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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Micah, the prophet, specifically chapter seven. The 
prophet Micah, chapter seven, I want to conclude a theme that 
has at least been embedded in the last couple of messages. 
We looked last Sunday night in Deuteronomy, chapter six, where 
God, through Moses, tells them not to test the Lord as they 
had done at Massa. And we saw the essence of testing 
there is calling into question God's veracity or his truthfulness 
or his faithfulness in the midst of trial and difficulty. We also 
alluded to that theme a bit this morning with our look at Asaph 
in Psalm 73. Again, that danger of interpreting 
reality or interpreting things around us according to a man 
centeredness or according to what we perceive to be best. 
We want to always think in terms of God's word. We want to be 
theologically sound. We want to interpret reality 
based on the truth as revealed in Holy Scripture. And I thought 
to conclude that theme or that sub theme, if you will, we would 
look at this example of the prophet Micah demonstrated in Micah chapter 
seven. Well, I'll just pick up reading 
in verse one. We'll read to the end of the 
chapter, make a few introductory comments, and then look at the 
chapter in more detail. Woe is me, for 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 my 
soul desires. The faithful man has perished 
from the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They 
all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with 
a net. That they may successfully do 
evil with both hands. The prince asks for gifts. The 
judge seeks a bride. And the great man utters his 
evil desire. So they scheme together. The 
best of them is like a briar. The most upright is sharper than 
a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen and 
your punishment comes. Now shall be their perplexity. 
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. Therefore, 
I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my 
salvation. My God will hear me. 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. 
I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned 
against him until he pleads my case and executes justice for 
me. He will bring me forth to the 
light. I will see his righteousness and she who is my enemy will 
see and shame will cover her who said to me, where is the 
Lord your God? My eyes will see her. Now she 
will be trampled down like mud in the streets. In the day when 
your walls are to be built, in that day the decree shall go 
far and wide. In that day they shall come to 
you from Assyria and the fortified cities, from the fortress to 
the river, from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. Yet the 
land shall be desolate because of those who dwell in it and 
for the fruit of their deeds. 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, as in the days when you came out of the 
land of Egypt. I will show them wonders. The 
nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall 
put their hand over their mouth. Their ears shall be deaf. They 
shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their holes 
like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord 
our God and shall fear because of you. Who is a God like you, 
pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the 
remnant of his heritage? He 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you for your holy word. Thank you for its encouragement 
to us. Give us the grace, God, to take these things to heart. Give us grace to trust in you, 
even in the midst of trial. Especially in the midst of trial, 
God, help us to have that confidence, that faith in you as our rock. We just pray now that you would 
forgive us for all of our sin and our unrighteousness. We pray 
that we'd have the mind of Christ and the spirit of God as we approach 
this your word. We pray, Father, that you would 
be exalted and glorified and worshiped and praised in this 
meeting together, that you would fit us for service in this world 
as we leave from this place. We thank you for these Sabbath 
days. We thank you for the privilege to come in out of the world, 
to meet with you in a special way, to call upon you, to praise 
you, to worship you, and as well to know your presence in our 
midst. We just ask God in heaven that you would be well pleased 
to bless our time together. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, the prophet Micah 
hailed from the southern kingdom of Judah and ministered at the 
same time that the prophet Isaiah ministered. They were addressing 
many of the same things. In fact, a comparison of Micah 
4 and Isaiah 2 will show you the similarities. They speak 
word for word about the same sorts of things. As well, Micah 
was a contemporary of Hosea, the prophet in the north. His 
prophecies helped shape the nation's policies. In fact, about 100 
years later, his prophecy helped Jeremiah. Remember that Jeremiah 
was giving a sermon at the temple, and he said that the city, the 
nation, was going to be destroyed. And the people did not like that. 
They wanted to imprison him for speaking against that holy place, 
similar to what would happen later with Jesus Christ and with 
Stephen in the book of Acts. Nevertheless, the prophet Jeremiah 
was seen as a prophet of God, it was received, and they cited 
the prophet Micah, Micah of Moresheth, who in the days of Hezekiah prophesied 
that there would be a destruction, there would be exile, there would 
be this judgment of God upon the nation. As well, the prophet 
Micah, when he ministered, was from about 737 to 690 BC. This means that he lived during 
the Assyrian siege on the northern kingdom. He saw what happened 
when the northern tribes had continued to reject God. 722, they were judged by God 
through Assyria. The northern tribes were no more. 
