Let us turn to the chapter we
were reading in Micah, Micah chapter 7, and I'll read again
the text that we were considering this morning at verse 7, but
also the following verses 8 and 9. Micah 7, verse 7 through 9. Therefore I will look unto the
Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will
hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my
cause and execute judgment for me. He will bring me forth to
the light. and I shall behold His righteousness."
As I remarked, we were considering earlier today those words in
verse 7, and I said then that what we have in this 7th verse
is really a response to the sad laments that we find in the earlier
part of the chapter, the first six verses here we have the prophets
lamenting the sad states of affairs in the in the nation but also
very much looking to himself remarked on those opening three
words of the chapter woe is my Now he points the finger at himself.
I'm the cause of my own woe. He is a man who feels so much
of his unfruitfulness, really. The barrenness
of his own soul. I am as when they have gathered
the summer fruits. As the great leanings of the
vintage. There's no cluster to eat. My soul desired the first
ripe fruit. As we said, it was required by
the Levitical law that the children of Israel were not to gather
in all the harvests. They were to leave some gleanings,
be it in the field or be it in the vineyard, that those who
were poor and those who were strangers might be able to go
and gather some meat, as it were. And that's how he felt in himself.
He was like a vine that had been really stripped of all the clusters. They were just a few berries
on the uppermost boughs or the outward most branches. He wanted
to be filled with all the fruits of righteousness. Remember how
Paul speaks such there in Philippians 1.11 being filled with the fruit,
the fruits of righteousness. which are by Jesus Christ to
the glory of God. That's what the prophet wanted,
a fruitful life. And yet, what did he witness
when he looked within? He saw nothing but a terrible
barrenness. Fame would I find, increase of
faith. Fame would I see, fresh graces
bloom. That's what he wanted. My soul
desires the first ripe fruit. so he is lamenting really what
he is himself but what really compounds the whole situation
is the wickedness that is all about him in the nation as we
were saying this morning when we read through those opening
verses how he speaks of wickedness on every hand the good man is
perished out of the earth there is none upright among men. He speaks how they they do evil
with both hands earnestly. Oh, they are so intent on their
wicked ways. And even those who are the princes
and the judges they're only out for their own end seeking a reward. How they wrap it all up. The
best of them, he says in verse 4, is a briar the most upright
and is sharper than a thorn hedge. Oh, there's wickedness everywhere,
there's corruption throughout the nation. And this is what
causes him to lament in such a fashion, as is spoken of in
these verses. And then when he comes to speak
of those most intimate of relationships, the man and his wife, families,
friends, What does he say there in verses 5 and 6? Trust ye not
in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide, keep the doors of
thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth
the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of
his own house. The very family unit is assaulted
on every hand. And the language that we have
in these opening verses of the chapter is so descriptive of
the situation in our own nation, is it not? What wickedness is
to be found on every hand. Well, we said something of the
lament, but then we were really looking at what he says in verse
7. Here is a that that brings the
cure. What is a man to do in such circumstances
as this? The conclusion that he comes
to is what we looked at then. Therefore, therefore I will look
unto the Lord's. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God's will hear me. How he watched. How he waited
upon God. He came to God in a spirit of
expectation, that assurance of God. Surely God would hear him
and God would answer him in his prayers. Verse 7 is very much
that language of true faith. He's looking to God. He's trusting
in God. And then in the words that follow,
verses 8 and 9, and I want us to consider these verses tonight,
what we see here is the same man is brought low and then is
lifted up. What a strange life is that of
the man of faith. So he says in verses 8 and 9,
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall I shall arise,
when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will
bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against
him. Until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me,
he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his
righteousness. First of all, how this man is
brought low. He's brought low. Many ways his
God humbles him. When I fall, he says here in
verse 8, And again, when I sit in darkness, what is the experience
that he is speaking of here? There are, of course, those testings,
those trials, those temptations that come into the lives of the
people of God. There is a testing that is good
and profitable. There are temptations. that are
not good but trying all the testing that is good it's interesting
isn't it what James says there in the opening verses of his
epistle and he says much in that opening chapter with regards
to the believers trials my brethren counted all joy when ye fall
into divers temptations we read in James chapter 1 and verse
2 when we fall into temptations. Now, we have to remember that the word that we have in the
New Testament that is often translated as temptation is the same word
that is also on other occasions translated trial. The Word can be rendered as a
trial, which is a good thing when it comes from God, but the
Word can also be rendered as a temptation, which doesn't come
from God, because God does not tempt any man. It is the devil
who tempts to evil. And surely there in James 1-2,
when he says, counted all joy, when you fall, into different
sorts of temptations. He's not so much speaking of
the evil of temptation, he's speaking of the trying of faith,
which Peter says is much more precious than of gold that perishes,
though it be tried in the fire, the trying of faith. And we have
that passage in the Old Testament concerning the faith of Abram.
