"To the conductor, on my stringed instruments. I will cry out to God with my voice, and He will answer me. Habakkuk said (Habakkuk 2:1), "I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me." What did Habakkuk do when he was distressed?
He formed a circle and stood within it and said before the Almighty, "Master of the Universe, I will not move from here until You answer me." God said to him, "You called upon Me and did not wait for Me to respond to you." Therefore (ibid. 2:1), "And He answered me." He said to him, "You have already spoken of the end, and it has passed, and you still say that it will not come.
Wait for it, for so it is stated (ibid. 3:9), 'If it [the redemption] will tarry, wait for it.' Thus God shows the righteous the troubles that the Jewish people are enduring, and they stand and plead before Him. Therefore, "To the conductor, on my stringed instruments." Concerning the laws and judgments that God showed them and they violated, as soon as they saw the punishment, they cried out before God and raised their voices, as it is stated, "I will cry out to God with my voice."
When does God listen? In a time of distress, as it is stated (Psalms 77:3), "On the day of my distress, I sought the Lord." In times of trouble, Israel cries out to God. Therefore, it is said, "My soul refuses to be comforted" (Psalms 77:3).
Why does it refuse to be comforted? Because it does not know when the end will come. "Let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is" (Psalms 39:5). This is like a person who comes to beat his son, saying to him, "You will receive ten lashes."
He strikes him once, and says, "You still have nine more to receive." He counts them down, and the son is comforted because he knows how many lashes he will receive. Thus did the Jewish people say before God, "My soul refuses to be comforted, for I do not know the end. Until when will I suffer among the heathens?" (Psalms 39:5) "Let me know my end, O Lord, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is."