A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING TO THE LORD Although the prophet Habakkuk entered into inner suffering and outer anguish, yet, in the midst of all his sufferings and bitterness, he enjoyed the comforts of the Holy Spirit, who reveals to the believer the divine secrets, to turn his whole life into a praise and glory to God. The prophet ends his book by a praise of thanksgiving, or a praise of glory to God, by which he presents: 1- God’s works along the years 1 – 2 2- God’s works on Mount Sinai 3 – 12 3- The rejoice of salvation 13 – 19 1- GOD’S WORKS ALONG THE YEARS: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigionoth. O Lord, I have heard of Your renown, And I stand in awe of Your work; O Lord, Revive them in our day ! In our time make them known; In wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3: 1, 2) Having stood on the watchpost waiting for the word of God; and having stationed himself on the divine rampart, the prophet’s soul exulted inside him, despite all the difficult circumstances surrounding him. While moaning for the sake of the people of God, The Lord revealed to him His salvation plan along the years that culminated on the cross. He was exulted, and held the spiritual musical instrument, to play on its strings a psalm of praise, saying: “O Lord, I have heard of Your renown (Your words), And I stand in awe of Your work”; Namely, my soul got filled with fear; as You revealed to me Your secrets; I stand in awe! His vision getting beyond the works of God in his days, and extending to see them along the ages; He realized that God in His love, even though He got angry to chasten, yet even in His anger, He does not endure to hear the moans of His people, but would return to have mercy. “O Lord, Revive your work in our day; in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy”. Yes indeed, the Lord may get angry on the wickedness of man, Yet in the midst of His wrath, His mercy moans; Something that the prophet Hosea magnificently expressed, saying on the tongue of the Lord: “My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of my anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror” (Hosea 11: 8, 9). If God, according to the prophet Isaiah, “hides himself” (Isaiah 45: 15), Yet He proclaims Himself to His people along the generations through His mercies that He reveals, even in the moments of the divine wrath and chastisement; which is practically apparent in raising the fallen humanity after getting corrupted. And according to St. Jerome: [God keeps on performing wonders every day; You, yourself are a demonstration of the amazing works of God – Yesterday, you were an oppressor of what belong to others; But today, you give others what is yours1! This change is the goal of the word of God proclaimed through the Mosaic Law that was perfectly consummated through the incarnation of the divine Word, and His proclamation of salvation on the cross. That is why the prophet Habakkuk gets back to the works of God with His people 1 On Ps. Hom 10. 33 in the wilderness, starting by providing Moses with the law on Mount Horeb, then setting forth to His works through the Savior Messiah]. 2- GOD’S WORKS ON MOUNT SINAI: The prophet’s heart was drawn back to God’s work, when the prophet Moses ascended on the Mount to be delivered the law of God, When the Mount got filled with splendor and glory; And when God shined with His light on His people, to make them, by their heart and tongue, soul, and body, sing the praise saying: “God came from Taman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of His praise” (Habakkuk 3: 3) Here he refers to God’s appearance with His glory in an apparent way, when Moses was delivered the law; As it was written: “Then the lord came down on Mount Sinai” (Exodus 19: 20); And, “The sight of the glory of God was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain” (Exodus 24: 17); and, “The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran” (Deuteronomy 33: 2) Having come to us through the law, His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was filled with His praise. What are these heavens and earth, but the human soul and body, sanctified by the word of God: The soul shines with the glory of God, and the body gets filled with rejoice and exultation. By the divine word, the soul is filled with divine light and heavenly knowledge; whereas the body is transformed with all its members into a harp in the hands of God, on which He plays a unique heavenly praise. In other words, God would transfigure in man’s life as a whole: in his soul, as well as in his body. St. Jerome says: [Sing a true praise; Sing with your whole being; Let your hand sing through giving, and your feet sing through haste to do good; Let all your strings give sound; as if one string is lost, the harp would lose its integrity; What would be the use, if you are chaste, Yet you are greedy?! What would you gain, if you are pure and generous in giving, yet you are envious?! Or if you have good six strings, yet the seventh one is broken?! As that would deprive the harp of its ability to give an integral melody1]. According to the Septuagint version, “God comes from the South; The Holy One from the shadowed Mountain”; On which St. Jerome comments, saying: [God comes from the South, refers to the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem2]. While