They were decimated. A bulk of them were taken off 
into Assyria. Other peoples were placed in 
the northern kingdom, and the land was never the same as a 
result. but also he lived during the 
Assyrian attack upon Jerusalem in 701 B.C. So Micah of Moresheth 
certainly saw his share of difficulty in his life as a prophet. And here, as the chapter begins, 
we see him lamenting. We'll look at the prophet's lamentation 
in verses 1 to 6. Why is he lamenting? What is 
the struggle? What is the trial that he is 
currently undergoing? Secondly, we'll notice the prophet's 
attitude in the midst of discouragement in verses 7 to 10. And then finally, 
the prophet's assurance of God's victory. in verses 11 to 20. But before we actually get into 
the lamentation, I just want to quote Thomas McCombsky. He 
says, like a day that begins with a dark, foreboding sky. This is something we are familiar 
with here in Chilliwack, to be sure. If we were in Palm Springs, 
this might be a difficult kind of concept to wrap our minds 
around. But we all know what a dark and 
foreboding sky looks like. He says, like a day that begins 
with a dark, foreboding sky, but ends in golden sunlight. This chapter begins in an atmosphere 
of gloom and ends in one of the greatest statements of hope in 
all the Old Testament. Clouds of gloom have rolled in 
on the horizon of the prophet's life because of the disobedience 
of the people and the somber fate that awaited his nation. 
But rays of hope, such as the affirmations in verse seven shown 
through the gloom, It is in the great affirmation of faith that 
concludes the book that the darkness is completely dissipated. One 
may wonder why the prophet did not succumb to utter pessimism 
in view of the conditions of his day. The answer is in this 
chapter. We need to oftentimes remind 
ourselves that the things that we are discouraged about, the 
things that try us, the things that vex us, the things that 
give us cause for great concern are nothing new under the sun. 
We live in a world filled with sin. We live in a world under 
the curse. We live in a world that is in 
rebellion against God. It ought not to surprise us that 
we are oftentimes confronted by and faced with difficulties. McCombsky says the answer is 
in this chapter, why he doesn't succumb to utter pessimism. It 
was because of the triumph of faith. The prophet speaks here 
as a representative of the godly remnant. While most of the chapter 
is written in the first person, a corporate concept begins in 
verse 8 that cannot be limited to the prophet alone. You remember 
that within Israel, within Judah, there was always a remnant. That 
means the church. That means the faithful, the 
believing ones. Remember, God told Elijah, I 
have seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to bail. That 
was a remnant. That was the people within the 
covenant community that were faithful, that were persevering, 
and that were looking to God with confidence and with trust. 
So let's just look first at his lamentation, verses one to six. The first aspect is there was 
no godly fellowship for the prophet. There was no godly fellowship 
for him. You know, loneliness oftentimes 
can produce desperation. Loneliness at times can produce 
vexation. When you feel like you're all 
alone, God has made us to be social beings, social creatures. We oftentimes thrive and do best 
in the midst of others who share our interests, who have a same 
sort of a goal, a same sort of orientation. This is why Christian 
fellowship is necessary. This is why we need to exhort 
one another daily while it is called today, lest we are hardened 
to the deceitfulness of sin. We need godly companionship. 
We need that help. We need that benefit. But he 
says, woe is me, for 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 my soul desires. He's a frustrated 
farmer. He goes out there to gather, 
he goes out there to glean, and there's nothing for him. There's 
no fruit to enjoy. There's no benefit for his body. There's no help for his condition. 
And then he tells us or explains this in verse two. He says the 
faithful man has perished from the earth. There is no one upright 
among men. They all lie in wait for blood. 
Every man hunts his brother with a net. I mean, this is a very 
desperate situation, isn't it? He's all alone. Notice the language. The faithful man has perished 
from the earth. There is no one upright among 
men. There's no one I can hang out 
with. Now while he prophesied at the 
time of Isaiah, obviously their paths didn't cross. Obviously 
he didn't have Isaiah as a bosom buddy. He didn't make frequent 
trips to go visit Hosea in the north. He is lamenting over the 
fact that the current situation in Judah is such that there were 
no righteous people. There was no godly conversation. There was no edification. There 
was no encouragement for this man. He highlights that there 
was corruption in the entirety of society, the whole of society. They all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with 
a net. This doesn't mean necessarily 
they were all murderers, but in the prophet Micah, he condemns 
the sin of land grabbing. He condemns the sin of oppressing 
the poor and taking the things that they have. It's a murderous 
and a treacherous activity when the haves exploit the have-nots. The prophet Micah is saying, 
this is what is going on. But it's not just society. It's 
not just the rank and file, but it's also the leadership. And 
this should hit close to home. When we look at a godless leadership, 
when we look at ungodly men who are in high places, it can be 
discouraging. It can be depressing. It can 
cause some concern in our hearts. This is the picture the prophet 
is painting, and this is why he is lamenting. You think that 
you're lonely? You think that you have challenges 
that no one has ever seen before? You think that you live in a 
time that is unlike any other time in the history of man? It's 
simply not the case. I mean, you could sprinkle water 
in this room and possibly not hit anybody. But nevertheless, 
there are some warm breathing bodies in this church that confess 
faith in the living and true God through Jesus Christ. We 
have email, we have texting, we have telephones. There is 
some connection to fellow pilgrims along the way. There is some 
connection among the godly within the 21st century in North America. The leadership is corrupt, that 
they may successfully do evil with both hands. The prince asks 
for gifts, the judge seeks a bride, and the great man utters his 
evil desire, so they scheme together. The best of them is like a briar. That means they're not fit for 
anything but burning. The best of the leadership in 
Judah during Micah's reign, or Micah's prophetic office, is 
fit for burning like a briar. He says the most upright is sharper 
than a thorn hedge. The day of your punishment comes 
now shall be there perplexed perplexity again back in chapter 
three verses one to seven nine to twelve. The leadership of 
Israel was guilty. They were sinful. They were oppressive. They were wicked. They were ungodly. The leadership and hence the 
people would bring God's judgment ultimately upon the community. 
