GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
Habakkuk began his book with complaints about violence and unanswered prayer, yet he ends it singing over empty fields and empty pens. His last verse says where the song comes from: the Lord, who gives him strength, new feet, and ground to walk on.
Strength Borrowed, Not Owned
The verse names God as the prophet's strength at the exact moment the prophet has none of his own. One writer ties this to a promise for people who are empty-handed:
H. L. RossierThe Lord was not only his joy, He was also the prophet's strength (v. 19) when he was powerless. "Blessed are those whose strength is in You" (Ps. 84:5). Thanks to Him, our feet become like a deer's feet at a time of utmost weakness, when not one promise for the future has yet come true.
Nothing had improved when Habakkuk sang. The strength arrived before the harvest did.
Feet Like a Deer's
The deer's feet carry him somewhere. One writer names what he is springing toward, and compares the music that ends the chapter with the music that began it:
Scripture QuarterlyHis feet were like a deer's, springing forward to the age of glory and joy. Yet the crops and flocks had failed completely, along with everything the heart naturally rests on. The prophecy ends on the top note of praise, addressed to the chief singer on his stringed instruments (Neginoth). By contrast, the prayer at the start of the chapter was set to Shigionoth, a wind instrument of shifting tunes — a good deal of blowing with little music.
So the chapter moves from a laboured, uneven tune to settled music.
"My High Places"
Habakkuk does not seize the high ground. God gives it, and gives the feet to reach it:
J. N. DarbyHe closes his prophecy with the blessed result of all these precious lessons: he expresses perfect confidence in Jehovah. He would rejoice and be glad in Him even if all the blessing should fail. Jehovah Himself was his strength, his trust, and his support. He would set him on the high places of His blessing. He would give him, as it were, a deer's feet to climb there by His favour.
Note the possessive in the verse: my high places. They already belong to the man who has nothing else. The same writer describes that ground for believers now:
H. L. RossierWe may rise up to our high places and walk through them with light, joyful, quick, free steps. For believers today, the heavenly places are the ground where we find ourselves in Christ. What does scarcity matter to people who enjoy all spiritual blessings there?
From His Face to the Heights
This verse is the last stage of a journey. One writer traces the book by the prophet's posture:
Hamilton SmithHow encouraging to trace the way this God-fearing man is led! He lies on his face in anguish of soul before God, because God's people have failed. Then he takes his stand on the watchtower to hear the words of the Lord. Then, having learned the mind of the Lord, we see him on his knees in prayer. The result is that he walks at last on high places, with joy in his heart and praise on his lips.
Grief, listening, prayer, praise. The order matters; the song is the end of a process, not a shortcut around it.
Worship Recovered in the Ruins
Habakkuk hands his song to the musicians while his nation is collapsing. That act is itself part of the lesson:
H. L. RossierNo wonder that in those disastrous times Habakkuk rediscovered worship, as in the days of David and Solomon. He handed his song over to the Chief Musician, to sing it with harp and lyre... Knowing for certain that the things of earth are nothing drives us to the Lord. Then we rejoice in the boundless, unfathomable riches, and one thought overpowers our whole being: to cast ourselves at His feet and worship Him!
The Same Song Today
Writers apply the verse to times when standing for the truth feels lonely:
William J HockingWhen the foundations of pure testimony seem destroyed, it is hard to stand against the crowd of people deserting the faith. Even then we can sing, like Habakkuk, "GOD, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places" (Hab. 3:19). The prophet's steps held steady, though the Chaldeans overran Judah and Jerusalem.
Summary
- Weakness first. God became Habakkuk's strength when he had none of his own, and before one promise had come true.
- Feet as the gift. God gives the climbing feet; nobody grows them. So the weakest believer can hold high ground.
- High places as the reach. The verse calls the ground his high places — blessing that God gives by favour, above crops, flocks and collapse.
- Praise as the result. The prophet moves from his face in anguish, to the watchtower, to his knees, to the heights. He arrives with joy in his heart and praise on his lips.
- The song outlives the harvest. He hands the finished song to the chief musician. When earthly things prove worthless, the heart turns to worship.