every faithful gospel preacher
being sensitive to the needs of men's souls and
the glory of Christ and the truth of God, and observing the lying
vanities all around him in his I suppose each of them in their
day presumed they lived in the worst of days. As I read history,
I read of men who lived in days gone by and they were convinced
in their day that this is the last day, this is the little
season when Satan is loosed to deceive the nations again, and
I'm pretty well convinced of that in our day. But there's
a reason for that. because God would have us ever
to be vigilant, never knowing when our master will come again,
never knowing his purpose at any time, but ever vigilant for
the truth and for the souls of men. Micah, the prophet, sure
enough lived in a tough, tough day. He was contemporary with
Isaiah and Hosea. He was sent to preach to Israel,
the northern tribes of the nation of Israel, during the reigns
of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. And during that time, the nation
was going through a terrible, terrible time. The nation was
plagued with what is described in Micah's prophecy as an incurable
plague. an incurable wound, the wound
of empty, meaningless, religious literalism. An incurable wound, he describes
it. The political leaders of the
land were men who devised iniquity and worked evil. The priests
were men for hire. And the prophets were just like
them. And yet, all that they did was done in the name of the
Lord. Sound like our day? In chapter
3, verse 11, these religious hucksters who were clearly in
the majority, and the people followed them eagerly, with confidence,
these religious hucksters, these princes and priests and prophets
who were but self-serving self-serving hirelings of the worst kind.
This is what they said. Is not the Lord among us? God's
with us. None evil can come upon us. The
word of the Lord was precious in those days. There were only
a few who truly spoke as God's prophets, and the very few who
spoke as God's prophets were heard by very few in the When
the Lord did send a faithful man, the people said in verse
6 of chapter 2, prophesy ye not. Don't tell us what God said,
we're not interested. Prophesy ye not. And this caused
Micah great pain, tremendous sorrow. He cared for the souls
of men. He cared for the souls of men. It was a burden to him that he
must declare judgment and wrath. He declared he must, but it was
a burden that he must. And this man Micah was a man
who knew the Lord. He had a vision of God's majesty,
his greatness, his glory. his mercy in Christ. He had received
a word from the Lord and with confident joy he spoke of the
latter day. He said there is another day
coming. There is a day coming, this day he spoke of is the day
in which you and I live in this great gospel age when the majesty
and mercy of God would be revealed in a man. Christ Jesus the Lord. Look at chapter 7, verse 7. after speaking of judgment, condemnation,
woe, after exposing the sins of the people, Micah says, 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 my enemy. When I fall, And I will, you
won't have to watch long, you'll see it. When I fall, I shall
arise. Isn't that amazing? When I fall, I know what I am,
but I know who holds me, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness,
and I often do, the prophet God says, when I
sit in darkness, Isn't it amazing how different the experience of God's
servants in this book is as they relate it, under inspiration,
to the religious experience of religious tomfoolery in our day? Oh, I never thought, don't you?