Do you see the prophet has no godly friends. No godly companionship. He can't look to the governing 
authorities in the midst of Judah, the very covenant community of 
God, the nation that's supposed to act and function and rule 
and reign according to the law of God. Well, certainly, if he 
doesn't have recourse to companions in society, he doesn't have recourse 
to a godless leadership, certainly he'll find refuge in the family, 
won't he? He'll find comfort in those closest 
to him, in those nearest and dearest to him. No, the corruption 
in Judah was such that the family itself had disintegrated. This is verses five and six. 
Notice, do not trust in a friend. This isn't a maxim. This isn't 
a command. This isn't something for us to 
keep in our mind. We can never trust a friend. 
No, trust your friend. Cultivate godly friendships and 
trust that brother, trust that sister, trust your wife, trust 
your husband. You should be best friends. You 
should have such a relationship that you can unbosom your soul 
to that particular person and entrust it to them. He's not 
saying here as a command for all successive generations that 
we are never to trust in a friend. He is saying in a godless society, 
in a corrupt society, in a society given more to idolatry than the 
worship of the true and living God, do not trust in a friend. 
Do not put your confidence in a companion. These are godless 
people. These are unrighteous people. 
We can't seek fellowship in the midst of those closest to him. 
He says, guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your 
bosom. This demonstrates the disintegration 
of the family in Israel. Every man is for himself. It's a horrible and a bleak picture 
of how bad life can really get. Now this is Judah, this is the 
covenant people, this is where righteousness should flourish 
and godliness should be extolled. But what we find here is the 
prophet making this statement, 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. This is what 
Jesus cited in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 35. The sword of the gospel brings 
division. The sword of the gospel cuts 
a clear swath. The godless hate the godly. The unrighteous despise the righteous. The wicked disdain those who, 
by God's grace, walk in holiness and in righteousness. You see, 
it's a bleak situation, isn't it? There's no place for him 
to go, is there? We say, man, what's he going 
to do? Poor Micah. This poor prophet. What does he have? And again, 
for all of us, we have somebody in our lives, don't we? If you 
can raise your hand and say, I have no one. Call me more. I'll talk to you. Email me. I'll 
text with you. I want to be your friend. I want 
to be there for you. You see, he's painting the picture 
as it stood in Judah, in the southern kingdom in the sixth 
century BC. It's a bleak picture. It's dark. 
It's oppressive. It's bad. You see, we need to 
guard our hearts against this tendency and this temptation 
to say, nobody knows the trouble I see. Nobody knows how hard 
I have it. Nobody understands. You just 
can't enter in. I understand that you have some 
sort of difficulties in your life, but it's nothing like mine. 
Brethren, I don't think any of us have ever engaged in something 
that is this dismal in our lives. that is this bleak in our lives, 
that is this trying, that is this exasperating, that is this 
depressing. I mean, if the prophet ended 
at verse six, we'd have to hang our heads in shame and say, Amen. And off we go into another week 
hoping and praying that God sees fit not to give us Micah's lot 
in this world. But you see, it doesn't stop 
there. Remember what McCombski says. The chapter depicts the 
triumph of faith in the absence of godly companions, in the absence 
of a godly leadership, in the absence of a godly wife or a 
godly husband or a godly son or a godly parent. You always 
have God himself. You see, it's faith that latches 
on most earnestly to that blessed object that is able to see it 
through the difficulties and perplexities of the current situation. The profit changes focus. Notice 
in verses 7 to 10, his attitude in the midst of discouragement. 
