Habakkuk 1:3
Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
The question is the cry of the faithful prophet, burdened by being made to look upon wrongdoing and misery without apparent divine action. What troubles him is the full scene before him — iniquity, grievance, violence, plunder, and those stirring up strife and contention. His complaint is set where the wicked hem in and oppress the righteous, so that the law is slackened of its force and justice comes forth perverted.
It is also the voice of the faithful among the people, who beheld the same iniquity and oppression and were weighed down by unceasing violence, strife, and contention. They suffered the perplexity of seeing evildoers prosper while those who sought to do right were made to suffer. From that place they asked whether better days could still be hoped for.
The complaint belongs to Judah in moral and national ruin, when departure from right had brought the nation low. Then the wicked oppressed the righteous, the law lost its restraining power, and judgment was turned aside from equity. It was out of that darkness that the faithful raised the inquiry if hope of restoration remained.