Habakkuk's Cry From His Heart - Why Does God Not See and Act? (Habakkuk 1:2-4).
‘O YHWH, how long shall I cry,
And you will not hear?
I cry out to you of violence,
And you will not save.
Why do you show me iniquity,
And look on perverseness?
For spoiling and violence are before me,
And there is strife, and contention rises up.
Therefore the law is slacked,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked crowd round the righteous.
Therefore justice goes forth perverted.'
The prophet is bewildered as he looks around him and sees wickedness triumphant in Jerusalem and Judah. Justice is lacking, the law is not being followed truly, and there is the taking of goods by force, and violence, contention and strife. Obedience to God's moral instruction is almost non-existent. The powerful and the rich misuse their influence for their own gain and the poor and needy are trodden underfoot.
As an official prophet he would learn much of what was taking place and would indeed probably be consulted by people seeking guidance from God. And he has been so moved by it that he has cried out to God about it. But there has been no answer. He is frankly baffled. Why does God not do something about it?
His concern is not because of how it affects him, but because of how it affects the honour of God. It is God's name that is shamed when His people fall into sin. It was this that caused him to cry to God with such urgency.
‘How long shall I cry and you will not hear.' How often we have heard this cry from God's people. This is a cry about the purposes of God that do not seem to be being fulfilled. People seem to be able to do wrong and get away with it, and the weak and helpless suffer. Compare Amos 5:10-11; Amos 8:4-6; Micah 3:9-11. And he cannot understand why God stands by and does nothing. Why does He not step in and do something about it? Jesus faced the same question in people's minds, and His reply was that God would do so eventually, even though it might seem that it was not as soon as they hoped (Luke 18:7. Compare also those in Revelation 6:10).
This was the cry of the Psalmist in Psalms 73:3-12. It was the cry of Isaiah 5:7-8; Isaiah 5:18-23. It was the cry of Job about his own personal position. It has constantly been the cry of the righteous down the ages. It is just as true today.
‘I cry out to you of violence and you will not save.' His prayers had been focused. He had seen much violence, violence within Israel, violence perpetrated by the leaders of the people, violence perpetrated by the rich and influential, violence between neighbours. And he had cried out to God. And yet it seemed as though God had not delivered in any sphere. He had allowed the violent to triumph. This includes ‘violence' to the God's laws as well as physical violence. They had been manipulated to men's hurt.
‘Why do you show me iniquity, and look on perverseness? For spoiling and violence are before me, and there is strife. And contention rises up.' His heart had been burdened by the sin and iniquity that he found around him. God had shown it to him, and he could see what it was doing to God's people. But what was the point of it being laid on his heart if God was not going to do something about it? Furthermore he could not understand why God seemed willing to look unmoved at man's perverseness, at men taking spoil from each other by false means, at man's continual violence and strife, at the contention that so often reared its ugly face among them, not over good, but over their own selfish concerns.
‘Therefore the law is slacked, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked crowd round the righteous. Therefore justice goes forth perverted.' And because of this violence, and the misuse of authority, the law of God was not exacted in its purity. It was interpreted slackly, twisted by lawyers to gain their clients' ends, or made to mean something different from its original intention. Furthermore, pressure was used to prevent true justice, the pressure of those who had authority in Israel who sought their own advantage, the pressure of wicked people ganging up against and isolating the righteous for gain, or to prevent measures that would hinder their own self-advancement. Thus justice was being perverted. Why did God not act?