Tokonaki Tisema 23, 2023
In Wrath, Remember Mercy
‘I he Houhau, Manatu ki he ‘Alo‘ofa.
HABAKKUK 3:2
O LORD, I HAVE HEARD THE REPORT OF YOU, AND YOUR WORK, O LORD, DO I FEAR. IN THE MIDST OF THE YEARS REVIVE IT; IN THE MIDST OF THE YEARS
MAKE IT KNOWN; IN WRATH REMEMBER MERCY.
HAPAKUKI 3:2
E Sihova, kuo u fanongo ki ho ongoongo, Pea u manavahē: ‘E Sihova, to‘o ki mu‘a ‘a e fakapuho hake ho‘o ngāue, To‘o ki mu‘a ‘o fakae‘a ia; Lolotonga he fai houhau manatu ke faka‘atu‘i.
E Jihova, kuou fanogo ki hoo folofola, bea neu manavahe: E Jihova, fakaakeake hoo gaue i he lotolotoga oe gaahi ta‘u, fakaha ia i he lotolotoga oe gaahi ta‘u; i he houhau, manatu ki he aloofa. (Paaki ‘a Uesi)
In his speech to Job, God depicts the warhorse-laughing at fear, snorting, sniffing the air, lusting for battle. His stomping hooves devour the ground with "fierceness and rogez ['rage']" (39:24). Rogez is a kind of trembling agitation or wild anger. Think of the saying "trembling with rage." Habakkuk uses this word in one of the shortest, most eloquent prayers in Scripture: "In rogez, remember mercy." The prophet foresaw and foretold the horror on the horizon. The Chaldeans, the Babylonians, with horses swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves, were swooping in like eagles to devour Israel (1:8).
God too was on his way, pestilence before him, plagues on his heels (3:5). Habakkuk himself says, "My body trembled [ragaz-the verbal form of rogez]" (3:16). He trembled with fear, for God trembled with wrath. To whom can you turn when God is angry? To God alone. Habakkuk knew this as well as we do, so he prayed, "In wrath, remember mercy."
Remember, O Lord, that you are a God of compassion, slow to anger, long-suffering, who gave your very lifeblood for us. Save. Forgive. Hear us as we pray: "Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old" (Ps. 25:6).
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