John Trapp on Habakkuk 3:2

Verſe 2. O Lard I have heard thy ſpeech and was afraid] Audivi auditionem tuam. I have heard (not thy fume, or thy report, as ſome render it, unleſſe it be in the Prophet Eſays ſenſe, chap. 53.1. but) thy preceding diſcourſe, in anſwer to my diſceptation. I have heard that the Babylonians will come, and that my people muſt into captivity. This was no pleaſant hearing: for we all naturally ſhrink in the ſhoulder, when call'd to carry the croſſe: but thoſe that do what they ſhould not, muſt look to hear and feel too, what they would not.

and was afraid] Fear is conſtrictio cordis exſenſu mali inſtantis, a paſſion of the ſoule ſhrinking in it ſelf from ſome imminent evill. The wicked heare and jeere: or their feare driveth them from God, as it did guilty Adam. Contrarily, the godly tremble at Gods judgements, whiles they hang in the threatenings: and draw nigh to him with intreaties of peace. In this feare of the Lord is ſtrong confidence, and his children have a place of refuge, Prov. 14.26.

O Lord reviue thy work in the middeſt of the yeares] i. e. Preſerve alive thine Iſrael, that work of thine hands Eſay. 45.11. together with thy work of grace in their hearts: keep that ſpark alive upon the ſea of tribulations and temptations. The Angels (ſaith a Reverend man) are kept with much leſſe care, charge, and power, then we: becauſe they have no biaſſe, no weights of ſin hung upon them &c. There is not ſo much of the glory of God (ſaith Another) in all his works of Creation and Providence, as in one gracious action that a Chriſtian performeth.

in the middeſt of the yeares make known] ſc. thy power in perfecting thy glory, and not forſaking the work of thine own hands Pſal. 138.8. It was Luthers uſuall prayer,Act. & Mon. Confirm, O God, in us, that thou haſt wrought: and perfect the work that thou haſt begun in us, to thy glory. So be it. So Q. Eliſabeth, when priſoner at Woodſtock, pray'd thus: Look Lord upon the wounds of thine hands: and deſpiſe not the work of thine hands. Thou haſt written me down in thy book of preſervation with thine own hand: O read thine own hand-writing,Engl. Eliſ. pag. 134. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and ſave me, &c. But what meant the Seventy here to tranſlate, In the middeſt of two beaſts: which whiles Ribera ſtriveth to defend, he tells us a tale of the babe of Bethlehem, born in a ſtable, and laid in a manger betwixt two beaſts, an oxe and an aſſe. It may very well be, that the Church here prayeth for Gods grace and favour, during the time of her captivity.

In wrath remember mercy] In commotione irae: when thou art moſt moved againſt us, and haſt as much adoe to forbear killing of us, as thou hadſt to forbear Moſes, when thou metteſt him in the Inne, then remember to ſhew mercy, call to mind thy compaſſions which fail not. Look then upon us, and be mercifull unto us, as thou uſeſt to doe unto thoſe that love thy name, Pſal. 119.132. The wicked are threatned with an evill, an onely evil, without any mixture of mercy:Ezek. 7.5. this the Prophet here deprecateth, and beggeth mercy. Per miſerere mei, tollitur iradei.