Where does he go? He doesn't go to the therapist. 
He doesn't go to the psychiatrist. He doesn't take psychotropic 
drugs. He doesn't seek solace in a bottle. He doesn't seek solace in sexual 
pleasure. He seeks solace, comfort, strength, 
benefit, and blessing from God the Lord. Therefore, he says, 
I will look to Yahweh. While society has collapsed right 
before my eyes, while I can't find a friend much like the farmer 
who can't find grapes, while I can't find leaders that are 
worth their salt or worth their weight in any sort of righteousness 
or judgment of justice, while I can't trust the wife of my 
youth, the wife of my bosom, I can't trust those in my own 
family. I've always got God. I've always 
got the Lord. Brethren, we need to be like 
Micah in this instance. Therefore, I will look to the 
Lord. This was the response of Job. Blessed be the name of the Lord. This is what fixed ASAP's problem 
until I went into the sanctuary, until I started to think in terms 
of God, until I started to remind myself of theology. You young 
people and you children, you're going to hear a lot about theology. 
Don't ever say, oh, theology. It's just those big words, those 
dry concepts that go right over our head. Generally speaking, 
we try to define the big words. We try to add life to the concept 
so that one day you will see that theology matters. Not just 
so you can debate Arminians, but so by God's grace you can 
persevere in the midst of this muck that you can come out confessing 
the glory of God. Theology matters. That's what 
he buoys his heart out with. It is God in his character. It 
is God in his being. It is God in his attributes. 
It is God the Lord to whom he trusts. Notice he waits for the 
God of his salvation. Therefore, I will look to the 
Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. I'm going to 
be patient. I'm not going to throw up my 
hands. I'm not going to be a fair weather fair. I'm not going to 
root for God so long as he roots for me. I'm not going to serve 
God just so long as God serves me. No, I'm going to be patient. I'm going to be long suffering. 
I'm going to enter into that place of humble submission because 
God is glorious. God is wondrous. God is holy. God is sovereign. And I am none 
of the above. My position, my posture must 
be one of patient submission to God the Lord, not questioning 
him, not calling into account his veracity, not getting angry 
with him, not arguing with him, not trying to turn his arm up 
behind his back and say, you must bless me before I fully 
serve you. No, the prophet has the way of 
happiness set forth there. I will look to the Lord. I will 
wait for the God of my salvation. And then notice the confident 
expression in the final section in verse seven. My God will hear 
me. This much you must know, my dear 
brothers and sisters, God will hear you. Never mistake that 
reality. If you are a child of God, if 
you have been bought and paid for with blood, If you, by God's 
grace, have come to Him through the Son, you are heard. Isn't 
that great? I mentioned you could call me 
or email me. I might delete your email. Not purposely, but these 
things happen. I might miss the call. You might 
call someone, your wife, your husband, and they didn't text 
you back, or they didn't call you back, and you get all shattered. 
God cares His people. See, we have this idea that hearing 
means doing what I say. Now, that isn't always the case. God hears us when we unburden 
our hearts. God hears us when we lay such 
things before him. The prophet Micah, in the midst 
of this dismal and bleak society, had this threefold strategy. I will look to the Lord. I will 
wait upon the Lord. And I trust that the Lord will, 
in fact, Hear me, it's not always going to be like this. If not 
on this earth, I will one day, in Emmanuel's land, enjoy godly 
fellowship, world without end. I will stand before the throne 
of the land. I will hold palm branches in 
my hand. I'll be clothed in a righteousness not my own, and it will be day 
and night, whole-souled service to God Almighty. When me and 
the rest of the church triumph and cry out, salvation belongs 
to our God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne. has the path 
with reference to happiness in the midst of trying situations. We need to look to God, wait 
on God, and know that God will, in fact, hear us. Notice, not 
only does he have open confidence in God, not only does he know 
that God will, in fact, hear him, he understands that God 
will vindicate the faithful. Verses 8 to 10. He says, Do not 
rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, Look at this. I 
will rise. Isn't that beautiful? When I 
fall, I will rise. Why? Because I'm strong and I'm 
the baddest guy on the block? No, it's because of God. When 
I fall, I will rise. I think the falling and rising 
here is with reference to exile and restoration. Though God sends 
us into Babylon, we will emerge. We will return. We will come 
back to Judah. Though we fall, we will rise. 
The same thing can be true in the Christians' life. The falling 
isn't necessarily our sin. The falling may be distresses, 
may be difficulties, may be trials, may be perplexities. You see, 
the idea here is that Babylon and Edom and the surrounding 
nations are sort of poking fun at the people of God. Where is 
your God? What kind of a God do you serve? 
You fell. You're in this position. You're 
in this plight. You're in a difficult state. 
