Word for the Week: Whatever...
Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the LORD, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
Habakkuk ends his praise psalm, and the book, with this sublime piece of Hebrew poetry. Here is a commitment to the Lord, come what may – no cringing fatalistic acceptance of arbitrary power, but the faith of a man who freely acknowledges that God’s ways are not always our ways, and rejoices in his relationship with the Lord of mercy and love.
We need to learn from these words, meditate on them, and build them into our relationship with God. This is a communal psalm, written out of deep questioning and anguish and it echoes a biblical theme that runs through many psalms, many of the prophets and powerfully in the book of Lamentations. It speaks of drought and famine – and we who know the shelves will probably be stacked with food into the foreseeable future need to remember those for whom these words are terribly and immediately true today.
But even in times of relative comfort and security the metaphor of barren fields and empty barns reminds us of other deprivations, some very personal, that cannot be changed. Within our circles of friends and neighbours, family and church, there are those who have to voice this prayer through childlessness, marriage failure, handicap and long-term disappointment. And when we are faced with deprivations that are hard to bear, help us still to rejoice in the Lord, our strength and our salvation.
Reading this short book over the past weeks, I have found a helpful symmetry between the early first chapters, where the prophet wrestles with the hard questions privately, shutting the door of the chamber and praying in secret to the Lord – and this final psalm written for all to sing together in the context of public worship. Then, as the Lord speaks to us through Habakkuk, so may we speak to each other in love, supporting and encouraging one another through all that life brings.
Margaret Killingray
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