Great God of Wonders

Micah chapter 7. Micah was a prophet during the reign of three kings, and he mentions that in verse 1 of chapter 1. The word of the Lord that came to Micah in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

He was chosen by God to deliver a message, a message of judgment to the people of Jerusalem. He references in verse 6 of chapter 1, Samaria. He says, Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, places for planting a vineyard. I will pour down her stones into the valley.

I will uncover her foundations. That helps us zero in a little bit more on the historical reference to the time of his prophecy. From that verse, we know that Samaria was still standing. It had not fallen to the Assyrians.

That would happen in 722 B.C. So he is a prophet during a time of incredible decline and moral decay in the country. His name means, Who is the Lord, question mark. As we focus our attention tonight, I want us to concentrate in chapter 7, and as we do, I want us to observe three things. I want us to see in verses 1 through 6 a description of perilous times. In verse 7, I want us to see a confession of confident hope. And in number 3, I want us to see in verses 8 through 20 a declaration of a trustworthy God.

Those three headings as we consider the content of chapter 7 of Micah. Let's begin with a description of perilous times. The chapter begins with a lament. Woe is me. Woe is me. If you have not felt that own lament in your own soul in recent days in our country, that sentiment will be part of our moving forward, I believe, as things continue to decay and collapse around us. A lament. Woe.

Woe is me, he says. The judgment of God has fallen on the nation. And as we consider this description of perilous times, he uses a metaphor there in verse 1. For I am like, and here's the metaphor, I am like those who gather summer fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes, there is no cluster to eat of the first ripe fruit which is my sole desires. A metaphor. A metaphor of harvesting.

Going into the grape arbors to pick grapes at the expected time, at the harvest time, and of a man who goes with expectation and finds no cluster of grapes, or a man who goes to a fig tree, again, at the appropriate time, at harvest time, and finds no figs on the tree. And what he is saying in that metaphor is that fruit is as scarce as faithful, righteous men. Notice what he says, he ties that metaphor into verse 2. The faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood. So Micah the prophet is lamenting the widespread corruption and injustice. And he notes that there's that corruption and injustice in specific places.

Notice what he says. Verse 3, that they may successfully do evil with both hands. The prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desire, so they scheme together. Corruption, injustice in high places. They scheme together quite a picture of perilous times.

The situation in Micah's day is a desperate one. All, it seems, were corrupt, and yet some not as bad as others. He describes the best of them in verse 4. He says the best of them is like a briar. The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge.

Does that sound like a place you want to venture into? They're to be avoided. The best of them, he says, are characterized this way, like a thorn hedge, like a briar. And then he says, the day, this is verse 4, the day of your watchman and your punishment comes. The day of your watchman. Watchman were the prophets. They were warning of the punishment and the judgment that was coming.

And then Micah returns then to his description in verse 5. He says, do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion.

Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own household. What is he describing? He's describing the disintegration of the family. A man's enemies are the men of his own household. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.

It's a picture of a man and wife lying in bed or her reclining on his breast. And the exhortation is the character of the people do not open your mouth. Guard your mouth. You can't trust even the person that you live the closest to.

You can't even trust your spouse. It's frightening. Frightening. That's the description of perilous times in Micah's day. I think that you would agree with me that without exaggeration his description is in part, if not the whole, a description of the decay and the corruption of our own society. What was his response?

What should be our response? There's cause for despair. There's cause for hopelessness. There's cause for wringing of your hands if you don't know God.

If he's not in the picture. But what follows, this description of perilous times, is a confession of confident hope. What does Micah do?

What should you and I do? Here it is. Therefore, in light of these perilous times, therefore I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. What is this confession of confident hope? It's looking to the Lord. It's waiting for the Lord of my salvation. I will seek Him more earnestly in prayer.

Why? Because I'm confident that He will hear me. Is that you tonight? Is that your confidence?

In these days in which we live, the fabric of our society, the foundations of society are eroding away. What's your response to that? Are you looking to God? Are you waiting upon the Lord? Are you more earnest in prayer as you see this happening all around us? Some say, well, there's nothing new under the sun. There's been decay and corruption and all that. Yes, I agree there has been, but I wonder, has there ever been such a rapid decline that we've seen in 20 years or even 10 years? And as I talk to you and some others I know, their concern is not for themselves because, well, not too long will be with the Lord, but it's our children and it's our grandchildren that we're concerned about. If this accelerated decline continues at this pace, what will happen?

What will be the situation? Well, in times like these, as we sing, we need an anchor. Our God, our God is our hope. Our God is our rest. Our God is our stay. I love the psalmist in Psalm 46, he says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore, therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. I will not fear, the psalmist said, and that should be our resolve.

Spurgeon said, I may shake on the rock, but the rock will not shake under me. And that's our confidence. There's cause for fear and trepidation. These are perilous times. They were perilous times in Micah's day. Psalm 46, in light of that picture that the psalmist is painting, the roaring and the upheaval of the mountains, we're not going to fear.

