John Calvin Commentary Habakkuk 3:16

"I heard, and my body trembled, My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place; Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, For the coming up of the people that invadeth us." — Habakkuk 3:16 (ASV)

In my view, those interpreters are mistaken who connect the verb “I have heard” with the last verse, as if the Prophet had said that he had felt dread from that evidence of God’s power. For the Prophet had no reason to fear when considering God armed with unexpected power for the salvation of His people; there was no reason for such a thing.

Therefore, these things do not agree. But he returns to that dread which he had felt because of God’s voice in those terrifying threats to which we previously referred. We must always bear in mind the Prophet’s design: his object was to humble the faithful, so that they might humbly acknowledge their sins to God and ask for His forgiveness.

His purpose was also to inspire them with strong hope, so that they might nevertheless look for deliverance. He had already said at the beginning, Lord, I have heard thy voice; I feared. He now repeats the same thing, for if he had spoken only of that terrifying voice, the faithful might have been overwhelmed with despair. He therefore wished, at an opportune moment, to prevent this evil by inserting what might have comforted them.

For this reason, he recounted these histories, by which God had proved that He was armed with invincible power to save His Church. Having done this, he applies his general doctrine to present circumstances and says, “I have heard.” What had he heard? Indeed, those judgments with which God had determined to punish the stubbornness of His people.

Since, then, God had threatened His people with a horrible destruction, the Prophet now says that he had heard and trembled, so that he was confounded. He speaks in the singular number; but this was done, as we have said, because he represented the whole people, as was the case before (which escaped my notice) when he said his enemies came like a whirlwind to cast him down. For certainly, he did not then speak of himself but of the ancient people.

So, as the Prophet here takes up the cause of the whole Church, he speaks as if he were the collective body of the people. And so he says that he had heard; but the faithful speak here as with one mouth, that they had heard, and that their inside trembled.

Some read, “I was dismayed, or I feared, and my inside trembled at his voice.” He takes קול, kul (voice), not as report but, as has been said, as threatening. The faithful, then, declare here that they dreaded the voice of God before He had executed His judgments, or before He inflicted the punishment which He had threatened.

He says, quiver did my lips. The verb צלל, tsalel, sometimes means to tingle, and so some render it here, “Tingle did my lips.” But this is not suitable, and the rendering of others, “Palpitate did my lips,” is more tolerable. The Hebrews say that what is meant is that motion in the lips which fear or trembling produces. I therefore render the words, “quiver did my lips,” as when one says in our language, Mes levres ont barbate; that is, when the whole body shakes with trembling, not only is a noise made by the clashing of the teeth, but an agitation is also observed in the lips.

Enter, he says, did rottenness into my bones, and within myself I made a noise (it is the verb רגז, regaz, again), or I trembled. No doubt the Prophet here describes the dread, which could only have been produced by the dreadful vengeance of God.

It therefore follows that he is not dealing here with those miracles which were, on the contrary, calculated to provide an occasion for rejoicing for both the Prophet and the whole of the chosen people. Instead, the vengeance of God, as had been predicted, is described here.

He now adds, That I may rest in the day of affliction. There seems to be an inconsistency here: that the Prophet was affected with grief to the point of rottenness, that he trembled throughout his limbs with dread, and now that all this served to produce rest. But we must inquire how rest is to be obtained through these fears, dreads, and tremblings.

We indeed know that the more hardened the wicked become against God, the more grievous the ruin they always bring upon themselves. But there is no way of obtaining rest unless for a time we tremble within ourselves; that is, unless God’s judgment awakens us and, yes, reduces us almost to nothing.

Whoever, therefore, securely slumbers will be confounded in the day of affliction. But he who, in time, anticipates the wrath of God and is touched with fear as soon as he hears that God the Judge is near, provides for himself the most secure rest in the day of affliction.

We now see, then, that the right way of seeking rest is set forth here by the Prophet when he says that he had been confounded, and that rottenness had entered into his bones so that he could have no comfort unless he pined away as one half-dead. The design of the Prophet, as I have already said, was to exhort the faithful to repentance. But we cannot truly and from the heart repent until our sins become displeasing to us; and the hatred of sin proceeds from the fear of God, and that sorrow which Paul regards as the mother of repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10).

This exhortation is also very necessary for us in the present day. We see how inclined we are by nature to indifference; and when God brings our sins before us, and then sets His wrath before us, we are not moved. And when we feel any fear, it soon vanishes.

Let us, then, know that there can be no rest for us in the day of distress, unless we tremble within ourselves, unless dread lays hold of all our faculties, and unless our whole soul becomes almost rotten. And thus it is said in Psalm 4:4, Tremble, and ye shall not sin. And Paul also shows that the true and profitable way of being angry is when one is angry with his sins (Ephesians 4:26), and when we tremble within ourselves.

In the same manner, the Prophet describes the beginnings of repentance, when he says that the faithful trembled in their bowels, and were so shaken within that even their lips quivered, and, in short (and this is the sum of the whole), that all their senses felt consternation and fear.

He says, When he shall ascend; he speaks, no doubt, of the Chaldeans. When, therefore, the enemy shall ascend against the people, that he may cut them off. For גדה or גוד, gade or gud, means to cut off, and it also means to gather, so some render it, “that he may gather them.” But the other meaning is better: “when the enemy shall ascend, that he may cut them off.”

If one wishes the word God to be understood, I do not object, for the Prophet speaks of the Chaldeans only as the ministers and executioners of God’s wrath.

In short, he intimates that those who had been moved and truly terrified by God’s vengeance would be in a quiet state when God executed His judgments. How so? Because they would calmly submit to the rod and look for a happy deliverance from their evils.

For their minds would be opportunely prepared for patience, and then the Lord would also console them, as it is said in Psalm 51:17, that He despises not contrite hearts. When, therefore, the faithful are humbled at a suitable time, and when they thus anticipate the judgment of God, they then find a rest prepared for them in His bosom.

It follows—