A Note From
the Director

With so much happening, given the numerous reports we hear about crime in our cities and all, it sounded so current to me - the cry of Habakkuk’s voice shouting “Violence!” I could almost hear him in the background of this song, as a young woman stands on a street corner reporting the latest evil event underneath the neon lights of our time.

Having never attempted to write a “rap” style song, I found some assistance in several YouTube videos which were very helpful in getting started. But through the talent and collaborative efforts of Willie Williams, this song reached a level of excellence with the arrangement he supplied to the message. There is a light-hearted twist added with the confusing conversation on how to say Habakkuk’s name - ‘Habakkuk or Ha-’ba-kkuk, yet it does not diminish the serious discussion between these men in the song.

At first it was a challenge to write a song with such angry words as the prophet Habakkuk expresses toward heaven. Though he speaks passionately of the fallen state of Jerusalem, having carried his frustration for years with no answer in sight, Habakkuk’s words bring to the forefront the struggle we all share in both emotionally and theologically when the “whys” in life take us to question what we don't understand.

This song carries a fierce message with words that point to the weighty judgement of God. Those stinging words, sung by Habakkuk to the children as his audience, begins the fearful description of the wicked Chaldean army that would attack Jerusalem. I have to say that those words, ‘look and be amazed’, seem to point a finger at many events in history,  sounding all too familiar.

The shock and awe of God’s message could not be believed by the people caught in the firestorm as this song illustrates. Even the dissonance of the singers at the beginning reflects their angst at being judged by a people “more unrighteous than they.” “How can God! ” is their cry of disbelief, yet somehow they can’t see the bigger picture of forgetting God’s holy laws. As the song draws to the end, there is an admission to something they had perhaps forgotten.

Lest anyone forget, God’s word is true and to be believed. His instruction to Habakkuk to “Make it plain, write it down on tablets so that a runner can carry it everywhere" was God’s reminder that, though it tarry, the message of His judgement would come to pass.  This song is done in a stark acapella style with the emphasis placed upon hearing the sound of the horror in their voices. 

This song contains the imagined story of one young woman’s fate with her captivity in Babylon. With the title of “Rooms” is given a description of her servanthood in a strange land and in the many rooms of a Babylonian home -  her prison as it were. Her life, much changed, is a microcosm shared by others who were chosen by the king of Babylon to continue their lives under his rule. She questions her loss and her purpose going forward, drawing on her faith towards God to answer the cries of her heart.

As the male and female characters take the lead in this song, you will hear of the relationship between God and his chosen people described as a house in disrepair, abandoned for something less moral and yet enticing. It was the beginning of their downfall with the slow rotting of foundational values, creating that wide path to destruction. The lesson they learn is the story for all nations, through all history.

Yet all is not hopeless, as Habakkuk, the prophet and the singer of songs relates in his song. The third chapter of this book flows into a stanza-written song that declares “ though the fig tree does not blossom and no fruit on the vine, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”  He reminds us that God and His salvation is with us through all of life’s challenges. With such powerful words that Habakkuk uses to describe the majesty of God, they are all a vivid reminder of all that the Lord has done and will do. We can rejoice in that, with all He has done in the past, He will do it again. He is our strength, our saving God who brings us to stand upon the mountains in our lives. We can rejoice again!