O LORD, I have heard the report of you,
Habakkuk 3:2
and your work, O LORD, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
Habakkuk begins his prayer. If God had just revealed to you about the punishments that would be coming on your nation and those around you, what would you pray about first?
I Have Heard
Habakkuk starts by acknowledging what he has heard. He heard the report (The word “report” is a noun form of the verb “hear”). What reaction does he have to what he has heard? He fears God’s work. I appreciate his honesty. Habakkuk honestly tells God about how he feels. Yet even after hearing about God’s plan, he prays for revival. He appeals to God’s mercy in the midst of his anger.
Wrath
The word “wrath” is the Hebrew רֹגֶז (rogez). It comes from the verb ragaz, which means to agitate, quiver, or shake. The sense here seems to be shaking with anger. We even use “agitated” to mean frustrated or angry.
This word pops up in a variety of ways. Job’s friend Elihu describes the sound of God’s voice: “Keep listening to the thunder (rogez) of his voice / and the rumbling that comes from his mouth” (Job 37:2). I picture the shaking a loud clap of thunder produces. When Saul wakes Samuel from the dead, Samuel responds, “Why have you disturbed (ragaz) me by bringing me up?” (1 Samuel 28:15). Isaiah describes how Assyria rages (ragaz) against God (2 Kings 19:27-28, Isaiah 37:28-29), trying to shake God off in rebellion. Habakkuk later uses this verb in his prayer in verse 16: “I hear, and my body trembles (ragaz)… my legs tremble (ragaz) beneath me”.
We see this word has quite a wide range: shaking from fear, rebellion, or anger. Why does Habakkuk describe what’s coming as rogez? Perhaps it’s God’s agitation, or perhaps it’s how he’s about to shake up the world.
Mercy
Despite God’s great agitation, Habakkuk prays the Lord will remember to be merciful. Mercy (or compassion) is the Hebrew word רחם (racham). This is a rich word. It’s related to rechem, womb. Racham is the feeling a mother feels towards her unborn child growing inside her.
Two prostitutes appeared before Solomon, arguing who was a child’s real mother. When Solomon said to cut the child in two and give half to each, “her heart yearned for her son” (1 Kings 3:26). Literally, “her compassion (rachamim) grew warm over her son”. The same phrase describes when Joseph saw Benjamin for the first time in Egypt: “his compassion (rachamim) grew warm for his brother” (Genesis 43:30).
God uses the adjective form to describe himself: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful (rachum) and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). This list is referenced several other times (e.g. Psalm 86:15, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2).
However, our sins can cause God to withdraw his compassion/mercy. The prophet Hosea became an object lesson to the people by marrying a prostitute. When she bore a daughter, God told him, “Call her name No Mercy (Lo Ruchama), for I will no more have mercy (racham) on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy (racham) on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God” (Hosea 1:6-7). However, God later predicts that a day would come when their relationship would be restored: “And I will have mercy on No Mercy” (Hosea 2:23).
God doesn’t want to punish his people; he is merciful and wants them to return to him (Deuteronomy 4:30-31). God promises that if they repent after he exiles them due to their disobedience, he will have mercy (racham) on them (Deuteronomy 30:3, Jeremiah 30:18).
To Ponder…
Are you honest with God in your prayers?
Think of the range encompassed by ragaz: fear, rebellion, anger, or excitement. What makes you shake (physically or metaphorically)?
How can we imitate God by being compassionate/merciful, even when we are agitated? Who do you need to racham today?