Abram is the father of all them that believe. And remember how
that man was so greatly tried, how he'd waited for that promised
seed, the son that was to be born to Sarah. And then Isaac
is born and it's a miracle birth really. Sarah is well past the
age of childbearing. They are aged, this couple, and
yet the child is born according to the promise of God. The set
time arrives, Isaac comes forth. But then we read in Genesis 22,
it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham, and
said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, I am, and he said,
Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him therefore
a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell
thee are." Did God really tempt him? Was
God tempting that man? Well, thankfully we have the
New Testament Scriptures to help us in our understanding and our
interpretation because isn't Abraham there in Hebrews 11?
where we read much of the faith of those of the Old Testament,
those Old Testament believers, and the mighty works that were
accomplished by faith. And there's a reference in that
chapter Hebrews 11 and verse 17 to the faith of Abraham in
regards to what we have recorded there in that 22nd chapter of
Genesis. By faith, Abraham when he was
tried, it says. What does he do? He offered up
Isaac. And he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son. But there in Hebrews
11, it's clear that it's a trial. It's God not tempting him, it's
God trying him. And it's a most significant trial.
It's the most significant trial, because in that trial, he sees
something in a figure. It goes on, doesn't it, in that
particular chapter. He accounted that God was able
to raise him again from the dead, which also he did in a figure.
You read there in Hebrews 11, 17 following. So he doesn't sacrifice
his son, but there's a provision made for a sacrifice. There's a ram that's caught in
the thicket, and it's taken and it's sacrificed, and the life
of Isaac is spared. And what's the apostle is saying
in Hebrews 11? That here is Abraham in faith,
accounting that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead. And so he receives him in a figure.
It's all a representation really of him who is the true seed of Abraham. Abraham's seed is Christ. And so what does the Lord Jesus
say at the end of John 8 concerning Abraham speaking to those Jews?
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and
was glad. How did Abraham see the day of
Christ? That would not come till many,
many centuries after the time of Abraham. But he saw Christ
in that figure. He saw Him by faith. When Isaac
was spared and there was a ram that was the substitute that
suffered instead of Isaac. It's so much of gospel that we
have there in that 22nd chapter of Genesis. We don't only see
the doctrine of the resurrection, we see the great truth of substitutionary
atonement. The ram sacrificed instead of
Isaac. It's a wonderful chapter. It's
full of gospel. Well, the point I'm making, we've
really gone off on a tangent, I suppose. The point I'm wanting
to make is that in Genesis 22, here in our authorised version,
we have the word TEMPT. But when we go to Hebrews 11,
we see that it wasn't really temptation, it was a trial, it
was a testing. Let no man say when he is tempted
that I'm tempted of God because God cannot be tempted with evil
and God tempteth no man. But there is a trying. There
is a trying of faith. And it's good. It's useful. It's
profitable. Because what does it produce?
It produces a growth in grace. Is this man pronouncing woe upon
himself because he feels that his life is so unfruitful. Well, he can rejoice, you see. As he says here in verse 8, to
his enemy, Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall,
I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be my light. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord because I have sinned against him. until he plead my
cause and execute judgment for me he will bring me forth to
the light I shall behold his righteousness there will be profit
in all that the Lord is doing with me and all that the Lord
is doing in me the trial of faith and the certainty that he has
I shall arise he says I shall arise and so when James in that
opening chapter of his epistle, when he speaks of that trial, he makes it clear that it is
something that is truly spiritually useful. Count it all joy when
you fall into diverse temptations or trials, knowing this that
the trying of your faith work at patience. but let patience
have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting
nothing and it's not only there in in James we have the same
truth in the words of the Apostle Paul writing in Romans chapter
5 we glory in tribulation also
he says knowing this that tribulation worketh patience and patience
experience and experience hope and hope make us not ashamed
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. It is profitable
then, it is useful. The trial of your faith being
much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried
with fire is found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. Oh, there is this bringing low,
there is this experience of testing, and the Lord is in
it. But then also, there is that
temptation that is an evil thing, a sinful
thing. Every man is tempted when he
is enticed. and drawn aside of his own lust
then lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin and sin when
it is ended bringeth forth death those awful words that we have
again in that opening chapter of James verse 15 where we have
sin as it were from its conception from its beginning it's birth
right through to it's miserable end when lust hath conceived
it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is ended bringeth forth
death all the believer has many enemies many enemies all sorts
of enemies there's that awful infernal enemy the devil himself
The one who walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And we're not to be ignorant
of his devices. He is the awful tempter and the
accuser of the brethren. And then there are those external
enemies. There's the world. Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. All that is
in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world,
says John. This world in which we have to
live our lives, it lies in wickedness. The prince of the power of the
air, Satan himself, able to take advantage in this his domain.
