Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will look in hope to Yahweh.
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy.
When I fall, I will arise.
When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me.
9 I will bear the wrath of Yahweh,
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light.
I will see his righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see it,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
where is Yahweh your God?
Then my enemy will see me and will cover her shame.
Now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.
As we look around at the wickedness that our culture embraces, the compromises that the Church has made with the culture, and the apostasy that has infiltrated the Church, we might be tempted, just like Asaph, Psalm 73, to fall into the despair of hopelessness. But that is not the lesson that Micah wants us to learn.
Notice when enemies rise against God’s faithful servants it is God who will defend His Church: He pleads my case and executes judgment for me. Putting those who oppose the truth and oppose the people of the truth to shame.
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness.
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
Psalm 5:4-6
Micah is able to wait patiently for the God of Salvation. Even though he is surrounded by the darkness of wicked men, God is his light. Rather than succumbing to worst-case-scenario thinking and despair, Micah prays to God, in whom he has placed his hope. No matter how bad things may get, God is never overwhelmed. As Christ reminded His disciples, He reigns with all authority in both heaven and earth. Never forget that as a child of God you have an advocate on the Heavenly Throne seated at God’s right hand and you have the unrivaled power of the Holy Spirit living within you.
And what happens after the time of God’s discipline when the people turn back to God in prayer?
Those who taunted the faithful believers saying, Where is Yahweh your God? will see the salvation of God and be ashamed.
When that happens it will be time to get the building committee together. Why?
Micah 7:11 The day to build your walls will come!
In that day, he will extend your boundary.
12 In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt even to the River,
and from sea to sea,
and mountain to mountain.
13 Yet the land will be desolate because of those who dwell therein,
for the fruit of their doings.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your heritage,
who dwell by themselves in a forest,
in the middle of fertile pasture land, let them feed;
in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 “As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them marvelous things.”
16 The nations will see and be ashamed,
deprived of all their might.
They will lay their hand on their mouth.
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a serpent.
Like crawling things of the earth
they shall come trembling out of their dens.
They will come with fear to Yahweh our God,
and will be afraid because of you.
God will not only restore the land that had been made desolate in judgment, God will extend the boundary of the land.
Why do the boundaries need to be extended?
God will bring His salvation, not only to the remnant of Israel, but to the nations of the earth; Egypt, Assyria, and beyond throughout the whole earth. This is the fulfillment of the Covenant Promise announced to Abraham; all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:1-3
And going back even before Abraham, at the time of Adam’s rebellion when he followed the advice of the serpent Satan, God Promised that sometime in the future a Son born of woman would defeat Satan and his followers, crushing them in the dust. Genesis 3:14 Micah uses the same image here saying that those who oppose the Shepherd King and His followers will lick the dust like [their] serpent master. Micah’s use of this image is no coincidence. Isaiah promised that dust will be the serpent’s food. Isaiah 65:25 Likewise, Paul tells Christ’s faithful ambassadors that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Romans 16:20.
To crush Satan’s followers in the dust means that when they are confronted with the Gospel they will either be judged by God or they will come to understand the ruin that their sin has brought them and repent. Because they are under the condemnation of a Holy and Just God, they will come with fear to Yahweh our God.
Many churches today have embraced what is called the ‘seeker friendly’ model. The Church service is entertaining and inviting. Pastors and teachers are winsome and nice. Repentance is rarely spoken of. Sin is replaced with psychological, cultural, or even financial struggles. And a non-threatening, effeminate Jesus is offered as the solution to those struggles. Come to Jesus and find peace and fulfillment. Jesus loves you just as you are. He is the missing peace in your life. Unbelievers are invited into more of a social club than into a Kingdom of pardoned sinners that is conquering Satan’s kingdom and reigning from sea to sea. Psalm 72:8
The Church has forgotten that we worship a God that is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28 And because God is a consuming fire, great fear came upon all of the Church. Acts 5:11 When the awesome power of God is present our natural response is fear and trembling, leading us into His presence to worship in awe and reverence.
If the Church had not lost track of God’s Law or abandoned the singing of the Psalms that He gave us in His Word we would understand that we first enter into worship with the confession of our sins, Leviticus 9, 2 Chronicles 29. After confession we receive the assurance of forgiveness and then enter into worship with songs of praise anticipating the hearing of God’s Word.
Just like Israel of old, we have forgotten that the Psalms teach us that we are sons and daughters of the Living God, a Kingdom of Priests, Ambassadors representing the Creator of the universe, brothers and sisters of Christ, the Lamb of God. We have forgotten that we are lions among the nations, Micah 5:8, among the peoples of the earth. We have neglected our battle hymns:
God shall arise and by His might,
Put all of His enemies to flight.
Psalm 68
We have forgotten the promise that what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Matthew 16:19 We live as if we are not clothed with power [of the Spirit] from on high. Luke 24:49 We have silenced ourselves and are not representing our God when we refuse to call people to repentance.
According to the latest Pew Survey numbers, over 220 million people, in other words the majority of the people in the United States, identify as Christians, yet we have acquiesced to abortion for 50 years and allowed the tissue of murdered children to be used in medical research and vaccine production. We acquiesced to our public schools teaching false and destructive critical theory and confused LGBTQ philosophies. We have acquiesced to the redefinition of marriage and gender, accepting behaviors that God classifies as abominations. Things that should not even be spoken about. Ephesians 5:12 Like the Old Covenant Church that allowed the priests of Molech to serve in the Temple we have even allowed those who embrace abominations to be ordained in the Church.