Where's your God to deliver you? And this is the prophet's response. 
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I will rise. When 
I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me. I have to read 
John Gill on this verse. He says, when I fall, I shall 
arise or though I fall or have fallen. He says into outward 
afflictions and distresses which come not by chance, but by divine 
appointment. You see, you can't miss that 
reality as well. It's not just an unlucky age 
in Judah that the prophet Micah lived in. This was the plan of 
Almighty God. And this is what Gil highlights, 
which come not by chance, but by divine appointment. You realize 
that trials and difficulties and issues and challenges and 
hardships in your life come by divine appointment? And we like 
to think that good things and blessing and happiness and joy 
come by divine appointment. Brethren, God, by definition, 
predestines all things according to the counsel of His will. Everything. Remember, we touched 
on that this morning. In order for God to conform us 
to the image of His Son, He has ordained difficulty. See, we're 
not Amway. We're not some rah-rah club where 
everything's happy peppy and upbeat all the time. You just 
do these things and everything will be great. We talked about 
those Christians before. How are you? Great, great. Everything's 
great. I'm sorry, not everything's great. Sometimes we're depressed. Sometimes we're down. Sometimes 
there's melancholy. Sometimes there's that distress 
that presses upon the soul. We need to realize these are 
divinely appointed. God is going to shape us into 
the image of Christ. He is going to conform us into 
the image of Christ. If the son of man must learn 
suffering or must learn obedience through suffering, then certainly 
the sons of men must learn obedience through suffering as well. It 
is by divine appointment. He says, or into the temptations 
of Satan, and by them, this is what we fall into, and by them, 
which sometimes is suffered for wise purposes, or for wise purposes, 
or sometimes we do fall into sin. And he says, which even 
a good man, a truly righteous man, is frequently left unto. But then he does not fall from 
real goodness, from true grace, nor from his justifying righteousness, 
which is everlasting and connected with eternal life. He may fall 
from a lively exercise of grace, from steadfastness in the faith 
and a profession of it, but not from the principle of grace, 
nor a state of grace, or from the love and favor of God. He 
may fall, but not totally or finally or so as to perish everlastingly, 
nor is he utterly cast down. The Lord upholds him and raises 
him up again. He rises as the church here believes 
she should out of his present state and condition into a more 
comfortable one, not in his own strength, but in the strength 
of the Lord under a sense of sin by the exercise of true repentance 
for it and by faith in Christ. and in a view of pardoning grace 
and mercy. Though I fall, I will arise." 
This prophet understands theology. What's getting him through the 
trials? It's his understanding of who God is and what God does. 
This is why we take pains to try and instruct on these issues, 
who God is, And what God does, he knows the remnant will suffer. 
Verse nine. I will bear the indignation of 
the Lord because I have sinned against him until he pleads my 
case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to 
the light. I will see his righteousness. Remember, the prophets already 
specified there will be exile. There will be chastening. There 
will be a time when Judah leaves her land and goes into Babylon. But he knows that the remnant 
will be vindicated. Verse 10, then she who is my 
enemy will see and shame will cover her who said to me, where 
is the Lord your God? You see, there's the times. You 
see, there is the affliction from the enemies without you 
going through a particular tough time, you're going through a 
distressing time. Don't be surprised if the devil dispatches someone 
to say, where's your God? I thought being a Christian was 
about joy, happiness and peace. You seem to have an absence of 
all three. That must mean your God's gone. See again, we think 
so carnally. There's not joy, happiness and 
peace. God must be gone. You know, there's something more 
lasting and more deep and more involved in this whole idea of 
Christianity. It's God himself that is the 
prize. It's not the peace, the happiness 
and the joy. It's God. God doesn't stop loving 
us. God doesn't give us over. God 
doesn't give us up. In the absence of those things, 
God is always there in the midst of the trials. Then she who is 
my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, 
Where is the Lord your God? My eyes will see her. Now she 
will be trampled down like mud in the streets. God will vindicate 
Zion. God will punish the enemies. 
God will be all in all and glorified in that day. And that brings 
us, thirdly, to consider the prophet's assurance of God's 
victory, verses 11 to 20. Verses 11 to 13 are a statement 
to the church. A statement to the remnant, a 
statement to the people of God. It's not a statement to the enemies. 
