Habakkuk 3:16

When I heard, my belly trembled,.... His bowels, his heart within him, at the report made of what would come to pass in future time; and not so much at hearing of the judgments of God that should come upon the enemies of his Church, antichrist and his followers; though even these are awful and tremendous to good men; see

Psalms 119:120 but upon hearing what troubles and distresses would come upon the churches of Christ, previous to these, afterwards called a day of trouble in this verse, and more particularly described in the next Habakkuk 3:17:

my lips quivered at the voice; at the voice of these words, as the Targum; at the voice of the Lord, expressing and foretelling these calamities, through fear and dread, consternation and amazement; under which circumstances the natural heat of the outward parts of the body retires to defend the heart, and leaves them trembling and quivering, particularly the lips, so that they lose their use for a time; and a person in such a case can hardly speak:

rottenness entered into my bones; he became weak and without strength, as if he had long been in a wasting consumption; or was at once deprived of all his strength, and it was turned into corruption; see Daniel 10:8:

and I trembled in myself; within himself, in all his inward parts, as well as in his outward parts: or, "under myself" x; was not able to keep his place, could not stand upon the ground that was under him; his knees trembled, as the Syriac version:

that I might rest in the day of trouble; rather, as Noldius y renders the particle, "yet", or "notwithstanding, I shall rest in the day of trouble"; which had been represented to him in vision; and which he had a sight of by a spirit of prophecy, as coming upon the church of Christ, and had given him that concern before expressed. The Syriac version of this and the next clause, which it joins, is, "he showed me the day of calamity, which is about to come upon the people". Here begins the prophet's expression of his strong faith and joy in the midst of all the distresses he saw were at hand; herein representing the church, and all true believers helped to exercise faith in those worst of times. This "day of trouble" is the same with the hour of temptation that shall come upon all the earth to try the inhabitants of it; the time of the slaying of the witnesses, which will be such a time of trouble as never was in the world; see Revelation 3:10. The "rest" the people of God will have then, which the prophet had faith in for them, will lie in the Lord's protection and keeping of his people; his perfections, power, and providence, are the chambers of rest and safety he will call them unto, and the shadow of his wings, which they will make their refuge till these calamities and indignation be overpast, Isaiah 26:20

when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops; or rather "him"; not "the people"; the people of God, "he" the Lord or Christ comes unto; but the enemy of them: this is the ground of the prophet's faith and confidence before expressed, or of the church's he personated; namely, that when Christ, Michael the great Prince, should come up to his people, appear for them, and stand on their side, he would lead his troops and march his army against their grand enemy antichrist; and "cut him to pieces" z, as some render the word: so Christ is represented as a mighty warrior, marching at the head of his troops, the armies of heaven following him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, who are the called, chosen, and faithful; and with these he will fall upon the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the earth, gathered together at Armageddon, and utterly destroy them, Revelation 16:14.

x תחתי "subtus me", Drusius, De Dieu; "subter me", Cocceius, Van Till. y Ebr. Concord. Part p. 108. No. 550. z יגודנו "ut excidat eum", Calvin; "succidet eum", Vatablus.