Habakkuk 1:3

Here then the prophet groans, but he does what the Jews did not do in Hosea — he groans to God. The LORD had other purposes. If He appears not to hear, and if He does not stretch out His arm to save, it is always to accomplish better things. But wherever there is real faith, it must always be tried.

Habakkuk was a man of faith, and his first word — "Lord, how long…" — shows this. However, his faith needed strengthening and enlightenment. It was mixed with weakness. And indeed, it found an answer full of mercy. God reprimands unbelief, but not the weakness of our human nature.

But this was Habakkuk's distress: such a state of things among the people of God, and God delaying His answer... "Why do you make me see iniquity," if it is so deeply distressing? — iniquity in the very place where you would expect righteousness. It was among the people of God. This harassed him all the more. That the Gentiles should be full of iniquity was no wonder; that the Jews should be so was a deep trouble to his soul.

The prophet was a witness who stood apart from the people. He himself did not suffer under the violence, as the remnant will. He was a spectator and watched the suffering. The problem here was not Israel's idolatry. It was what has marked man corrupted by sin ever since the beginning of his history (Gen. 6:11): violence, and with it injustice, oppression, destruction, discord, and disunity among the people (vv. 2-3).

Consider the unhappy contentions and divisions found among the people of God. Contentions always signal trouble. Christ sets up the light of His gospel to walk and work by, not to fight and quarrel by. So it would be no wonder at all if He put it out and ended the dispute.

This cry does express our love for the believers who live through these disastrous times. Even so, our weakness shows a touch of self-interest!

Why does God allow the evil? How can He seem to forget His own, who are defenceless among the wicked systems of man? The prophet would soon receive the answer, but a different one than he expected. First he had to go through a sorrowful time of training. That training would become a rich blessing for his soul. Only then did he understand what God would bring about in the hearts of His own in days of trial.

He then lets the prophet know that this iniquity would not go unpunished. It had been troubling his soul, and he had been crying to God about it. The Chaldean sword would soon enter the land, sent to avenge His holiness.

Habakkuk's confusion led him to cry to the LORD. He came into His presence and asked Him about the things he mourned over. As a result, he got a wonderful view of the day of Christ. He learned what God's path was for His people until that day came. So he was let into the secret of how to be an overcomer in an age that looked dark indeed. To faith that same age was bright with the golden light of promises, and those promises fixed heart and hope on One who was yet to come.