We have acquiesced to illegal tyrannical lockdowns and even went along with the closing of our Church doors. We have forgotten that when he was alone Asaph struggled with the temptation to give in to compromise. It was only after Asaph went to worship in the Temple together with the congregation of the other believers that God brought him back to the truth. It troubled me deeply until I entered the sanctuary of God; Psalm 73:16-17 God saved us into a community and we are to worship, serve, and declare His name in the midst of the congregation. Psalm 22:22
A day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
Psalm 84:10
It should be no surprise to the Church that unbelievers and apostates are content for us to meekly acquiesce to their dystopian worldview. As Christ said to the apostate teachers within the Church of His day:
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44
It is time for the Church to once again fear God who pardons iniquity rather than fear men who follow their father, the serpent, Satan into bondage and death. It is time for the Church to rediscover the faithful worship that storms the gates of hell and brings kingdoms to ruin, freeing captives. Matthew 16:18
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons iniquity,
and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage?
He doesn’t retain his anger forever,
because he delights in mercy.
19 He will again have compassion on us.
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be true to Jacob,
and show mercy to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our fathers
from the days of old.
Just like the Old Covenant Church we in the New Covenant Church are given two options:
We can chose to remain deaf to God’s Covenant warnings. Micah 6:1
We can refuse to recount all of God’s blessings. Micah 6:4
We can continue to walk in the way of sinners. Psalm 1:1
In which case we will face the dreadful Day of the Lord coming to us in discipline.
Or…
We can come humbly to our God in repentance and confession.
And…
Our God who delights in mercy,
Our God who doesn’t retain His anger forever,
Our God who pardons iniquity,
Our God will again have compassion on us.
In His mercy and compassion God will tread our iniquities under foot.
In His mercy and compassion God will cast [our] sins into the depths of the sea.
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s
The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed…
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103
The Promise that God pledged on oath to our fathers from of old,
The Promise made to Adam of a Savior to defeat death, Genesis 3
The Promise made to Abraham to save all the nations, Genesis 12
The Promise announced by John the Baptist Micah 2:13,
The Promise heralded by angels, Luke 2
The Promised Son born in Bethlehem, Micah 5:2
The Promised Shepherd King… Micah 5:4
The Covenant Promise from of old, Ephesians 1:4
The Covenant Promise creation longed to understand, Romans 8:19
The Covenant Promise foretold by the prophets, Micah 5:2
The Covenant Promise has been fulfilled in Christ and revealed to us. Fulfilled!
After keeping His Covenant Promise across the sweep of all of history, culminating in His sacrifice, Christ, who delights in mercy, is now bringing His heritage, all peoples and nations into His Kingdom. I will draw all men to Myself. John 12:32
And there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
Revelation 7:9
How is this great multitude brought into Christ’s Kingdom?
Christ says open your eyes and see all of the people, condemned by their sin.
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
John 4:35
If you are Christ’s disciple He is sending you out into His harvest.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Matthew 9:37-38
You are the ambassador that Christ has commissioned to represent Him.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:20-21
How are we to accomplish this task of representing Christ to everyone?
Micah has given us the answer.
1. We are to walk humbly with our God.
In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:3-4
Just as Christ’s ultimate concern was for us, as Christ’s disciples, our ultimate concern should be for others. We are to pray for and implore those people that Christ brings into our lives to repent so that they might be reconciled to God.
2. We are to act justly.
All of our dealings with others should be honest and upright. We should always maintain a clear conscience by giving a full days work to our employers. We should be people known for our good behavior, hard work, honesty, and excellence. So that when people ask us what is different about our lives we are able to answer by pointing them to our hope in Christ.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
1 Peter 3:15-16
3. We are to love mercy.
By our sins we are condemned and deserve the wrath of God. However, through Christ’s merciful death on our behalf, we have been freely forgiven. Having experienced firsthand Christ’s cosmic mercy, we, of all the people on the earth, are to display mercy to everyone. We are to be compassionate. Justice is always to be tempered with mercy. We are never to keep account of wrongs others have committed against us. 1 Corinthians 13
To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.
(C.S.Lewis, Essays on Forgiveness, Macmillan Publishing, 1960)
Throughout history believers have discovered that when they were willing to follow the simple yet daunting command that Micah gave the Church to:
Act justly
Love mercy
Walk humbly…
That there could be no decree on earth, no person, philosophy, fad, nation, King, Politburo, kingdom, or any other power able to slow the advance of Christ’s Kingdom.
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.
2 Corinthians 5:11
Our forefathers in thefaith:
conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
Hebrews 11:33-35
But sometimes believers found themselves in the crosshairs of those who pursue evil with both hands. Micah 7:3
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith.
Hebrews 11:35-39
Because there was nothing,
neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
Are you ready and willing to be a disciple of Christ?
Are we Christians going to be merely swept along with the trends – our own moral values becoming increasingly befuddled, our own apathy reflecting the apathy of the world around us, our own inactivity sharing the inertia of the masses around us, our own leadership becoming soft?
If we ache and have compassion for humanity today in our country and across the world, we must do all that we can to help people see the truth of Christianity and accept Christ as Savior. It is God’s life changing power that is able to touch every individual, who then has the responsibility to touch the world around him with the absolutes found in the Bible. In the end we must realize that the tide of humanism… is not merely a cultural ill, but a spiritual ill that Christ alone can cure.
(Francis Schaeffer, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, Fleming H. Revell)
Although it is counterintuitive, contradicting the therapeutic zeitgeist of our age, it is through the ordinary and faithful obedience of His Sons and Daughters, loving their neighbors enough to stand for justice, extending mercy, and telling them the truth, that Christ has ordained that His Kingdom shall have no end. Luke 1:33
If you are willing to be His disciple…
What does the Lord require of you?
To act justly,
To love mercy,
To walk humbly
With your God.