This present world lies in the wicked one. Or there are infernal
enemies and external enemies and then of course there's also
internal enemies. There's the old nature, that
fallen nature with which we're all born into this world. And when, in the goodness and
the grace of God, the sinner is born again, oh, then there's
that conflict. That that he's born of the flesh
is flesh, that that he's born of the Spirit is Spirit, says
the Lord Jesus. And then Paul reminds us how
these are so contrary one to the other. How they lost against
one another. And Paul says she cannot do the
thing that she would. And so what does God do with
His people? He deals with them. He deals with them in the way
of correction and chastening. And this is what the prophet
says here in verse 9, I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against Him. All we have to submit to the
Lord's dealings. He chases His people when they
do fall, when they fall into sin. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. But there is that submission,
that submission to the ways of God, the correctings of God,
whom the Lord loves. He chases us and scourges every
son whom He receives. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. What son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not, says the Apostle." In those familiar words that
we have in Hebrews 12, he's taking up of course the language of
the wise man in the book of Proverbs. Now, time and again, the wise
man Solomon reminds us that the father, if he loves his child,
will not spoil his child, but correct his child, chasten his
child. Or no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who exercise thereby.
for there's to be exercise not just lying passive but examining
and looking and crying and believing still in the midst of all God's
solemn chastenings how God deals with his people those are interesting
words aren't they later verse 14 feed the margin says rule
thy people with thy rod the flock of thine heritage, whom the Lord
loveth, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. He doesn't withhold
the rods. He corrects his people. He instructs
them. They fall. They fall. Sometimes they're being sorely
tested. God himself is testing them.
And the testing is so trying to them. and they fall under
it and sometimes they are tempted and they fall, the devil ensnares
their feet and they stumble and they trip and they fall in the
way. And there's not only being brought
down in that way, there's also this experience of darkness that's
spoken of. Rejoice not against me, O my
enemy, when I fall I shall arise. When I sit in darkness When I
sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me, he says. Now by nature, of course, we're
all in darkness. By nature, we come into this
world, we're dead in trespasses and in sins. We have no spiritual
sight at all. We're blind and we're ignorant.
But how Paul so solemnly speaks of the state of of the Gentiles
having the understanding darkened, he says, alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their hearts. That's our natural condition.
But it's not that natural state that is being spoken of here
when he says, when I sit in darkness. This is the child of God. This
is a child of God and we've looked in times past at those words
that we have at the end of Isaiah 50. Remember the man that feareth
the Lord. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servants? The God-fearer. And he obeys
the voice of God's servant. Who is God's servant? That's
the Lord Jesus. Behold my servant whom I uphold.
mine elect, he says, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put
my spirit upon him, he's the Christ, the Anointed One, the
Spirit, given to him without measure. And here is that man
that's spoken of there at the end of that 50th chapter, who
is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice
of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and doth no lights. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay himself upon his God. It's the same character
that we have here, you see, in the text tonight. He's walking in darkness. How does he know he's in darkness?