My days are all full of light. Are they, sure enough? He said,
when I sit in darkness, and I often But even then the Lord shall
be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord. I'll bear whatever God brought
upon me. I'll bear whatever God brought upon our nation. I'll
bear whatever God brings upon this generation, because I've
sinned against him. I'll shut my mouth. I won't complain
against my God. I'll bear the indignation of
the Lord because I've sinned against him. until he plead my
cause, until he execute judgment for
me." And when God executes judgment, now listen to me, my brother,
listen to me, my sister. When God executes judgment, whether
it be temporal judgment in this world upon any or whether it
be the judgment of the great day, or whether it be the judgment
that he executed upon his son at Calvary, he does it for me. Not against me, for me, because
he executed his judgment upon his son in my stead. I'll hold my lips together, I'll
put my hand over my mouth, I'll bear his indignation until he
pleads my cause and executes judgment for me he will bring
me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness." Now,
I pray that he will bring us now to the light and let us behold
his righteousness. Very frequently our translators
did us no favors with the chapter and verse divisions that are
given in the scriptures. They are often a hindrance rather
than a help, rather than assisting us in memory. But in this particular
instance, in the book of Micah, the chapter divisions really
divide Micah's message up very clearly. So let me go through
that, and then I'll show you some things in the book. In chapter
1, the Lord God gives his witness against the nations, particularly
against Samaria, the capital city of Israel, the ten northern
tribes, the ten northern rebel tribes. Because of the sins of
the house of Israel, we're told in verse 5. Because of the sins
of the house of Israel. Because of the sins of people
who claim to be God's people, but walked in idolatry, doom
was a matter of certainty for Samaria. The Lord God declares
that he will disinherit the nation of Israel. because her wound
is incurable, in verse 9. Let us be warned. You look at
the nation of Israel right now, and it's been this way now for
two thousand years. God Almighty destroyed the nation,
and though it had been regathered as a political nation The nation
of Israel has not yet been regathered as it once was, and it shall
not be regathered as it once was. God destroyed it. God destroyed
it. There's not one Jew in the world
who can tell you what tribe he came from. There's not a one. God destroyed the nation. Locked
Stockingdale. He cast him off. Shut him up
in darkness. He has some elect among the nation
whom he will yet call. But the Lord God destroyed that
nation, because they would not receive the word he gave them. And this is how Paul reasons
with us. If God spared not the natural
branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee. Behold,
therefore, the goodness and the severity of God on them which
fail severity, but toward thee goodness, if thou continue in
his goodness. Otherwise thou shalt also be
cut off. All right, back in Micah 2. In chapter 2, God's prophet
tells the people plainly that the cause of the wrath coming
upon them is their own sin. They rose up as enemies against
God. People who bore his name but
rose up as enemies against him. Look at verse 3. Therefore thus
saith the Lord, Behold, against this family do I devise an evil. from which you shall not remove
your necks." Then in chapter 3, God exposes the self-serving
princes, the highland prophets, and the covetous priests as men
who had led Israel into apostasy, men who brought Israel into doom. These men, these men who were
responsible under God to lead the people in righteousness. These men responsible under God
to lead men in the knowledge of the living God. They led Israel
in open rebellion, in open ungodliness, in open idolatry, and led them
to hell. And that's what the third chapter
is all about. Look at chapter 3, verse 9. Hear this, I pray
you, you heads of the house of Jacob. and princes of the house
of Israel that abhor judgment, abhor justice, and pervert all
equity, they build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward. The priests thereof teach for
hire. The prophets thereof divine for
money. Yet will they lean upon the Lord,
and say, Is not the Lord among us? God's with us! Look here! We've been serving
God all throughout our history. God's with us! No evil can come
upon us. Verse 12, Therefore shall Zion
for your sake be plowed. these people are going to be
judged, plowed up like a field, not one grain of dirt left, not
turned upside down, and plowed under the wrath of God, because
you who spoke in God's name led them to hell. But Micah, being a faithful man,
caring as he did for the souls of men, moves rapidly from announcing
the wrath of God upon his enemies to the proclamation of God's
grace and salvation to chosen sinners. In chapter 4, I read
this today and I thought, man, I could spend a long time here
preaching. Here, Micah speaks of a better prince, a better
prophet, and a better priest. He speaks of a better kingdom.
This fourth chapter speaks of Christ's coming and the establishing
of his spiritual kingdom when this earthly kingdom is destroyed.
The establishing of Mount Zion, the church of the living God,
and the gathering of sinners out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue into this kingdom. We're told in verse 7, the Lord
shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even forever. This kingdom shall triumph and
prevail over all her enemies. The gates of hell cannot prevail
against it, we're told in verse 13. And then in chapter 5, this
chapter begins with the announcement of our Redeemer's death. Seems
to be a strange way to begin the chapter. It begins with the
announcement of Christ's death. This man who shall be peace,
we're told in chapter 4 and verse 5, this man, this man who shall
be peace, He who was to be born at Bethlehem, the house of bread,
must be smitten by his enemies, smitten to death. It's as though
Micah, by the spirit of prophecy, says, now listen, I've told you
that he's going to build his kingdom. I've told you he is
coming, this man who shall be the this man who will bring peace
to you and make you peace. This man is coming king in Zion. He's going to reign on Mount
Zion on high, but he's going to die. And the way he establishes
his kingdom is by his death. And then in chapter 6, Micah
speaks of the Lord God pleading with us, pleading with his to remember his goodness, his wondrous works of grace.
