When I {t} heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in {u} the day of trouble: when he cometh up {x} to the people, he will invade them with his troops.

(t) He returns to that which he spoke as in, Hab 3:2 and shows how he was afraid of God's judgments.

(u) He shows that the faithful can never have true rest, except that which they feel before the weight of God's judgments.

(x) That is, the enemy, but the godly will be quiet, knowing that all things will turn to good for them.

Wesley's Notes

3:16 When I heard - What dreadful desolations God threatened against Israel. My heart trembled - Another effect of surprising fears and astonishment. Rottenness - A decay of all my strength. That I might rest - These fears made me betake myself to God, that I might rest in him. He - The king of Babylon. The people - The Jews.

King James Translators' Notes

invade...: or, cut them in pieces

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. When I heard . trembled-namely, at the judgments which God had declared (Hab 1:1-17) were to be inflicted on Judea by the Chaldeans.

belly-The bowels were thought by the Hebrews to be the seat of yearning compassion (Jer 31:20). Or "heard" may refer to Hab 3:2, "When I heard as to Jehovah's coming interposition for Israel against the Chaldeans being still at some distance" (Hab 2:3); so also the voice" [Maurer].

at the voice-of the divine threatenings (Hab 1:6). The faithful tremble at the voice alone of God before He inflicts punishment. Habakkuk speaks in the person of all the faithful in Israel.

trembled in myself-that is, I trembled all over [Grotius].

that I might rest in the day of trouble-The true and only path to rest is through such fear. Whoever is securely torpid and hardened towards God, will be tumultuously agitated in the day of affliction, and so will bring on himself a worse destruction; but he who in time meets God's wrath and trembles at His threats, prepares the best rest for himself in the day of affliction [Calvin]. Henderson translates, "Yet I shall have rest." Habakkuk thus consoling his mind, Though trembling at the calamity coming, yet I shall have rest in God (Isa 26:3). But that sentiment does not seem to be directly asserted till Hab 3:17, as the words following at the close of this verse imply.

when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade-rather (as English Version is a mere truism), connected with the preceding clause, "that I might rest . when he (the Chaldean foe) cometh up unto the people (the Jews), that he may cut them off" [Calvin]. The Hebrew for "invade" means, to rush upon, or to attack and cut off with congregated troops.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:16-19 When we see a day of trouble approach, it concerns us to prepare. A good hope through grace is founded in holy fear. The prophet looked back upon the experiences of the church in former ages, and observed what great things God had done for them, and so was not only recovered, but filled with holy joy. He resolved to delight and triumph in the Lord; for when all is gone, his God is not gone. Destroy the vines and the fig-trees, and you make all the mirth of a carnal heart to cease. But those who, when full, enjoyed God in all, when emptied and poor, can enjoy all in God. They can sit down upon the heap of the ruins of their creature-comforts, and even then praise the Lord, as the God of their salvation, the salvation of the soul, and rejoice in him as such, in their greatest distresses. Joy in the Lord is especially seasonable when we meet with losses and crosses in the world. Even when provisions are cut off, to make it appear that man lives not by bread alone, we may be supplied by the graces and comforts of God's Spirit. Then we shall be strong for spiritual warfare and work, and with enlargement of heart may run the way of his commandments, and outrun our troubles. And we shall be successful in spiritual undertakings. Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, ends it with joy and triumph. And thus faith in Christ prepares for every event. The name of Jesus, when we can speak of Him as ours, is balm for every wound, a cordial for every care. It is as ointment poured forth, shedding fragrance through the whole soul. In the hope of a heavenly crown, let us sit loose to earthly possessions and comforts, and cheerfully bear up under crosses. Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry; and where he is, we shall be also.