Great Prayers of the Bible: Habakkuk's Although
9 July 2025 · 1 min read · Prayer
Habakkuk's little book begins with complaint — O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! — and ends with the most defiant joy in the Bible. Between them stands a prophet who took his questions to God and stayed for the answer.
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 I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Joy with no harvest
The closing prayer inventories total loss — no figs, no fruit, no flocks, no herd — and attaches the great conjunction: yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Not joy about circumstances; joy in a Person circumstances cannot touch.
This is faith's highest register: worship composed before the crisis resolves, gladness anchored below the waterline of events.
The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
Hinds' feet on high places
The prayer's final image: the LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet — the deer that runs sure-footed on cliff edges. God does not always flatten the high places; he fits feet for them.
Learn Habakkuk's grammar. Write your own version — although the diagnosis, although the account, although the silence — yet I will rejoice. It is the sentence that turns prophets' complaints into songs, and it is available today.