Because this is one who has spiritual life in his soul. And it's because
he has spiritual life in his soul that he feels the darkness
and the ignorance. And what is he to do? He's to
rest in his God, he's to look to his God. He's to look to his
God. When he sits in darkness, the Lord is
going to be a light unto him. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord, he says. because I have sinned against
him until he plead my cause." Or he looks to God to plead his
cause. God must appear for him. He cannot
do anything for himself. And so there is that experience
of being cast down, of falling, of sitting in darkness. But let's
come in the second place to the brighter side of this man's experience
this is the same man that we were considering this morning
the same person who is spoken of in verse 7 and there of course
we see so much the faith of the man therefore I will look unto
the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation my God will
hear me what assurance this man has Oh, not surprising, here
is a man who expects to be delivered. And so, though he fall, what
does he say? I shall arise. Though he be sitting
in darkness, he says, the Lord shall be a light unto me. He says at the end of verse 9,
He will bring me forth into the light and I shall behold His
righteousness. Oh friends, this is in any sense
descriptive of me? Is it descriptive of you? Is
this word one that means anything at all to us? We know all these
things are written for our learning. All these things happened unto
these people in the Old Testament as ensembles, as types. And they're written for our instruction
upon whom the ends of the world are come. It is how we come to
the Word of God. We want to see something of ourselves. We want to have that spirit that
James speaks of. We look into the mirror of God's
Word and we see ourselves. Well, James speaks of that man
who then goes his way and forgets what manner of man he is. We
want nothing of that spirit. We want God's Word to be meaningful
to us, to speak to us. Well, here is a man whom God raises up and gives him light. He will bring me forth to the
light and I shall behold his righteousness. What are we to understand here?
Well, Think of God's righteousness. We're going to have light to
see the righteousness of God. And what does the righteousness
suggest? Well, it reminds us of God's
justice. Not only the justice of God,
it also sets before us the faithfulness of God. And by his experiences, Michael
is brought to recognize that all the ways of God are just.
All the ways of God. Oh, the psalmist says as much,
doesn't he, in the 119th Psalm? I know, O LORD, that thy judgments
are right, and thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me, says the psalmist. Psalm 119 and verse 75. I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are
right. Again, in that psalm, doesn't
he say of God, He is good, He's a good God. And how does he know
He's a good God? He does good. Thou art good,
and thou doest good. All God's dealings are equitable,
they're all right, they're all done according to His just and
holy ways. And so he says, I will bear. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord because I have sinned against Him until He plead my
cause and execute judgment for me. He will bring me forth to
the light and I shall behold His righteousness. Or it is God Himself who must
plead it. And that is surely the office
of the Lord Jesus Himself. He is the Great High Priest. We were considering those words
on Thursday at the end of Hebrews 4. You remember the passage, We
have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was tempted in all points like as we are.
Yet without sin let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. He is the great high priest who
has accomplished his priestly work upon the earth. He has made
the great sacrifice one sacrifice for sins forever but now he has
entered into heaven he has gone into that holy place maybe that
house to appear in the presence of God for his people and is
there not a priestly work to be accomplished there? is that high priest in the heavenly
places now? And he ever lives to make intercession
for all that come unto God by him. Just as the high priest
in the Old Testament would do all his business here at the
brazen altar making the offerings and the sacrifices. And then
on that great day, the Day of Atonement, the one day in the
year when he could go beyond the second veil into the Holy
of Holies. But he must go always with the
blood of sacrifice. All those two goats, one the
scapegoat, the other for the sin offering. And now he
would confess all the sins of the people over that scapegoat
and then that live animal was taken by a man into the wilderness
far away and released. All the sins had been put upon
that goat and he had taken it away into a land of forgetfulness.
But then the other goat was to be sacrificed. And together with that sacrifice
for the people, the high priest was to offer a sacrifice for
himself. He was a sinful man himself.
And then he would take all that blood into the Holy of Holies
and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
We were thinking of some of these things only on Thursday evening.
but also he would take living coals off the brazen altar and
he would take the incense and he would put the incense upon
those coals and he would take that into the Holy of Holies
and the place was filled with the odor of the incense and it
represents his prayers you see he's praying for the people it's
a great day of atonement it's Yom Kippur the only day in the
year when just one man in all of Israel, the High Priest, could
go and present prayers on behalf of the people. Oh, it's the Lord
Jesus who is set forth in that wonderful time. And it's the
Lord Jesus who is here. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord because I have sinned against Him until He pleads.
