Heading: 1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.
Hearing and awe: 2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day in our time make them known, in wrath remember mercy.
God’s march to war:
A. God comes from the East: 3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.
B. As a sunrise: His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. 4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.
B1. As a brooding storm: 5 Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. 6 He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed – but he marches on forever.
A1. The effect on those he passes by: 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
God’s victory in battle:
C. Why did God attack?/God’s victory: 8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?
D. God’s weapons: 9 You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers;
E. The mountains: 10 the mountains saw you and writhed.
F. Defeat of the waters/Egypt: Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
E1. The Sun and moon: 11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
D1. God’s weapons: at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.
C1. Why God attacked/God’s victory: 12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. 13 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from tail to neck. 14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.
Hearing and trembling: 16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
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NIV text; v. 13 italics – an alternate translation.
God’s march to war is in 3rd person, or 1st person; God’s victory in battle is in 2nd person.
C and C1 have the same elements – God’s wrath, the waters, your horses, salvation.
Underlined = 9 “you” statements – things that God did.
“heard” – v.2 and “heard” – v. 16 form an inclusion.
William Higgins
Christian teaching 
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