When we are in the midst of problems as Habakkuk was, waiting in expectation for God to do something, to move, it is good to remember when He has done that in the past. That is why we have The Bible, so we can read appropriate passages and be encouraged.
Habakkuk 3 is a song of acclaim for what God has done in the past. It ends with a plea for Him to repeat His exploits. There is also a proclamation where Habakkuk declares that no matter how bad things get, he will choose to praise the Lord.
For Habakkuk at that time this could well have been an encouragement and remembering past history, he could be confident that God would be a tangible presence in His temple in Jerusalem where amazing things had happened in the past. I am sure he was remembering Solomon dedicating the temple.
This last word of criticism could speak to many who consider themselves christians today. There are places of worship in many countries which fall into this category. Many of the statues in those places are beautifully made. They were often designed as a reminder of what a believer can do.
Without the forgiveness of Jesus acquired on the cross we would be dramatically affected by the attitude God holds towards sin. Maybe most of us reading this have not committed the sins named in this chapter. But many of us have had very condemning thoughts about others.
As we continue through this response of The Lord to the complaint of Habakkuk, we can feel the anger and disappointment of the Lord with a people who knew Him and were chosen by Him, but have now forgotten Him. He is reminding us once more that He sees everything!
He is telling us that the things we do for our own personal gain, (the misuse of power or position,) will be unprofitable, and end up as fuel for His fire. These things will be worthless, and serve no purpose in the final judgement. What a patient Lord we serve!
The Bible encourages each of us to be honest and just, fair in all our dealings. The psalms confirm this, and we can be encouraged as we read different passages of The Bible telling us the same things written by different people in different generations, from different walks of life.
If these people keep silent, the stones will cry out. There is another example of stones having ears and being able to speak in Joshua 4 where we read of the Israelites crossing the Jordan into the promised land. The stones were to be a witness to future generations.
Only God knows the hearts of men and how they are living their lives on earth. But we must remember that He does see, really see, what is happening on the earth. And much of what is happening on earth today is sadly a repeat of these Old Testament curses.
EN 
FR