Until He pleads my cause, He pleads there in heaven the cause
of all His people. And how Christ's promises are
such faithful promises. How all the promises of God in
Him are yea, and in Him they're all amen. Exceeding great and
precious promises. And He sealed them all by the
shedding of His precious blood. And does he not promise to be
light? I am the light of the world, he says. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. Oh, are we not reminded here
then that God is such a just and such a righteous God. He
cannot, He will not ever go back on His words. He is faithful. He is just. and isn't that to
be the very basis of our confidence in Him the words that we have
there at the end of that opening chapter in John's first epistle
if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us if we confess our sin God is faithful and just
to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
if we say that we have not sinned we make God a liar And His Word
is not in us. Why is it that God forgives those
sins that we confess? Because He is faithful. Because
He is just. Yes, He is a merciful and a gracious
God also. And in His mercy and in His grace
He forgives our sins. But John deliberately speaks
of those other attributes, the faithfulness of God. and the
justice of God. He's the one who executes judgment
for me. We read here at the end of verse
9. He will bring me forth to the light. I shall behold His
righteousness. He's a just, He's a righteous
God. And He'll deal with us according
to all those blessed attributes. all this is what raises the sinner
up when he has such a sight of his God and the character of
his God as God has revealed himself to us in the scriptures in the
person and work of the Lord Jesus but also here isn't there another
truth that we can say is such an encouragement and so soul
rising for the child of God there's not just God's justice There's
a sinner's justification. I shall behold His righteousness. I shall behold His righteousness. Oh, whose righteousness is this?
Is it not that righteousness of the Lord Jesus? Remember those
words, that lovely passage that we have in Romans chapter 3? Well, all of Romans says so much
about justification. It's everywhere in this epistle.
It's the great truth that shines forth. Justification by faith
in Christ alone. But here in chapter 3 and verse
24, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at
this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. See how in these three
verses we have so much about justification and righteousness. Justified freely. Justified freely
by His grace. Through the redemption that is
in Christ. For Christ is the Redeemer of His people. He has
paid the ransom price. He has made the great sin-atoning
sacrifice. He is the propitiation. whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. And
then he says again, to declare his righteousness. He's a righteous
God who forgives sinners. He is just and he's a justifier
of them that believe in Jesus. To declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say, at this time,
his righteousness. that he might be just, and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. So coming back to the
text, I shall behold his righteousness. Oh, that righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that righteousness that God in his goodness has
seen fit to pour down, to pour down from heaven with the coming of
Christ. Drop down, ye heavens, from above. Let the skies pour
down righteousness. Let the earth open. Let them
bring forth salvation. And let righteousness spring
up together. I, the Lord, have created it."
Well, this is what causes a man to be raised up, to be lifted
up, to be so encouraged. Now this is the great message
of the apostolic gospel, is it not? Paul says there in his sermon
in Acts 13 concerning Christ, "...by him all that believe are
justified from all things that they could not be justified from
by the deeds of the law." All by the law is the knowledge
of sin, but in Christ In Christ there's forgiveness. In Christ
there's pardon. There's peace. There's righteousness. There's acceptance. Rejoice not
against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When
I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear
the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against
Him until you plead my cause and execute judgment for me.
He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His
righteousness. And what is the mark of this?
These are those trees of righteousness. They're the planting of the Lord,
they're the work of His hands, that He might be glorified. How
is God glorified? I think of the the words of the Lord Jesus.
And I close with those words of Christ in his sermon, the
Sermon on the Mount. Remember what the Lord is saying
there in Matthew 7. The three chapters, of course, 5,
6, and 7, all contain this remarkable sermon. What does the Lord say as he
comes to the end of the sermon? Matthew 7.16 You shall know them
by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore,
by their fruits ye shall know there. And then, of course, as
we have it here, Micah. Woe is me, for I am as when they
have gathered the summer fruits of the great gleanings of the
vintage. There is no cluster to which. He wanted to be fruitful.
My soul desired the first ripe fruit. He wanted to be fruitful.
Who are we, those friends, who want to be fruitful? Well, we're to look to the Lord,
we're to wait upon God. God will hear us. And God will
cause us to triumph over every enemy, over sin, over Satan, over the world, over
self. We can rejoice in all that God
is and all that God is pleased to do. or the Lord then be pleased
to bless His truth to our souls. Well, let us conclude our worship
today as we sing our final praise to Him, 256. The tune is Willingdon, 815. In vain men
talk of living faith, when all their works exhibit death. when
they indulge some sinful view in all they say and all they
do, the true believer fears the Lord, obeys his precepts, keeps
his word, commits his works to God alone and seeks his will
before his own. The Hymn 256, the tune Willingdon,
815.