In the day when your walls are to be built, in that day the 
decrees shall go far and wide. In that day they shall come to 
you from Assyria and the fortified cities, from the fortress to 
the river, from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. Yet the 
land shall be desolate because of those who dwell in it and 
for the fruit of their deeds. Again, McCombsky says, the clouds 
of gloom have completely gone. You see, there's been movement 
in the life and ministry of the Prophet here. He goes from this 
lament, this confident assertion of his dependence upon God, and 
now he's Now he's soaring, considering the victory of God and what he's 
going to do. The clouds of gloom is completely 
gone, and the remainder of the chapter is an exultant description 
of the eventual triumph of the remnant. The future nation cleansed 
of her sin and ruled by the king born in Bethlehem. Remember, 
this is Micah the prophet. Back in chapter five is that 
prophecy that the one to be a ruler would come from Bethlehem, Africa. This one whose goings forth are 
from of old, even from everlasting. There's a prophecy of a divine 
Messiah to come and to vindicate and to rescue his people. And 
so when we get to chapter seven, the prophet sees the dismal conditions 
of his day, but he hopes in God. He waits upon the Lord. He realizes 
that Almighty Jehovah will vindicate his people. He says, the future 
nation, cleansed of her sin and ruled by the king born in Bethlehem, 
would be greatly increased in population by an influx of people 
from Gentile nations, symbolized by Assyria and Egypt. This complements 
the message of 1 to 4, and that it gives to the revived nation 
of Israel a prominent role in the era of universal peace. Turn back there for just a moment. 
See, I want you to see this, Micah chapter four. How does 
he buoy his soul? How does he stabilize his heart? 
How does he find comfort and encouragement? How does he how 
does he find that that that peace and that rock solid confidence 
in God? It's because he knows God. Because he understands God. Because 
he believes the promises of God. Notice in Micah four one. Now 
it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain 
of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the 
mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and people shall 
flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, 
come and let us go up to see the mountain or let us go up 
to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. 
He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths for 
out of Zion the law shall go forth. and the word of the Lord 
from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples 
and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords 
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall 
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine, under his fig 
tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the 
Lord of hosts has spoken. You see why I need to read your 
Bible? You see why you need to know scripture. So when the conditions 
of chapter 7 verses 1 to 6 are upon you, you can trust God. This ain't all there is. Right. This is not all there is. There 
is an unseen world. There is eternity. There is a 
God Almighty ruling and reigning with his son, Jesus Christ, stationed 
at his right hand. Jesus has all authority in heaven 
and on earth. Jesus is for his people. Jesus 
loves his people. Jesus died for his bride. Jesus 
rose again for his bride. Jesus is not going to leave his 
bride in a situation of compromise forever. There may be trial. There may be difficulty. There 
may be seasons of grief, to be sure. But this thing you must 
know. God Almighty will, in fact, vindicate 
his people, and he will, in fact, have victory. The extension of 
the kingdom. Notice in verses 14 and 15, the 
leadership of God. 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, as in the days when you came out of the 
land of Egypt. I will show them wonders. He's saying. The same 
manner that God fetched his firstborn out of Egypt, the way that God 
carried Israel out of Egypt is the same sort of language that 
the prophet is encouraging his heart with. God will not always 
leave us in this state. He will grab us by the hand. 
He will put us in his arms and he will lead us out of this mess. This is confident faith. God's 
victory over his enemies, verses 16 and 17. The nations shall 
see and be ashamed of all of all their might. They shall put 
their hand over their mouth. Their ears shall be deaf. They 
shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their holes 
like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord, 
our God, and shall fear because of you. Sounds just like Paul 
in Second Thessalonians one. It is right with God to pay with 
tribulation those who afflict you. It's right with God to send 
his son in his glory with all of his holy angels, taking vengeance 
on those who know not God and on those who do not obey the 
gospel. The Lord will smash his enemies 
one day. It's one of the blessing encouragements 
in Revelation 21 and 22 as well. You ever wondered why in this 
description of a heavenly city, this new Jerusalem, which comes 
as comes out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Why? 
There's a couple places where it tells us who's not going to 
be there. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, 
the sexually immoral, the murderers, the liars, and all thieves will 
have their part in the lake of fire that burns. This is the 
second death. Yeah, there's probably warning 
there for any would-be professor. You need to realize that if you 
profess faith in Christ, but your life, your conduct is patterned 
after these vices, you'll not be in the New Jerusalem. You'll 
be in the lake of fire. It's certainly probably there 
for that purpose, but I think as well, it's there to encourage 
the people of God. It's there to strengthen us. 
It's there to be a balm of Gilead. It's there to be a comfort. Don't 
you want to go to a place where there is no more sin? Don't you 
want to go to a place where in righteousness dwells? I mean, 
if not just for the bad people out there, so no longer do they 
affect me. At least when I get there, my 
sin will be gone. Who doesn't want that? How does 
that not comfort us? How does that not buoy up our 
hearts and strengthen our souls and cause us to do holy jigs? The reality is, when we enter 
into the New Jerusalem, what we leave behind is sin, depravity, 
remaining corruption, the flesh that lusts against the Spirit. 
