May 28, 2023
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Reading along with us in Micah? Here’s today’s reading:
Micah 7 (NIV)
Israel’s Misery
1 What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figs that I crave.
2 The faithful have been swept from the land;
not one upright person remains.
Everyone lies in wait to shed blood;
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As Dennis said, God is merciful, when we are not worthy of it. If the government is corrupt, with judges, with gifts from men of renown, ought not the society to feel the weight of transgression? Can’t trust a friend, wife, son, daughter in law, Noone can be trusted. Evil throughout the nation. But you can trust our God of salvation! Micah 7:1-7 -gy
Micah is crying in despair for all the evil around him and against him. What he is describing could be today`s world. For we see all the wickedness around us in our own land. How wrong is right and right is wrong. In all my years of living I have never seen The United States of America walking in such wickedness. I think alot of this downward spiral started by taking prayer out of schools. The Bible originally was used in school classrooms. Whether people knew the Lord or not they were taught right from wrong. People knew who God was and about Jesus that he died on the cross for all mankind. So they were taught what is good behavior. But when God is taken out of the picture, mankind will do what ever is right in his own eyes. [ Judges 21; 25b …….every man did what was right in his own eyes.] There being no moral code or fear of God this is what happens. Unfortunately it will get worse. Therefore as Micah calls out and says in verse 7 [ Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.] Latter Micah states in verse 18,19 [ Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity[sin], and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage/ He retaineth not his anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.] This is what Christ did on the cross. We only need to come to Him with a repentant heart and acknowledge who He is. Even as believers we should still be coming to Him. There is still a call to us as believers to go to God in prayer and to seek His face and turn from our wicked ways as a nation. 2 Chronicles 7;14 [ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.] We can apply this scripture to us as believers even though it was addressed to the Jewish people. It is still a promise by God that He will hear and heal the land. God may yet turn the United States back to Him.
Micah 7
Micah confesses the sins of the people and pleads with God for forgiveness. I was stuck how powerful a prayer of confession this was and how important it is to pray for the sins of our country. To go to God on behalf of this broken world and ask for His divine intervention instead of just feeling overwhelmed by the evil around us, we must pray against it and trust in the promise of God’s mercy and redemption.
Praise our GOD who loves us despite all the corruption around us. The Lord God is our salvation.
It is easy to get overwhelmed by evil when it seems like those who do wrong are all around and they appear to be winning. How dark the heart of man can become and how dastardly his deeds. I am amazed at how dishonest and mean people can be. It is even sadder when God’s people act in this way and yet Micah observes that is exactly what has happened in Israel. Verse 7 is a good place to rest in when we face things like this….I watch in hope for the Lord. And yet in-spite of where Israel is in Micahs time, God will restore them and deal with their enemies, all those who would gloat over them. How comforting the words that close the book and the chapter and how reflective of God’s character that He delights in mercy and will have compassion on them and forgive them. He will be true to His people even though they have not been true to Him.
Even though Israel bears God’s wrath because of their evil ways, Micah’s hope is in the Lord, as he waits and trusts that he will be saved. In due time, the Lord has compassion upon them as he pleads their case, brings them into the light, and covers their enemies with shame. He pardons, forgives, tramples sin underfoot and hurls it deep into the sea. And when he does that, it can no longer be found and is forgotten. Our God is full of grace and mercy!