Look at this, verse 5, that you may know the righteousness of
the Lord. Oh, children of God, remember
now his wonderful works. Remember what he's done, and
learn his righteousness. He teaches us to look as God
looks on the heart and worship him in the spirit, not with mere
outward ceremonies and sacrifices. And God calls us to repentance
in the latter part of the chapter. Then the seventh chapter, in
the midst of the Lord's rebuke and indignation, Micah opens
the chapter by crying, Woe is me. Now wait a minute, Micah. Woe is me? I told you he's a faithful prophet. And he takes the woe of God upon
his people to be his own. Woe is me. These people are my
people. It's like a man beholding the
rebel son that he brought up and nurtured and cherished, the
rebel daughter that he brought up and nurtured and cherished
and instructed and taught, and the child, the son, the daughter
runs wild in rebellion against God, and the man, he breaks in
his soul for the pain he feels for the child that he loves.
Micah cries, oh God, But the hope of Christ's coming
shines like a bright light on a dark, dark day in his soul.
And the prophecy closes with a great declaration of God's
majesty. It closes with Micah looking with
great joy and eager anticipation on that day when God Almighty
would cast Israel's sins into the depths of the sea. Look at
chapter 7, verse 7. Therefore will I look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. Verse 15. According to the days of thy
coming out of the land of Egypt, will I show unto him marvelous
I'm going to show Egypt marvelous things, marvelous things. I kept trying to read that in
preparing this message. I'm going to show my people marvelous
things. No, I'm going to show Egypt marvelous things. The nations
shall see and be confounded at all their might. They shall lay
their hand upon their mouth. Their ears shall be deaf. They
shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall move out of their
holes like worms of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord
our God and shall fear the cause of the earth. I read that and
I couldn't help it. A few weeks ago I was over at
Larry Brown's house and he was showing me his worm digger. When
I used to dig worms and I'd go fishing, boy I didn't have this
kind of worm digger. with electrical cords on it,
and you plug it in to the wall, but it's only got one side. You
plug it in, and when that thing hits the ground, it grounds that
thing, and the worms, shocked, start crawling out of the ground.
Pretty good worm disease. There's a day coming. when all
the nations of the earth shall behold the wonders of our God
toward his people, and shocked forever like worms wiggling out
of their holes." Read on, for safety. Now, here's Micah's conclusion. Who is a God like unto thee?
His name means, who is like God. Who is a God like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity, that 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. Thou wilt cast their sins into
the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to
Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old. Now, none of the Old Testament
prophets speak more clearly, more decisively, more distinctively
of the Lord Jesus Christ than Micah. In chapter 2 and verse
13, our Lord is referred to as the Breaker, the Breaker who
shall come. I'm just going to pull out some
jewels and hold them up and you gaze at them. The Breaker is
come up before them. They have broken up, and have
passed through the gate, and have gone out by it, and their
king shall pass before them, and the Lord shall lead the way."
