Let us turn again to God's Word
and turning now to the book of the prophet Micah. Turning to
Micah chapter 7 and I want to take for a text the words
that we find here at verse 7. Micah 7 verse 7 Therefore I will
look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation,
my God will hear me." Micah 7.7, therefore I will look unto the
Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will
hear me. And I remind you that this prophet
Micah was contemporary with Isaiah, As we see from the period, the
kings in whose reign Micah was prophesying, men like Ahaz and
Hezekiah were kings in Judah. It was the same period then that
Isaiah also was exercising his prophetic ministry. And so we read the words of Isaiah
5, and there we have the circumstances of the nation described, the
same nation to which this prophet is also addressing the word of
the Lord. So coming then to look at these
words that I've just read for our text here in chapter 7 and
verse 7. You'll observe the opening words,
therefore, is drawing a conclusion, making
a deduction, as it were, there's some relationship with what he
has said in the previous verses. And so, to understand the significance
of the words in the text, we need to be aware of what he said
there in those opening verses. From verse 1, Woe is me! For
I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape,
gleanings of the vintage, There is no cluster to eat, my soul
desired the first ripe fruit. The good man is perished out
of the earth, and there is none upright among men. They all lie
in wait for blood. They hunt every man his brother
with the nets, that they may do evil with both hands earnestly. The prince asketh, and the judge
asketh for a reward. And the great man, he uttereth
his mischievous desire. So they wrap it up. The best
of them is as a briar, the most upright is sharper than a thorn
hedge. The day of thy watchmen and thy
visitation cometh. Now shall be their perplexity.
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. Therefore, you
see the connection. The days were evil as we saw
in that reading from Isaiah chapter 5. And what is the conclusion
that the Prophet makes? Therefore, I will look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. And so, I want as we come to
consider this particular text for a while this morning, to
deal really with what we might term the Lamentations of Micah. We're familiar with that book
that follows the prophecy of Jeremiah. entitled the Lamentations
of Jeremiah. He's lamenting there of course
the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the raising to the ground the temple
of the Lord as the people were carried away because of their
sins taken into exile for some 70 years the lamentations of
Jeremiah. Well here I want us to consider
something of the lamentations of another prophet of Micah and
just two headings really. First of all to see what was
the cause of him lamenting, and then secondly, what is the cure,
what is the answer to all that he laments over? First of all,
then, the cause, the cause of the lament. And in a sense, we
can say there are two aspects to it. There's himself, and there's
the situation that he witnesses all about him. But surely what
would cause a gracious man, and we believe that this man was
a gracious man, he was the Lord's prophet, any gracious man would
know something of himself and would be caused to lament over
all that he is. And what does he say here in
the opening words of the chapter? Woe is me. Woe is me. How can we understand
and interpret those three words? Isn't he really saying I am the
cause? I am the cause of mine own woe. Again, we see it, don't we, in
the experience of David when he had committed great sins in
the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite husband. And we have
the record there in Psalm 51 of his real repentance. What does he acknowledge as he
comes before his God? Against thee the only have I
sinned. Woe is me. That is the language
of a gracious man. Micah here in this chapter is
feeling something of his own unfruitfulness, something of
the barrenness of his own soul. We know that in Israel they were required
at the time of harvest not to gather in all the crops, not
to strip the vines of all the grapes, there was to be that
left behind that would be provision for the poor of the land that
they might go into the fields and into the vineyards to glean
and it was a law in Israel it's mentioned mentioned for example
in the Levitical laws in Leviticus chapter 19 and there we have
it mentioned in verses 9 and 10 When ye reap the harvest of your
land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither
shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest, and thou shalt
not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape
of thy vineyard. They shall leave them for the
poor and stranger. I am the Lord your God." But
what was that that was left, as it were, in the way of leanings,
that provision that was made for the poor of the land and
for the strangers? Well, there was very little really.
In the vineyards there might be just a handful of grapes on
the upper boughs or the outermost branches. It was that that was
left. Yes, it was a provision, but
it was very hard and difficult to get to and to obtain. And these images are taken up
in the writings of the prophets. There in Isaiah again, look at
the language in chapter 17 and verse 6, Yet gleaning grapes
shall be left in it as a shaking of an olive tree, two or three
berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost
fruitful branches. Just a little that was left behind. And this is how Mike feels himself
to be. He's just like that vine that
has really been more or less stripped. There's so little now
left in it. Woe is me. For I am as when they
have gathered the summer fruits, as the great leanings of the
vintage. There is no cluster to it. My soul desired the first
ripe fruit." He's mourning, he's grieving over the barrenness
that he feels in his own soul. He is not the fruitful man that
he would wish to be. In the words of the hymn writer,
you see, the hymn writer says, "'Fame, would I find increase
of faith? Fame, would I see fresh graces
bloom? But are my hearts a barren heath? blasted with cold, and black
with gloom." And so, here we see him pronouncing a woe upon
himself. He feels it. He feels that he's
not the fruitful man that he should be. He looks for something,
and yet there seems to be so little there as evidence of the
grace of God in him. And how these prophets so often
are brought to pronounce a woe upon themselves. We know that
was the experience of Isaiah, even as he received his call
and his commission to be the Lord's prophet. You know the
language there in Isaiah chapter 6, when he sees something of
the glories of God, he sees a throne of God. The King Uzziah had died. There was that sense in which
the throne had been vacated. There was a new king on the throne,
but he sees a throne that's never vacated. The glorious throne
of God. And what does he say concerning
himself? Woe is me, for I am undone, for
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts. he pronounces woe then upon himself
it's the same with Jeremiah there in Jeremiah 15 and verse 10 he
says woe is me my mother thou hast borne me a man of strife
and a man of contention to the whole earth oh he feels himself
you see to be one who is so very much alone He feels himself to
be so different to others. Isn't this the experience of
those who are the people of God? They feel what they are, they
feel something of their sinnership, and they have to confess it,
they have to acknowledge it. All wretched man that I am, says
Paul. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? But as we see there in the woe
that Jeremiah pronounces upon himself in that 15th chapter
it is also because he feels the fewness really of the godly.
There are so few godly in the land. He's a man of strife. He's
speaking the word of the Lord and yet the people are not receiving
the word of the Lord. They're rejecting his ministry. This is, therefore, the other
aspect, you see, of the lament. It's not just lamenting what
he is in himself, but here Micah is also surely lamenting the
sad situation that he sees on every hand as he looks around
the nation. And this is God's people. This
is Israel and Judah, where he's called to minister the Word of
God. This is God's covenant people. Those of whom he says, you only
have I known of all the families of the earth. But what is taking
place amongst his people? Well, he uses his figure of the
vine to describe all that's taking place throughout the lands. There's
no There's no real gleanings at all. The good man is perished
out of the earth. There is none upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood. They hunt every man, his brother
with a net. Oh, what a woeful state of affairs! And it's interesting, the figure
that is used, as we saw in the reading in Isaiah, There, clearly,
Israel is being likened to a vineyard, the opening words of that chapter.
It's a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. That's how the
Prophet opens the chapter. And he speaks as God's mouthpiece.
when he says what more could have been done to my vineyard
than I have not done in it. God had made every provision
for his people. It's not the only part of scripture
where we have that figure of the vineyard. We see it again
in the Psalms, in the 80th Psalm for example. Look at the language
that we find employed there by Asaph. Verse 8 of that psalm, it says,
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out
the heathen and planted it. Thou preparest room before it,
and it caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the
shadow of it. The boughs thereof were like
the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto
the sea and her branches unto the river. How flourishing they
were, but then, how God has to deal with them because of their
sins. Verse 15 of the psalm, The vineyard
which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest
strung for thyself, it is burned with fire, it is cut down. They
perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Why is it so? Because of their
sin and God had to deal with them and he dealt with them severely
in the way of judgment. And so it was in the days of
these prophets, Isaiah and also this man Micah. Look at what he says previously
in the book in chapter 1. He speaks of God's judgment for
their transgressions. Verse 5 of that chapter, for
the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of
the house of Israel. What is the transgression of
Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem? What's he speaking of here? He's
speaking of the high places, the place where they set their
idols. How they wanted to be like the nations all around them.
Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and
as plantings of a vineyard, and I will pour down the stones thereof
into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof." They
would be destroyed just as we were reading there in that portion
in Isaiah chapter 5. Or the situation that's described
here then. The sad state of affairs throughout
the land. A good man perished out of the
earth, none uprights among men." God will destroy them, God will
deal with them. But God preserves the remnants.
Oh, we're reminded of that in Isaiah's book, aren't we? Except
the Lord had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have
been a Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah. But
then in the next verse there, in the The very following verse
after that statement in Isaiah 1.5 he addresses them as if they
are Sodom and Gomorrah. How evils are abounding and we
see it here you see. Verse 3 that they may do evil
with both hands earnestly the prince asketh and the judge asketh
for a reward and the great many uttereth his mischievous desire
so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a briar,
the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. What wickedness,
what evils are abounding. In many ways, the rottenness
is even a description, we might say, of the rottenness that we
see in our own nation. The best of them, a briar, the
most upright, sharper than a thorn hedge, also applicable to our own land,
the cause of lamenting them, lamenting the sad state of affairs,
and corruption even in the most intimate of relationships in
life. How it continues there in verse
5, 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, the
man's enemies are the men of his own house. It seems the very
fabric of society is rotten, even family relationships, and
we see it. we see it in our own land, the
breakdown of a family easy divorce, no-fault divorces same-sex marriages
you know all that goes on the confusion now of gender identity
and these things spoken of so clearly here in the Word of God
and this is the context you see in which we find the words of
the text this morning what is this man to do? Well, he must
put all his trust and all his confidence in the Lord. Having
described this situation, we come to that word, therefore.
Therefore, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God
of my salvation. My God will hear me. And it's a wonderful language,
really, of appropriation, isn't it? He speaks of the God of my salvation. He speaks of my God. And He speaks
of this God who will hear me. It's very personal. It's very
personal. In the language of the Psalmist
you see, Psalm 118 and verse 6, the Lord is on my side. I
will not fear what man can do unto me. Well here is the cure
then. We see the cause, the cause of
the lament, we might lament what we are, woe is me. We feel it,
we don't think that we're better than others, so we see so much
evil all about us. And that causes us to lament
the state of affairs, but we have to look to ourselves and
examine ourselves of course. But I want us to turn now more
particularly to the words of the text, and what's set before
us in this verse. It's the cure. It's the cure,
and there's a threefold cure in this verse. And what is it? First of all, there's this watching, looking. Therefore I will look
unto the Lord. Or do we not have to learn from
the prophet Micah? Did he live in degenerate days?
Well, we live in degenerate days. He was aware of the situation,
you see, that confronted him. Help, Lord, says the psalmist,
for the godly man ceases, for the faithful fail from amongst
the children of men. All we cry to God that He would
give us in high places, those who are true God-fearers, those
who have regard for His words and His institutions. We're to learn of this man. We're
to be aware of our situation. I like that word that we find
back in the first book of Chronicles. In 1 Chronicles 12, and verse
32 we read of the men of Issachar one of the tribes probably one
of the least known of all the tribes of Israel but we're told
something quite remarkable concerning the men of Issachar there in
1st Chronicles 12.32 the men of Issachar had understanding
of the times and knew what Israel ought to do Well, we need to
pray that God would grant us such men in our day who might
know what Israel, God's spiritual Israel, God's true people, what
we're to do. Well, those men of Issachar,
they had understanding. They knew what Israel ought to
do. Those who are aware of the situation
are first of all very much aware of themselves. They know themselves. They know something about themselves.
And this is the case, isn't it, with Micah? Those opening three
words of the chapter, Woe is me! I'm the cause. I'm the cause. I have to look
to myself. I'm aware of what I am and my
many faults and my many failings. There's nothing of self-confidence,
you see, in a prophet like Micah. and doesn't God deal with his
people in this fashion he brings the man to the end of himself
the language of Moses in the 90th Psalm thou turnest man to
destruction and sayest return you children of men stripped
of all self confidence no trust in self at all Is that what we're
brought to? We're to examine ourselves, and
we're to prove ourselves, and we're to know ourselves. How
that Jesus Christ is in us, except we be reprobate. That's the great
thing. Is Jesus Christ in us? Is Jesus Christ all our salvation,
all our desire? Oh yes, we're to look to ourselves,
we're to examine ourselves, but Again, think of the words of
the hymn writer, Pour not on thyself too long, lest it sink
thee lower. Look to Jesus, kind as strong,
mercy joined with power. That's where we're to look. And
this is what he says here in the verse, I will look unto the
Lord's I will look unto the Lord. And it's really a very intensive
verb that we have here. This particular Hebrew verb is
very strong. It's not just a glancing look,
it's a studied look that's being spoken of. It's a watching. It's
the fixing of the eye. It's the examining of the thing,
really. gazing intently this is how this
is how calvin expounds it if you read his comment there in
his commentary on the minor prophets it's a strong verb that's used
here oh it's that looking onto the lord and we think of course
of the language that we have there in Hebrews 12, looking
onto Jesus. As we've said many a time, that's
a strong verb also, because it has this idea of you take your
eye off every other object. You look to one object alone,
looking only onto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. This is where we have to look.
And we read, don't we, of the Watchmen. The Watchmen in Israel,
there in Isaiah, chapter 62. In Isaiah 62 and verses 6 and 7,
God says, I have said, Watchmen, upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,
which shall never hold their peace day nor night, Ye that
make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, give him no rest
till he establish, until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."
Now of course we know again the imagery here of these walls,
walled cities. They were defended cities, they
were fortified. But there would be watchmen posted
about the walls. and they were to be eagle-eyed,
they were to watch out for any approaching enemies and to sound
an alarm. Now, we see that in the language
of the prophets. If the watchmen don't sound the
alarm, well, they're culpable, they're guilty. But if they sound
the alarm and the people take no notice of the alarm, well,
the watchmen are clear it's the folly of the people but it's
interesting in what we have in these two verses these watchmen
because he speaks of them as those who are the Lord's remembrances
that's the rendering that we have at the end of verse 6 in
the alternative in the margin ye that make mention of the Lord
ye that are the Lord's remembrances Keep not silence. Give him no
rest till he establish, till he make Jerusalem a praise in
the earth." Well, what do these watchmen do? Well, they watch,
they're aware of the dangers, but then they address themselves
to the Lord their God. They cry to Him. They pray to Him. They know that He only is the
one who can save. Oh, we're to watch like that.
We're to be those who are looking to the Lord and expecting that
the Lord Himself will appear. Therefore I will look unto the
Lord. And we're to remind Him, you
see, it's the covenant now, and we're to remind Him of His covenant.
He's to remember His covenant. What is His covenant? Well, that's
His promise, and it's that promise that He has confirmed by oath. It's that promise that has been
sealed now in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All
we're to watch. Watch and pray, says the Lord
Jesus to His sleeping disciples. Watch and pray that ye enter
not into temptation. The Spirit is Willing the flesh
is weak. Do we not live to prove the truth
of that? Or the Spirit is willing but
so often the flesh is weak. It's not easy. And we need to
watch. And as we watch, what do we do?
We wait. And so it goes on in the second clause of the text.
I will wait for the God of my salvation. I will look unto the
Lord I will wait. Now what is this waiting? We
have it so many times in the Psalms. Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage. He shall strengthen thy heart.
