20160205 Friday, February 5 2016
Habakkuk 03: Habakkuk's Shigionoth

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth ... I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation"

The Biblical Hebrew word, pronounced shig-gaw-yone, referred to a rare-in-the-Scriptures expression (the reason that most Bible translations don't attempt an English translation word, but rather a transliteration of how the Hebrew word sounded) that described an intense emotional state. The term is recorded only twice in the Holy Scriptures - once by David in Psalm 7, and once, in its plural form ("Shigionoth"), by Habakkuk the prophet. Notice however how the verbalism is used by two men in very similar circumstances i.e. an emotional prayer, sung by a prophet, describing the LORD's wrath upon the evil, with an eye toward a future time of salvation with justice (see The Time Of Judgment and The Messiah's Rod Of Iron).

The "Shiggaion of David" was the first recorded (see also David's View Of Hell Fire and Paradise and The Patriotism Prophecy):

"7:1 Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: 7:2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

7:3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 7:4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 7:5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

7:6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. 7:7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high. 7:8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. 7:10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

7:12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 7:13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. 7:14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 7:15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. 7:16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

7:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high." (Psalm 7:1-17 KJV)

Then, the "prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth" (see Where Did True and False Prophets Originate? and Why Were The Prophets Of Truth Hated?):

"3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.

3:2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

3:3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.

His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 3:4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. 3:5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. 3:6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. 3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

3:8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? 3:9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 3:10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

3:11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. 3:12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. 3:13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. 3:14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. 3:15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

3:16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. 3:17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

3:19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments." (Habakkuk 3:1-19 KJV)

Fact Finder: Did Moses write a Psalm?
See The Psalm Of Moses