Habakkuk / Question
Habakkuk says “God, the Lord, is my strength,” and that he makes his feet like the deer’s and makes him tread on high places. The image connects strength and sure-footed movement in difficult terrain. This is in Habakkuk 3:19.
Habakkuk ends his prayer by picturing total agricultural collapse: no figs, grapes, olives, grain, sheep, or cattle. In that scenario, he still chooses to celebrate Yahweh and to be glad in God as the one who rescues. Habakkuk 3 is a poetic prayer that looks back on Yahweh’s powerful interventions and rule over creation and nations, then turns toward the prophet’s present fear and waiting. After describing coming trouble and his trembling response, the prayer resolves into trust.
Habakkuk 3:17–19 presents a deliberately total picture of material loss: multiple crops fail and livestock disappear (explicit in verse 17). The point is not a single setback but the collapse of the main pillars of food and livelihood (explicit).
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Habakkuk 3:19, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
19Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer`s feet, And enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.