Prayer is responding to God’s truth

Here is one aspect of this stimulus to prayer, what moves us to prayer: it is the truth from God that pushes us to prayer. What I mean by that is, God reveals some aspect of his truth. He puts his Word before us and when we have his Word, we take that Word and we turn it into prayer. If we rightly absorb the Word of God, it would move us into petition before God.

Now, this phrase in the midst of the years, seems to mean in the middle of all that. In the middle of those times, when there is that severe trial, when there is that time of devastation and distress and hardship; in the midst of the years, during that time, make him live. Now some translations have the phrase revive it, meaning God’s work, God’s people, or God’s former deeds, but we have him here. It can be translated either him or it, and it is just as well to take it literally and take it as him: make him live, make him know. Well who is this him? Where does him come from? Well, the him comes from Habakkuk 2:4, right? Where do you have this verb, to make live? Why, it is back there in that oneliner from Habakkuk 2:4 but the righteous, my remnant person, will go on and live by his faith. And what Habakkuk is doing here in this part of Habakkuk 3:2 is taking up that oneliner from Habakkuk 2:4 and saying, now Lord, do it! You have said that the one who clings to you, your remnant believer, he or she, as they go through this time of distress and suffering with the Babylonians coming, that they will go on enduring by faith and living by faith, now do it. In the midst of the years, in that time of suffering make him live, make your people able to endure in faith. In the midst of the years, make him know. What does that mean? Make him understand; make him perceive; make him have the wisdom to know how to live by faith in hard, difficult times. So you see what Habakkuk is doing? He is responding to the truth from God (Habakkuk 2:4b).¹

Ralph Davis