“Though the fig tree should not blossom nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there would be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
– Habakkuk 3:17–18
These are two of my favorite verses in the whole Bible, Old Testament, certainly here in Habakkuk, because they illustrate such a profound truth. You see this list of all of these things that are not going as desired. A lack of fruit. The fig tree is not blossoming. There’s no fruit on the vines. No produce from the olive trees. The fields are yielding no food. The flock is cut off from the fold. There’s no herd in the stalls. This is a picture of emptiness, despair, and barrenness. And in the middle of this, Habakkuk says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:17–18 Call Us to Rejoice Even in Times of Despair
And we see this reality that even in, or maybe better put, especially in times of despair and barrenness and emptiness, we can still have joy. I will rejoice. I will take joy. Why? Because I have the Lord. I have the God of my salvation and all that he is and all that he represents, a fountain of everlasting strength when we have nothing. A fountain of all-surpassing,all-surpassing unexplainable peace, that nothing in this world can take away from us. A fountain of hope that flows into the darkest, most despairing days. As long as you have the Lord, as long as you have the God of your salvation, you have joy and peace and strength and hope and love, and He will never ever leave you.
Habakkuk 3:17–18 Leads Us to God when We are Struggling
I just want to speak these words over anyone who is walking through barrenness and emptiness and finds herself in despair in any way. God, I pray that you would enable, empower, and help them. Anyone who’s walking through these kinds of days, even as I pray this over my own life, in ways that you know, oh God, we pray that your joy would be ours, your peace would be ours, your strength would be ours. God, we are weak. We are in despair and struggling. Lord, we are confused and don’t know what to do.
We pray for your wisdom, for your peace, for your strength, for your joy, for your hope in the middle of whatever we might be facing right now, whatever we might face in the future, God, for anyone who is walking through times of fruitfulness right now, by your grace, all glory be to your name for that. Help them to hide in their hearts these words for days to come when barrenness sets in.
God, help us in a Job-like way to rejoice in the Lord and take joy in the God of our salvation. When the fig tree doesn’t blossom and there’s no fruit on the vines, when the produce of the olives fail and the fields yield no food, and the flock is cut off from the fold and there’s no herd in the stalls.
Praying for the Lao People
I mean, God, even as we pray this in our own lives, we pray for the love in the people of Laos today who don’t know this joy and peace and hope and love, everlasting life. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel specifically to the people of Laos, that they might know the joy that is found in the God of salvation. All glory be to your name. Oh God, we love your word. We love Habakkuk 3:17 and 18, and we pray it over our lives now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