Why not? Because the Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. So what kept the prophet from utter despair? What will keep you and I from despair?

The same confidence. We're to look expectantly to the Lord. And that's the same word that's used earlier of the watchman. And the idea here is as a watchman observes every shadow and listens for every sound. So you and I, those that Micah is writing to, should look for every evidence of God at work.

That's the idea. And by waiting on the Lord, we trust that God will accomplish his holy purposes in his own time. And it should provoke us to be more earnest in our praying. Because where else are we going to turn? Who else are we going to look to? And then to encourage us in our looking and in our waiting, in our praying, Micah the prophet gives a threefold declaration of a trustworthy God. So are you following with me tonight?

We're moving rather quickly. But we've seen, number one, a description of perilous times in verses one to six. We've seen in verse seven a confession of confident hope. Now we're going to turn our attention to a declaration of a trustworthy God.

And there's three things here under this heading. Micah is going to describe his God. And the first thing he says about God is that, number one, God is the light of his people. God is the light of his people. Notice with me in verse eight, do not rejoice over me my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Now it seemed to Micah that there were no faithful men, there were no righteous men, but there was a remnant in his day. There is a remnant in our day. Not all have turned to worship Baal, but like the believer in our day and the remnant in Micah's day, they fail, they fall, they sin.

And what happens when that occurs? He's writing, do not rejoice over me my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. And aren't we encouraged tonight to be reminded that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord? And though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his right hand?

Yes. When I sit in darkness, when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I like to think when I was in darkness. When I was in darkness, the Lord was a light to me. Darkness is a dangerous thing. I can pretty much navigate in my own home in the middle of the night when I'm up wandering around without any light. But I don't do that when I'm in a guest home because I don't know my way around. And even in my own home, there are times where there's a chair in a place that I don't remember it being, and we've had the privilege of having Carly's 97 and a half year old mother living with us the last four and a half weeks. So we are conscious of leaving a light on for her.

So if she gets up in the night, she doesn't fall. So lights are important to us, aren't they? But boy, spiritually speaking, when you and I were in darkness, the God who commanded light to shine commanded light to shine in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. As we sang tonight in the dungeon, a flame of light, my chains fell off. That's the experience of the Christian, isn't it? We once were in darkness, but now we are the light of the Lord.

When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. That's Micah's confession, and it's ours tonight if we're in Christ. He goes on to say, I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him. I will bear the indignation.

What is that? The righteous anger, the displeasure of the Lord. I will bear that, he says. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against the Lord until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. Where, dear friend, tonight is our case pled for? Where, dear friend, is justice executed for us? Isn't it in the presence of our Holy Father?

Isn't it made by His Son on the behalf of all who are trusting Him? Until He pleads my case, aren't you glad tonight we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous who pleads our case? Lay not that charge against Him, Father. I bore that sin.

I paid the price. Justice has been satisfied. And then it says, executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light. He will bring me forth to the light. As a believer, when we find our way becoming precarious, when we find the ground under our footing beginning to slip, when we find the battle raging in our hearts, what we need more than anything is light. The devil wants to flood our hearts with darkness. This world is full of darkness. And there's a temptation to retreat from light.

But, oh, we need light. We need the illumination of the Word of God. We need the Word of God to lamp as a lamp for our feet and for our pathway.

So let's not be ignorant of the devil's devices. He wants us to abstain from the Word of God. He wants us to abstain from the public ministry of the Word of God. He wants us to stay in darkness.

No. We need to walk in the light as He is in the light. We might have fellowship one with the other and enjoy fellowship with the Triune God.

That's what we need more than we need anything. Psalm 27, 1 says, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life.

Of whom shall I be afraid? So as Micah is giving us declaration of a trustworthy God, the first thing he draws our attention to is that God is the light of His people. God is the light of His people.

But what else does he tell us? He tells us, number two, that God is the shepherd of His people. God is the shepherd of His people. Notice with me in verse 14. Micah writes, Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst of Carmel.

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. Isn't it good to know? Isn't it comforting to know? Doesn't it put a smile upon you to think that as a believer we are the Lord's heritage?

That's what he says. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage. Our shepherd is a great shepherd. He gave his life for his sheep, the Lord Jesus did. He provides for his sheep. He feeds his sheep. My emphasis here in this passage is that he directs us to good pasture that we might feed upon sheep food. Notice verse 14 again. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst of Carmel.

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in days of old. It's been now 30 years ago that I took a class in school called physical settings of the Bible. And I took that class in Jerusalem.

And we visited Mount Carmel. And the professor was showing us the various cities and the plains. And he says down there is the valley of Jezreel. And it was as green and lush as any field you could possibly imagine.

And he went on to describe how fertile it is because of just its location. And he's saying that God leads his people to green pastures, lush pastures, rich pastures. And as I was thinking about that, I couldn't help but think of the rich pasture that God led us to this past week in the Bible conference. We feasted in some lush pasture, didn't we?