St. Dedymus the Blind believes that the South refers to the hot south wind which blows on the soul and flares it by the Spirit, or with warm love; Whereas the North refers to the cold north wind, to the work of the devil, who corrupts the warmth of the soul. That is why in the book of the Songs (4: 16), the bride wishes that the north wind, (referring to the work of the devil), would be taken away from her, and the south wind (referring to the Savior, her Groom, Himself) 3 would come. Then the prophet Habakkuk goes on to say: “The brightness was like the sun, rays came forth from his hand, where the power lay hidden” (4). As though he says: I was assuming that things were happening haphazardly; the wicked devours the righteous, and the Chaldean nation swallows the rest of the nations, with no one to hold her into account, or to oppose her. Then, when I realized the secrets of Your knowledge, I saw you as the eternal Light that reveals the hidden secrets; Nothing is hidden from Your 1 On Ps. Hom 25. 2 Ibid 33. 3 تفسیر سفر زكریا. 34 eyes. When you stretch your hand to work, and rays come forth from them, to expose those who walk in the darkness, all will realize your might that lay hidden for some time. According to the version by the Jesuite fathers, it came as: “Two horns in His hand” (of the rays of the sun); These two horns refer to the two tablets of stone, on which the law was written, delivered to the prophet Moses; according to what is written: “From His right hand came a fiery law for them” (Deuteronomy 33: 2) “Before Him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind” “He stood and measured the earth; He looked and scattered the nations. And the everlasting mountains were shattered, The perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting” (Habakkuk 3: 5, 6) His appearance drives away the pestilence of evil and darkness, And by His authority the fever and plague are chased out. He stood to measure the earth, which He created and cares for, and for whose sake He works without rest; and when His ordinances are proclaimed, the wicked nations tremble, and the everlasting mountains and perpetual hills are shattered. He is the eternal God who ordinates everything in the proper time. It is as though he says: I assumed that the world is like a sea full of fish, caught by the wicked nation without control; But I realized that nothing is hidden before Your eyes. If the earth, as we already said, refers to the body, God stood to measure it, a sign of caring for it and sanctifying it; To scatter the heathen nations dwelling there; namely, to take away from the body every evil and spiritual weakness; To shatter the mighty mountain; namely, the seemingly very serious sins, that no one can move; Before God, the perpetual hills of the body that weigh down the soul, would bow. Here the prophet refers to God as though taking a standing posture: “He stood and measured the earth”. According to St. Jerome, God does not change, nor take bodily posture; But He is said to stand, when He deals with the righteous; To walk when Adam and Eve fell in sin (Genesis 3: 9); To sit, being the divine judge and King (Isaiah 6: 1); And to sleep, as He did in the boat with His disciples; when man is going through storms of temptation1. Here, therefore, talking about the earth, having enjoyed sanctification, and the gladness of His salvation, He appeared standing to measure it (6). “I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Median trembled” (Habakkuk 3: 7) The name of the tents of Cushan was never mentioned before in the Old Testament; it is probably an old, unused name of Median. Therefore, if the vision of God to Habakkuk is transfigured2; and the Lord is coming from Mount Sinai; everything opposing power will collapse before Him. It is probable that the tents of Cushan appeared in affliction, and the curtains of the land of Median trembled, when God delivered the land of Canaan to His people, and all the surrounding nations trembled with fear. Some scholars believe that the tents of Cushan became in affliction, when the Lord sold the children of Israel into the hand of Cushan-Rishatham king of Mesapotamis for 8 years; And when they cried out to the Lord, He delivered them by the hand of 1 On Ps. Hom 14. 2 Jerome Bib. Comm, p. 298. 35 Othniel the son of Kenaz the judge (Judges 3: 8-11), to whom He gave the power to humiliate those who submitted them. As to the curtains of Median; they trembled when Gideon’s companion saw in a dream: “A loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Median; it came to a tent and struck it, so that it fell, overturned, and collapsed” (Judged 7: 13). That was a reference to the sword of Gideon the son of Joash who killed the Medianites. In other words, Habakkuk praises the Lord on His works, granting His children the conquest, the victory, and even the authority over their enemies; the demons, who would tremble before them, and come to be in affliction. “O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers, Was Your anger against the rivers, Was Your wrath against the sea, That You rode on Your horses, Your chariots of salvation?” (Habakkuk 3: 8) If the waters refer to peoples (Revelation 17: 15); the people of God are likened to rivers with sweet water; While the heathen peoples are likened to the sea with saline water. His anger would be