Midras Habakuk 2:2: Midrash Tehillim

Another thing, a meditation for David. King Solomon said (Proverbs 21:23), "He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles." Similarly, it says (Ecclesiastes 5:4), "Do not be hasty with your mouth." The prophets said to the Holy One, Blessed be He, "Why do You do good to the heathen nations in this world?" He said to them, "Because I wrote (Deuteronomy 7:10), 'And repays those who hate Him.'" Similarly, it says (Isaiah 45:9), "Woe to him who argues with his Maker, as a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth!" Habakkuk came and did the same thing, making a figurine of bread in the land, and said, "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts" (Habakkuk 2:1). What is the "rampart" that he fashioned? "And I will look out," (Habakkuk 2:1) said the Holy One, Blessed be He. "I am looking for all who break their pledge to come to Me." He began to cry out (Psalms 13:2), "How long, O Lord, will You forget me forever?" The Holy One, Blessed be He, answered him, "You are a son of Torah and not a son of the earth. It is written for you in one tablet, Aleph Bet, and then you shall say, 'Inform me of the end.' " And similarly, it says (Habakkuk 2:2), "And the Lord answered me, 'Write the vision down, inscribe it clearly on the tablets." The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him, "When I told you in the first exile that Babylon would be filled for seventy years, what is written (Chronicles II 36:22-23)? 'Cyrus, King of Persia, etc.' Even now, when the end comes, I will redeem you." Similarly, it says (Isaiah 34:8), "For it is a day of vengeance for the Lord and a year of recompense for the vindication of Zion." When Habakkuk heard this, he fell on his face and pleaded before the Holy One, Blessed be He, saying, "Master of the Universe, do not judge me willfully but rather ignorantly," as it says (Habakkuk 3:1), "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon his shigionoth." Similarly, David said, "Meditation for David. When he was being pursued by Saul" (Psalms 57:1). Similarly, it says (Samuel I 26:2), "And Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph. When he came to kill him, Abishai said to David, 'I will go and strike him down,' for it says (Samuel II 16:9), 'Thus says Abishai the son of Zeruiah, 'Let me go and strike him down.'" And the people said to him, "You shall not go out, for if you go out, it will be a snare for you" (Samuel II 18:3).

"To the conductor, on my stringed instruments. I will cry out to God with my voice, and He will answer me. Habakkuk said (Habakkuk 2:1), "I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me." What did Habakkuk do when he was distressed? He formed a circle and stood within it and said before the Almighty, "Master of the Universe, I will not move from here until You answer me." God said to him, "You called upon Me and did not wait for Me to respond to you." Therefore (ibid. 2:1), "And He answered me." He said to him, "You have already spoken of the end, and it has passed, and you still say that it will not come. Wait for it, for so it is stated (ibid. 3:9), 'If it [the redemption] will tarry, wait for it.' Thus God shows the righteous the troubles that the Jewish people are enduring, and they stand and plead before Him. Therefore, "To the conductor, on my stringed instruments." Concerning the laws and judgments that God showed them and they violated, as soon as they saw the punishment, they cried out before God and raised their voices, as it is stated, "I will cry out to God with my voice." When does God listen? In a time of distress, as it is stated (Psalms 77:3), "On the day of my distress, I sought the Lord." In times of trouble, Israel cries out to God. Therefore, it is said, "My soul refuses to be comforted" (Psalms 77:3). Why does it refuse to be comforted? Because it does not know when the end will come. "Let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is" (Psalms 39:5). This is like a person who comes to beat his son, saying to him, "You will receive ten lashes." He strikes him once, and says, "You still have nine more to receive." He counts them down, and the son is comforted because he knows how many lashes he will receive. Thus did the Jewish people say before God, "My soul refuses to be comforted, for I do not know the end. Until when will I suffer among the heathens?" (Psalms 39:5) "Let me know my end, O Lord, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is."