Taken from L.B. Cowman’s “Streams in the Desert,” Zondervan Updated Edition
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior,” Habakkuk 3:17-18.
Observe what a disastrous situation is being described in this passage and to notice how courageous is the faith that is expressed. It is as if the writer were actually saying, “Even if I am forced to undergo the extreme condition of not knowing where to find my next meal, and although my house is empty and my fields yield no crops and I see the evidence of divine pestilence where I once saw the fruit of God’s plentiful provision, ‘yet I will rejoice in the LORD.’”
These words are worthy of being written forever in stone with a diamond tool. Oh, by God’s grace, may they be deeply etched on the tablets of each of our hearts! Although concise, this verse implies or expresses the following thoughts of the writer: that in his time of distress he would flee to God; that he would maintain his spiritual composure under the darkest of circumstances; and that in the midst of everything, he would delight himself with a sacred joy in God and have cheerful expectations of Him.—Phillip Doddridge