on the rivers, when he chastens His people because of the injustice found in their midst; And His wrath would be against the sea. When He punishes the heathen nations, because of the evil they have done against His people. God’s wrath was aroused against the rivers and the sea that obstructed the march of His people, on their way from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land; When He split the Red Sea and the river Jordan, to let His people pass through their waters. As the Leader of the procession of salvation, He carried His people as though on chariots of salvation; bringing them over from the servitude of the devil to His heavenly Kingdom. The believer is the horse that bears God, its Leader inside it; About which St. Jerome says: [This is said about us being the horse ridden by God1]; And father Theophan the hermit says: [He fights for you by Himself, and delivers your enemies into your hands, whenever, and however He so chooses; according to what is written in the Scripture: ”For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and give your enemies over to you” (Deuteronomy 23: 14) 2. “Your bow was (uncovered) made quite ready; Oaths were sworn over Your arrows” (Habakkuk 3: 9) What is the bow that was uncovered to strike with its arrows, but the divine incarnation through which we enjoyed the Word of God, as an arrow that destroys the evil reigning inside us?!... Let the Word of God enter into us like an arrow that wounds our heart with love, and takes away from it every evil corruption, set by the enemy in it; to say together with the bride of the song: “I am lovesick” (Songs 2: 5). “You split the earth with rivers” (Habakkuk 3: 9) Receiving the incarnate Word in us as a divine arrow that wounds our heart with love, and takes corruption away from it; He, in turn, seeing that it has become earth instead of heaven, loving temporal, and not eternal things, would split it through the fellowship of the cross and the suffering; to turns the earth into rivers of living waters; according to the words said by the Savior: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7: 39). 1 PL 25: 1317. . 2المحاربات الروحیة 15 :1 36 Do not be afraid for being a barren land, because the Lord, by His cross, will create in you fountains of His Holy Spirit, as rivers of living water, to dampen your land, then flow from it everywhere through testimony. St Jerome says [The Lord Christ, as are the fruit of His work in us, is the main River that flows into little rivers on our land. These little rivers testify to the true River, praising Him, not only by words, but also by work; As the Psalmist says: “Let the rivers clap their hands” (Psalm 98: 8). I wish that the little rivers in us, that that are fed by the Source – Jesus Christ – clap their hands. The work of the saints is to praise God, not by words, but by work; God seeks action and not just sound1]. “The mountains saw you and writhed; Torrents of water swept by. The deep roared, and lifted its waves on high” (Habakkuk 3: 10) If the Word of the Living God, by His cross splits our land, to make out of it rivers of water that sing and praise Him by true spiritual work; By His dwelling in us, the heavy mountains of our sins would flee in terror before His face. What we count as being well established mountains, that no one can move, would, by the cross, become plains; As it is said in the book of the prophet Zechariah: “Who are you, O Great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace in it’” (Zechariah 4: 7). In our study of the book of Zechariah2, we saw how the evil mountain is swept away, and how the Lord Christ, the Capstone, full of grace, will appear; … Cut out without hands, and not coming from the seed of man, He would become a great mountain that fills the whole earth (Daniel 2: 34, 35). By that, the grace of God will flow like water without limit, to give a sound of inner praise; and the inner hands of the soul will be lifted up high to practice the heavenly work. “The sun and the moon stood still in their exalted place, at the light of Your arrows speeding by,at the gleam of Your flashing spear. In fury you trod the earth, In anger You trampled nations. You came forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your anointed” (Habakkuk 3: 11-13) Praising God on His work along the ages, the prophet goes with his memory back to the days of Joshua the son of Nun, when he prayed for the son and the moon to stand still in their habitation in heaven, till the people of God had revenge upon their enemies (Joshua 10: 12, 13). As Joshua in the light of the day, has overcome the enemy; In the field of the battle, namely, the holy church, the opponent of the devil; the shining of the Lord, the Sun of Righteousness, will scatters the darkness of the enemy, And the Lord will remain shining until the victory is completely realized. He probably also means that, to the salvation work of God, the whole nature, even the sun and the moon, would submit; They would work together according to His ordinance to realize His Kingdom of light, and to destroy the kingdom of darkness. And we can also say that the sun and the moon also stood still in their habitations, on the day of the cross, when they disappeared before the glory of the Sun of Righteousness, in protest, and feeling shame of what humanity has done; They stood still in awe, seeing how the Lord Christ has destroyed the devil and all his hosts, to liberate man from his servitude, as from that of the heathen nations; saying: “In fury You 1 On Ps. Hom 25. . 