It was fabulous. Our shepherd feeds us on prime pasture land. In Micah's declaration of a trustworthy God, he has shown us that God is a light for his people, that he is a shepherd for his people. But third, this evening, that God is the partner of his people, the partner of his people. And he introduces this in verse 18. Now you remember that Micah's name means who is God. I'm sorry, his name means who is like the Lord, who is like the Lord. And what we have here is a bit of a play on words because he says there in verse 18, who is a God like you?

Who is a God like you? Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage. Who does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from days of old. And that's how Micah ends this letter of prophecy, this book of prophecy, and he's looking into the future and laying hold of the promises of God, of forgiveness for the people of God.

But it's not just for Israel's future, it's for our consideration tonight. Who is a God like yours? We just sang, who is a pardoning God like thee? Pardoning iniquity. Pardoning iniquity.

And I love the way the hymn writer weaves theology into that aspect. He says, In wonder lost with trembling joy we take the pardon of our God. Pardon for crimes of deepest die. A pardon bought with Jesus' blood. A pardon bought with Jesus' blood. So if we've been pardoned, we need to never forget what it cost the Lord Jesus Christ that we might be pardoned. His life's blood secured our pardon. And then he says, passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage.

Passing over. How does God pass over transgressions? He passes over transgressions by satisfying his justice. As the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary and paid the penalty for the sin of all of his people, God is able to pass over our transgressions because his justice has been satisfied. And Paul writes to the church in Romans chapter 3 that God is just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus. That's how God passes over transgression.

What else does he say? He does not retain his anger forever. He does not retain his anger forever.

Why? Because what? Because he delights in mercy.

Do you believe that tonight? Do you believe that God delights in mercy? That's what the Bible is teaching us here tonight. He delights in mercy. It brings him pleasure to show mercy.

There's a wideness in his mercy. That's why so many of us have been recipients of his mercy, because he's delighted to extend it to us. And then he says, he will again have compassion on us.

And again Micah is talking about the remnant in his day. He will again have compassion on us. But I love this next part, and he will subdue our iniquities. For those of us who tire at times of fighting against the world, the flesh and the devil, that is tremendous good news. He will. He will subdue our iniquities. And I love the divine I wills of Scripture. When God says, I will do something, guess what?

You can take it to the bank that he's going to do it. And he says, it says, you will subdue our iniquities. So don't weary of the fight. Keep looking. Keep trusting. Keep availing yourselves of the means of grace. Don't give up. Persevere as we've been reminded this past week.

Why? Because he will subdue our iniquities. He will. Some of you needed to hear that tonight. Some of you have grown very weary in your fight and battle against sin. He will subdue our iniquities.

When you think about the way this book opens with gloom and darkness and painting this horrible, flexing picture, and think of the high note that the letter ends on. He says, you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Does that sound like God is doing something to retrieve those sins someday, to bring them up to us again?

It doesn't sound like that to me. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. The Scriptures go to great length to explain how God deals decisively and finally with our sins. Psalm 103 verse 12 says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Think about that. As far as the east is from the west, never to meet.

That's how far. Psalm 103 verse 17 says what? Let me read it to you. Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness, but you have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. But cast all my sins behind your back. What is that picture supposed to communicate to us? Well, if something is behind your back, it's not where you can see it. It's out of sight.

That's the idea. And then I quoted Psalm 103 verse 12. Listen to Hebrews. We could go to Jeremiah and see this, but Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 12 says this. God says, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. That's a new covenant promise. God is going to deal with our sins in such a way that they will not be remembered anymore. As we prepare our hearts for the Lord's table tonight, I don't know of anything more encouraging to us than that. The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary and in His life and in His death, dealt a death blow to sin in all who trust Him. Put our sins behind His back, removed them as far as the east is from the west. What does He say here? Cast them into the depths of the sea, and I've heard someone say, and put up a sign, no fishing.

No fishing. And then this great promise, new covenant promise, that He will remember our sins no more. Now think of the irony. He dealt with our sins in such a way that He will remember our sins no more, but in the elements we are to remember Him. We are to remember Him while He does not remember our sins anymore. It should thrill our hearts. It should encourage us in these perilous times in which we live. It should cause us to have a confident hope in Him who is ruling and reigning in this world. And that which He has set out to accomplish, no man, no king, no government official, no edict from anywhere is going to threaten that or hinder that. God is going to accomplish all that He's determined. We can be confident of that.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you tonight for your promises that they are yea and amen in Jesus Christ. We thank you for every blessing that has been secured for us that we have enjoyed and we will enjoy, secured by our Savior on the cross of Calvary.

And no wonder Paul could say, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Some of the greatest blessings we know is what you, Lord Jesus, have done in relationship to our sins. You have bore the penalty of our sins so that we never will. You bore the just wrath of God so that we never will. The promise is that our sins will be remembered no more, that they have been removed from us, cast into the depths of the sea. Help us to rejoice in our freedom this evening as men and women of God. We thank you, Father, for this Old Testament prophet who had a word for his nation but has a word for us tonight. Seal it to our hearts. Cause it to warm our hearts in our affection and our worship for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Amen.