In heaven, we will be spiritually energized. It will be all righteousness. all the time. And so what the 
prophet is musing on or reflecting upon here is the utter demolishment 
of God's enemies, because they are our enemies as well. And 
then finally, notice the victory is due to who God is. The victory is due to what we 
call the attributes of God or the perfections of God or those 
things we speak concerning God. God is spirit. infinite, eternal, 
and unchangeable. It is being, wisdom, power, holiness, 
justice, goodness, and truth. Those are attributes we attribute 
to God, or they're His perfections, or they're virtues, or however 
you want to explain it. God reveals Himself this way, 
and this is what the prophet finally and ultimately derives 
his comfort in. Verse 18, who is a God like you? This is what the name Micah actually 
means. The question as well harkens 
back to the song of Moses after the Exodus in Exodus 15, 11. 
What did they say after they were led out of the house of 
bondage, after they came victoriously out of Egypt, after they had 
went through that Red Sea, after they had seen the sea collapse 
on Pharaoh and his armies, and he saw the seashore littered 
with dead Egyptians. That's what the text says. Their 
bodies covered the seashore. What was their response? They 
said, who is a god like you? Who is a God like you, O Lord, 
among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in 
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? This is what the 
prophet Micah says. Who is a God like you? And now 
he fills in the blanks. He attributes. He predicates. He starts to state what God is 
like. He says, Who is a God like you? 
Pardoning iniquity. If you have the conditions of 
verses 1 to 6, you have no godly friends, you have no godly leadership, 
and you have no godly family members. But you have God and 
the forgiveness of sins. You're the wealthiest man alive. 
This is where, again, if I was a black preacher, I'd say, can 
I get an amen? Having God and the forgiveness 
of sins trumps everything else. Amen. There's nothing better. Who is 
a God like you, pardoning iniquity, passing over the transgression 
of the remnants of his heritage? He passes over our transgression. Not by closing his eyes. Not by pretending it didn't happen. You know, sometimes I guarantee 
some of the younger parents here, all of the younger parents, you're 
going to let some things slide. Consistency is probably one of 
the most difficult things as a married couple. Jeremy's got 
a big smile. Oh no, we're going to be perfect. Yeah, sure. Talk to me in 15 years. There's going to be times, now 
maybe I'm just unfortunately highlighting, autobiographically, 
my own sin. But there's times you just don't 
feel like dealing with it. Is that what he means? He passes 
over transgression. He just doesn't want to deal 
with it. He just pretends it didn't happen. And this happens 
with the toddlers. They do something and it's so 
cute. But it's wrong. But you just kind of, oh, it 
was cute, you know? The old church fathers would 
say, you're instilling rebellion in that child. We just kind of pass over it. 
We can't be bothered. It's cute. When I was their age, 
I did that. That's not what he means. See, 
Micah is telling us here something that Paul will expound on in 
Romans 3. God doesn't just pass over. God set forth His Son. as a propitiation by his blood 
to take the wrath and fury, anger, judgment and hell of God himself. You see, that's how God passes 
over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage. He spends 
his fury upon the son of his love. You see, I think when we 
understand that, we would identify more with Micah's question, who 
is a God like you? Who does this? Who, as a triune 
God, the Father covenants with the Son, hands him a people, 
gives him the elect, sends him into this world. The Son willingly 
undertakes. He's the surety. He's the mediator. 
He takes to the uttermost, the very wrath of God. That's what the prophet is basking 
in. He does not retain his anger 
forever because, notice, he delights in mercy. Is that your view of 
God? You know, sometimes I think, 
unfortunately, we are painted as reformed Christians that we 
don't see this aspect of God. I hope it's just the opposite. 
I hope as reformed Christians, that is that attribute or one 
of those attributes we most rejoice at knowing our sin, knowing our 
depravity, knowing our waywardness, knowing our wickedness. What 
attribute should we most certainly, joyfully delight in? His mercy. He delights in it. He doesn't 
give it begrudgingly. He doesn't miserly apportion 
it out. He just doesn't hand us a little 
bit stingily. God is delighting in mercy. Now notice, verse 19, He will 
again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. Beautiful 
language. He will subdue our iniquities. 
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. He gets 
rid of them. He throws them away. They don't 
haunt us again. Spurgeon says he goes deep sea 
fishing with those sins. If he just threw them into a 
shallow pond, they'd keep bobbing up to the surface. They'd always 
be there. They'd always be a reminder. 
