God’s reply to the prayer of his servant was to tell him that he was fully aware of what was happening in the lives of the Israelites. In his reply he informed Habakkuk of his plan to use the Babylonians in judgment against his people (Habakkuk 1:5–11). Habakkuk responded to God not in another lament but rather in a confession of his faith in which he described the character of God as being holy and perfect (Habakkuk 1:12–13). He included a contrast between the nature and action of God and the corruption and immorality of the Babylonians (Habakkuk 1:14–17).
12 Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.