with that unholy instrument, but meanwhile the righteous person is to live a life of faith (2:4) and devotion (2:20), being mindful of God’s ultimate purposes (2:14). A theme woven in with Habakkuk’s spiritual quest is the necessity of prayer. Indeed, as Thompson (1993:53) points out, “It is surely significant that so much of the book of Habakkuk is expressed in the terms and language of prayer.… It is as if for this prophet the prophetical and woe oracles serve a somewhat subservient function to