They'd always be an indictment. Not so with our God. He cast 
them into the depths of the sea. They're gone. What's analogous 
to that? She's already talked about God 
the shepherd leading Israel out of Egypt into the land of the 
land of promise. Notice in verse 20, the same 
concept is here. You will give truth to Jacob 
and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from 
days of old. That covenant faithfulness, that 
fidelity, that promise that God is engaged in was because God 
promised Abraham that he went and fetched Israel out of Egypt 
and brought them into this land of promise. It's because of what 
he has stated. It's because of what he has said. 
You see, scripture, the Bible, theology, study, knowledge, understanding 
is that means by which the issues of verses one to six can be effectually 
and successfully engaged in. I hope we learn the lesson of 
the prophet here. I hope we learn what he has in 
his heart with reference to his attitude. In summary, his hope 
is in God, not man. Mark Twain said something very 
interesting. He actually said a lot of things 
very interesting, but he said this, if you pick up a starving 
dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. If you pick up a starving dog 
and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal 
difference between a dog and a man. What's Twain's point? I don't 
think he would have sort of explained it this way, but the doctrine 
of total depravity is a reality. You pick up a starving man, restore 
him, do good things for him, and have him turn around and 
bite you, steal from you. Our hope and our confidence, 
now that's not to say don't trust your wives, you know, guard your 
wallet. Well, maybe a lot of husbands 
you might want to do that sometimes or other. The idea is simple. We are going 
to face difficulties with men in this world. Psalm 146, 3 and 
5, Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man in whom there 
is no help. Happy is he who has the God of 
Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. The triumph 
of faith is on display in this chapter. Was Micah just an optimist? Was he the glass is always half 
full sort of guy? You meet those people sometimes 
as well. I mean, it's pouring rain. Oh, 
what a beautiful day. This is great. OK. Most everybody else is like, 
really? Is he just an optimist? He's just a happy guy by nature. 
In another section of Scripture, 1 Samuel 14, 6, Davis comments, 
the circumstances in that particular instance did not stimulate optimism. He says, this is not optimism. It is faith. He says, some people 
are naturally optimistic. They don't know any better. But 
faith can arise even when no reason for optimism exists. When everything falls down around 
you, faith triumphs when it's fixated upon God the Lord. And finally, we've already hit 
this nail. I want to hit it one more time. 
Theology does, in fact, matter. There's one thing. I was going 
to drop dead tonight. If I could pass on one thing, 
and I don't think I'm going to, maybe I will. If I do, that would 
be really weird. But if I had one thing to impress 
upon the young people, get this down. The Bible matters. Geology is important. Don't say, 
oh, it's a big word. Listen for the definition. I guarantee you in your 8th grade 
science class or in your 10th grade science class, you hear 
big words. Do you give up science? Do you 
say, I'm not going back to that class? No, you listen for the 
teacher to define the term. Or, I mean, just imagine this. You look it up. You know what's more important 
than scientific terminology, propitiation, reconciliation, 
redemption, justification, sanctification, glorification, mercy, grace, 
gospel, Jesus Christ. As far as we're able, whoever 
stands behind this pulpit will make an attempt to describe and 
define these words. These words carry weight. They 
carry freight. They carry hope and help for 
your soul. When you face the difficulties 
of this age, you want to face them clothed in the Word of the 
living God, don't you? Take it in. Enjoy it. Look it up. I would love to get 
an email sometime from a young person that says, you use this 
word. What does it mean? My response might be, check with 
your father, because that's your first line of defense, or your 
mother. And then there's these things called books. You can 
look. No, I won't do that. If you email me, I'll try as 
best as I can to answer you. Imagine that. You email. Go look 
in a book. But never ever neglect this reality that theology matters 
to the uttermost. The only way Micah could say 
what he's saying here is because he had experienced God's mercy. The only way Micah could stand 
fast in the midst of such trial is that he, by God's grace, had 
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you leave from this room tonight 
and you are not in Christ, when you face the difficulties, when 
you face the trials, when you face the challenges, you are 
unarmed. You have no recourse. You have 
no strength. You have no one fighting for 
you. It is much better by the grace 
of God to look unto Jesus and to be saved and to go from this 
place putting on the whole armor of God. And then you are able 
to withstand in the evil day. Well let us pray. Our father 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for the prophet 
Micah. We thank you for the encouragement in this chapter. the way that 
this brother took promises and the way this brother took theology. 
He took the scripture and he used it to gird himself up to 
withstand these challenges. God, I pray that we would go 
thou and do likewise, that we would not be ignorant, that we 
would not be foolish, that we would not resist those things 
that you've ordained for our good. We just ask that you would 
bless us, I pray, in a special way for the young people, that 
they would take these things to heart. that they would pray 
these things in, that first and foremost, they would believe 
the gospel and then search the scriptures to know these things 
for themselves. And we pray this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen.