Lyrics · Habakkuk
How Long Shall I Cry?
Habakkuk 1:1-4
[Invocation]
The burden came without a map,
A weight no shoulder chose to bear.
Habakkuk looked across the city,
And asked why heaven seemed unaware.
[Verse I]
How long shall I cry of violence,
And hear no answer in the night?
Why show me grief and make me witness
The strong devouring what is right?
[Refrain]
Spoiling and violence stand before me,
Strife and contention rise.
Law grows numb in the gate of judgment,
Truth is surrounded by lies.
[Chorus]
How long shall I cry?
How long will justice wait?
The wicked circle round the righteous,
And judgment leaves the gate.
How long shall I cry?
The burden will not move.
When silence hangs above the violence,
What can the watcher prove?
[Verse II]
The scroll of law remains among them,
But hands refuse its living claim.
The sentence twists toward those with power,
The poor leave carrying the blame.
[Broken Bridge]
No thunder answers,
No army turns,
No courtroom straightens,
The city burns.
[Final Chorus]
How long shall I cry?
How long will justice wait?
The wicked circle round the righteous,
And judgment leaves the gate.
How long shall I cry?
The prophet stays awake,
Holding the question before the LORD
Until the silence breaks.
[Outro]
The first prayer ended
Without an answer yet.

