son. But Habakkuk offered himself, like Jesus did, and likely died as a result, like Jesus did.
Habakkuk predicted a horrific invasion. After his prayer, he is never heard from again.
Here’s a sampling of what invaders did in Bible times. In fact, this is what Israelite ancestors of today’s Jewish people did to people in part of what is now the country of Jordan, then called Moab:
“Israel’s coalition army overran Moab’s cities, filled the plowed fields with rocks, plugged every spring of water they found, and cut down every tree worth the trouble (1 Kings 3:25).
Habakkuk’s unnamed invaders were likely the Babylonians who came from what is now Iraq. They systematically levelled Jewish cities, saving Jerusalem for last. They took it to the ground and turned Solomon’s 400-year-old temple into a rock pile. Then they deported most survivors. That was it for the Jewish nation, wiped off the map.
Habakkuk saw it coming.
Habakkuk’s lyrics
I was reading this story and paraphrasing it for The Casual English Bible® when I came to the prophet’s insane reply to God. It made no sense. It seemed to be saying the opposite of what was happening. Like some crazy wishful thinking.
When I heard this story of what would happen,
I started shaking all over.
My lips quivered. My legs gave way.
All I could do was lay there and tremble.
I’m waiting now for the inevitable day of trouble,
For invaders to wake and attack.
When fig trees don’t blossom,
Grapes don’t grow,
When olive crops disappear,
Fields produce dirt,
When sheep are taken,
Cattle gone from their stalls,
What will I do?I will thank God that he is my Savior.
He gives me the strength to go on.
He gives me the sure-footed speed of a deer,
And to higher ground he leads on. (Habakkuk 3:16-19)
Putting those words in my own casual style of writing left me stunned. He knows he’s going to lose the kind of happy life he has been living. He may lose his home, his land, and his life. But he still expects God to save him, some way, somehow, somewhere.
The Bible has stopped me and stirred me and sometimes even angered me many times during this work of paraphrasing. But this moment was seminal. It was a brand new baby, like nothing before—at least not for me.
I typed the last line of the prayer, a song written as Hebrew poetry. Then I left my office and I went down to the basement where I keep my media gear. I started singing without instruments. I sang until I had the first verse and chorus of the song that released today. The title doesn’t sound like one of mine. It sounds too churchy. But the words belong to Habakkuk: “I will thank God he’s my Savior.”
The words and the music might not move you like it moves me. That’s understandable, for this moment I’ve described was mine, not yours.
But if you need a moment like I had when I read Habakkuk’s burst of faith, I’ll share it with you.
The second verse
I was confiding in a childhood friend of mine recently about this song. The first verse and chorus are from Habakkuk.
The second verse came later. It’s from me. It’s darker and sadder and more of a complaint than a praise. When I wrote about my anger with God a few weeks ago, I had some people drop their subscription. Maybe I didn’t make it clear that you can be upset with God and even Screaming Angry with him and still love him. If you’ve got kids, a partner, or a dog, you should know what I’m talking about.
In the past few years, some of us have experienced enough to sour a soul. Family dying all around us. Family and friends lost or diminished through politics inflamed by a few angry souls and the people they have conned, intimidated, and soiled.
When I’m talking about a rough few years, I’m talking about myself. On top of all that happened, there was the worst moment of my life: killing my dog…telling the vet, “Okay.” It’s one thing to watch a loved one die. It’s another to kill them, even if it’s just to save them from the pain.
I’m not okay with any of that. I’m not okay with God about that.
When I put Buddy down, I did not feel the presence of God. I felt empty and broken and angry.
I know. I know. He was there all the time.
I didn’t feel it.
Can you hear me?
What I just said was uncomfortable for some people to read. It’s uncomfortable to write. But it’s true. And it’s allowed.
Anyone who thinks otherwise should read songs attributed to David in the Book of Psalms. You think I’m complaining? At least I’m not telling God it’s his fault, like Job did: “You, God, are the reason I am insulted and spit on” (Job 17:6, Contemporary English Version).
I’m asking why he doesn’t do something when there’s nothing more that we can do.
And I’m asking for a dose of Habakkuk’s faith in the middle of this mess.
I want to believe that I can dance with the deer in the mountains, somehow above the mess, yet still in the middle of it all—feeling the broken heart, while feeling the rising of my spirit.
“Feeling” is the problem, I think. It’s not a reliable gauge. We might not feel loved, though people dearly love us.
We might not feel God, though we know he’s there.
We might not feel saved, spared from hardship. But we know there’s something happening in unseen places and in realities yet to come.
So we remind ourselves of that in different ways: through prayer, reading the Bible, even in fasting.
I did it with a song.
To listen
Clearly, this is my song. But if you need it, too, it’s yours.
It has taken tears, cash, and stomach acid to bring it to this place. But here it is, if the software works:
I Will Thank God He’s My Savior
The first video premieres today at noon Central Time.
Winner of 900 Bible maps
For the past month, I’ve been giving away a free atlas of 900 downloadable PDF Bible maps, many in 3D style. It’s the biggest and best product coming from The Casual English Bible® so far. It’s a collection of all the maps we’ve made for the Bible, with the promise of more to come.
This is the fifth and the final set of maps in this giveaway.
The winner: Roger and Cathy C. of Troy, Ohio. (Note to Roger & Cathy: Your email seems full, so I hope you see this.)
Buckeyes, enjoy.
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I love the new video and song! It will be my anthem every time some problem or social media, or a bigoted, hateful, sociopath tries to steal the joy and peace that God has put in my heart. May God grant us all the breeze and loveliness of God’s Spirit as we endure this year even if the stench of deception lulls the masses. My being, my all, belongs to God, my Savior — and no one else. Amen!
Thanks, Wayne. I hear you. Sad we have to go through another year like 4 years ago, and with whatever follows. Habakkuk’s prayer about a nation on the brink of dying seems too relevant. And all it has taken is one person. But then, that’s all it took in Russia, China, Turkey…on and on. God save us. And God help us save ourselves when we can.
Stephen, I “happened” upon this article as I was researching Habakkuk for my O.T. survey class. This had such an impact, that I am printing it out to share with the other students in the class. Thank you for your candidness and your honesty. We need to see more! God richly continue to bless and keep you and your family!
Thank you, Pamela. Peace to you.