Even prophets complain about the woes of our world as they lift their voices to God. Then, when they see God for who he is and hear him speak to their hearts, they are reminded of God’s eternal purpose. They declare his strength to save, deliver, and heal. 

What God has done across the timeline of history, he will do again. Wait for it. Watch for it. Be ready for it. Help others get ready as well.

More than a promise to claim, this is a song to sing. Note the last line:

For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

Truth stands the test of time. Who God has always been is who he is today. When there seems to be no way, the old song says, he will make a way.

Habakkuk’s questions and complaints dissolved in a moment of recognition. God is God, and we are not. God is neither slow nor in a hurry. He is not impatient. He is not capricious. He cannot be goaded into working on our timetable or preferences. We conform to him and his will, and not the other way around. 

Why wear ourselves out demanding now what he will do only in his perfect timing with his perfect results? How much better to watch, wait, and join him in the tasks assigned for this day as we move toward joining him in completing this project right on time. 

Three chapters of prophetic lament come down to three verses of God-confidence and God-expectancy (verses 17-19). God-confident people sing his praise. God-expectant people look up, not down. 

What song of praise will accompany you on this day of days?

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I will sing God’s praise for who he has always been and who he will always be.

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Our Father, you alone are Creator and Redeemer. You alone restore broken lives. You are never early and never late. You are always on time. You never lack what is needed for any circumstance. Your individual attributes are greater by far than any problem we will ever have. You invite us to lean into your completeness, your fullness, your overflowing goodness with every problem we experience. You turn our problems into praise. Embed this truth into our souls so that we may every day sing your praise. Amen.