2 ا رجع تفسیر زكریا 7 :4 37 trampled nations; You came forth for the salvation of Your people; For salvation with Your anointed”. 3- THE REJOICE OF SALVATION: “You came forth for the salvation of Your people; For salvation with Your anointed” You crushed the head of the wicked house, laying it bare from foundation to neck.You pierced with their own arrows, the head of his warriors” (Habakkuk 3: 13, 14) The prophet ends his praise by revealing the salvation of man by God, through destroying the devil’s authority on us, and by granting us the spirit of joy. By the cross, He crushed the head of the evil devil, laying him bare from foundation to neck, exposing his hidden deceit. The arrows that the devil has aimed toward us, will get back to him to destroy him completely, that he will have no more authority on us, or a place in us. The fathers have often talked to us about the destruction of the devil’s authority, to give us the hope of the spiritual work without fear nor faltering; Of their words: On the cross, Christ put the devil and all his hosts to shame. When Christ was crucified with His body on the cross, He crucified the devil as well; the cross was a sign of conquest and a banner of victory. By being raised on the cross, the goal of the Lord Christ was to liftus up from the ground; I believe that the cross of our Savior was the ladder seen by Jacob. (St. Jerome) 1 We learn the art of war so as to be able to wrestle, not against people, but against spirits. We are told by Him who dwells in us: “I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10: 19; Namely, you are given the option, to wrestle or not to wrestle; If we choose to wrestle, it is because we are slothful. The apostle Paul did not choose to wrestle, but said: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8; 35); and he also said: “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16: 20). He carried authority when he said to the evil spirit: “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (Acts 16: 18). This is not the language of someone wrestling; As he who wrestles has not yet conquered, and he who has conquered does not need to wrestle any more. If we so choose, God will make the devil trampled under our feet. What shame and misery to see him, instead, trample upon our heads, he, on whose head we are given the authority to trample?! How could this happen?! It is because of our slothfulness! It is our choice to make our enemy great, or to make him weak and helpless. If we are cautious, and stand beside our King, he will withdraw, and in his war against us, he would be like a little helpless child! (St. John Chrysostom) 2 That was the secret behind the rejoice of the prophet; when he saw the salvation work of God, by the destruction of the devil’s authority to the account of the kingdom of light. His heart indeed trembled when he saw the Chaldeans corrupt every fruition; Yet he 1 On Ps. Hom 21. 2 In Eph. Hom 22, In Philip. Hom 6. 38 eventually realized that behind that chastisement, there was great benefit, when God turns it into a rejoice of salvation. The prophet says: “When I heard, my body trembled, 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” (Habakkuk 3: 16) His body trembled, his lips quivered, and decay crept into his bones, when he saw the enemy corrupt every spiritual fruition; Figs no more blossomed, vines no more gave fruits, and olive trees dried up. This is a portrait of man fallen under the devil; he will not enjoy the unity of the spirit (the fig) 1, nor the work of the cross (the pressing of grapes), nor the inner peace (the olives); Namely, he will loose his inner life through his deprivation of the work of the Holy Spirit, and its connection to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It does not stop at the corruption of the inner depths, But even the body would loose its sanctification, to become like a dead corpse. “… The fields yield no food; Though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls” (Habakkuk 3: 17) Finding no spiritual food, the body would hunger, get sick, and eventually spiritually die; Man would become like a fold without flock, and like stalls with no herd. … That is what the enemy seeks: a loss of the holiness of the soul together with the body. Yet, God would never forsake man like this, but would grant him back the rejoice of salvation; by presenting Himself as strength for him, and giving strength to his feet to set forth to heaven, to walk like deer on the holy hills, and never to descend to the mire and dust of the world; saying: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. To the chief Musician, on my stringed instruments” (Habakkuk 3: 18, 19) The book started by suffering, and feeling anguish with bitterness, because of the inward and outward troubles; But, once the prophet entered into an open debate with God, stood as though at a watch post, and set himself on a rampart, to see the works of God; He realized that God Himself is the strength to His children; gives strength to their feet, and lifts them up high by His Holy Spirit above all events; He could then end his book with rejoice and joy
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