Oh, we don't wait in vain, you see. If we do but wait upon Him,
wait upon Him in our prayers, He will. He'll strengthen our
hearts. and how we feel to need our hearts
to be strengthened we're so weak we tire in waiting and we think
God will never answer our cry but He strengthens us be of good courage, He encourages
us we don't wait in vain again look at the language of Psalm
37 and verse 7 rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Wait, I say, on the Lord." What
an emphasis there upon waiting, but it's interesting. I do like
to turn sometimes to the alternative readings in the margin because
that indicates, of course, the richness of the Word of God. The translators acknowledged
that. How could they really convey adequately all that was contained
in the original scriptures? The Hebrew were here in the Old
Testament. How could they really bring out all the force of some
of the Hebrew words that were being used? There was no real
equivalent in our English tongue. And so, they're faithful, these
translators of the authorized version, and sometimes they indicate
there's a different reading that could have been given. And we
have it there in Psalm 37, verse 7. Rest in the Lord. And the margin says, Be silent. Be silent in the Lord. Wait also for Him. Oh, we're not to kick you, sir. We're to wait in submission. We're to wait in all that meekness
of spirit. The Lord Jesus tells us, doesn't
he? Learn of me. I am meek and lowly in heart.
How the Lord is that wonderful man of prayer. How he lived a
life of dependence, all his days dependent. upon his father. He lived the life of faith, the
Lord Jesus, as a man. And he's our pattern. He's the one that we're to follow.
How submissive he was. Not my will, but thine be done. Always submitting to the Father's
will. He comes not to do his own will,
but the will of him who has sent him. And to finish the Father's
work. and we are to wait then and we
won't wait in vain when we move over into the New Testament what
does the Apostle say Galatians 6.9 let us not be weary in well
doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not oh we're
not to be weary you see it's good to wait upon the Lord but waiting upon the Lord is
not slothfulness Waiting on the Lord is not unbelief. Where there
is real waiting upon the Lord, why, there's a great deal of
exercise in the soul of those who know what it is. They wait
there, they look to God in all expectation that He will appear
for them, He will answer them. They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength with time. They shall mount up with
wings as eagles, they shall War cannot face, run and they're
not weary. Waiting upon the Lord. When we
come to the end of this chapter we have those remarkable words,
great words with which the Prophet closes his book. Who is a God? Like unto thee that pardoneth
iniquity, passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage,
he retaineth not his anger forever. because He delighteth in mercy.
He will turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities. And they will cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. They will perform the truth to
Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which they were sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old. Oh, this is the one that's spoken
of here in our text. It's the Lord. As I said, it's
Lord there in capital letters. It's a covenant name. It's the
God of Abraham. It's the God of Isaac. It's the
God of Jacob. Therefore I will look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. So there's
not just watching, that intense looking to the Lord. There's
not just waiting in silence of mission, there's also this expectancy. Or there's this blessed assurance.
My God, he says, will hear me. He doesn't say to the seed of
Jacob, seek ye my face in vain. Doesn't the Lord Jesus himself
tell us, ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and you
shall find. knock and it shall be opened
unto you and then he repeats it everyone that asketh receiveth
he that seeketh findeth him that knocketh it shall be opened the
gracious words of the Lord repeating himself to reassure us always
a trust in this God above and beyond all our dearest relations
all our dearest relations those that we love the most We are
to trust in the Lord God more than we trust in them. 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, therefore I will look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will
hear me. Oh, this is the one, you see. Those strange words of the Lord
Jesus in the Gospel. They are strange, strange words.
If any man will come to me, says Christ, and hate not His father,
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and His own life also. He cannot be my disciple. Oh,
it's the Lord, you see, who has to be first and foremost before
every other relationship. This is the God that we're to
come to. This is the one that we can address all our woes to. this is the one that we can come
with all our lamentations all those things that grieve us all
those things that trouble and burden us all that's in our own
hearts and causes us so much grief all that we see about us
in a world that lies in wickedness all we can bring our woe to him
Jesus to thee I make my moan My doleful tale I tell to thee,
for thou canst help and thou alone a lifeless lump of sin
like mine. Or can we not come then? Can
we not come and address this God and by His grace address
Him as our God? And use this language of appropriation. Therefore I will look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. my God will hear me or the Lord bless his word to
us let us conclude our worship as we sing the hymn 622 the tune
is deep harmony 869 poor fearful saint be not dismayed nor dread the
dangers of the night thy God will ever be thy aid and put
the host of hell to flight 622 June 869