The Lord on the head of them. Now clearly this is talking about
the physical deliverance of Israel out of Assyrian captivity, no
question about that. But the deliverance is a picture
of Christ. The deliverance is a picture of our salvation by
Christ. For in wrath, God remembers mercy. And he promised those
disobedient Jews that he would deliver them. Undeserved was
his mercy. Undeserved was his grace. Undeserved
was his deliverance. But he says, I'm going to deliver
you, and I'm going to do it by a breaker. One who will come
and break you, and break open the way for you. And that's what
Christ Jesus does for us rebels. He comes, having broken the bars
of death, having broken down the middle wall of petition separating
us from his people and us from God and us from one another,
and he comes in the power of his grace and breaks the heart
of the chosen sinner. Revealing himself, he breaks
them. And breaking us, he brings deliverance. So Christ is called there the
breaker. And then in chapter 4, Micah describes the kingdom
of our Lord. The destruction of Israel does
not mean the destruction of the people God foreordained to eternal
life. Not at all. The destruction of that physical
nation was the very means by which God would bring the gospel
to us of the Gentile nations. He comes to bring the establishing
of his kingdom spiritually throughout the world. In verse 1 of chapter
4, this kingdom of grace is established, not like that old kingdom of
Israel, but this one is established in the top of the mountains,
exalted above the hills. in heaven itself. That's what
Paul tells us in Hebrews 12. This kingdom is made up of God's
elect from many nations. It is in this place, Mount Zion,
where God teaches us and guides us and exercises his rule over
us. He gathers us from the flocks
of goats, flocks of goats, scattered among flocks of goats. English
Bibles here is translated sheep, but the marginal translation
gives it goats properly. He has scattered his sheep out
here among the goats, everywhere. And he comes and fetches his
sheep. This kingdom is a kingdom of peace and security. Plowshares turned into pruning
hooks, swords turned into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
And that's not talking about making peace between the United
States and Russia. That's not talking about making
peace with Saddam Hussein or making peace with Israel. That's
talking about peace in here. Peace right here. This kingdom
is a kingdom of peace. The Prince of Peace rules here.
A kingdom of peace, so that people coming from all different walks
and backgrounds, all different segments of society, different
skin color, different ethnicity, gather around one. You see, the other people of
this world are constantly at enmity with one another because
each one follows his gods. But here are people brought together
in peace around this man who is the peace. And they live in
peace because all of them follow the They all follow the Lord,
all follow Christ Jesus, this man, this God of peace. This
kingdom of poor, halting sinners is a kingdom gathered by Christ,
healed by Christ, and ruled by Christ. It's called a tower of
sheep in verses 6-10. A stronghold for the daughter
of Zion, the place built by our God and Savior for his redeemed
ones he has delivered. And though all nations of the
earth are perpetually enraged against it, though all the nations
and all the religions and all the systems and all the philosophy
and all the teaching of all the world is enraged against this
holy Mount Zion built by God, established by God, determined
to destroy it if it can. The church and kingdom of our
God will never teeter, much less fall. Did you hear me? It will never teeter, much less
fall. No, sir. The truth of God is
never in danger. The glory of God is never at
stake. The Church of God is never in
danger of falling. No, no, no. We use terms like
that only in a manner so as to speak of the urgency of the responsibilities
upon us. But the truth of God, the glory
of God, the Church of God stands firm always! Always. And God Almighty will see to
it that when the last tick on the clock is done, and time shall
be no more, all of Babylon, enraged against God's church, shall lick
the dust before them." Armageddon is a terrible, terrible battle, not a physical not a battle of
nuclear weapons, not a battle of men running around on horses
with bayonets. It's a battle between heaven
and earth, a spiritual battle. But a battle, the outcome of
which is absolutely certain. Babylon shall fall. Then in chapter
5, verse 1, Micah speaks of our Lord's sufferings. And now gather
thyself in troops, O daughter of he hath laid sage against
us, they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the
cheek." Our blessed Savior came down here to be smitten with
the hands of men and with rods in men's hands, smitten by the
hands of wicked men and smitten by the sword of divine justice
as though he himself were the enemy of God, smitten by the
hands of wicked men, so that he might redeem and save his
own. Then in chapter 5, verse 2, look carefully at this. Here
is a description of our Savior's incarnation that could not have
been written more accurately if it had been written by a historian
looking back on the event. Look at it. thou be little among the thousands
of Judah." Now, there were lots of little towns named Bethlehem,
lots of them. There's a little town I've passed
through every now and then called Bethlehem, Kentucky. It was probably
about the size of this Bethlehem. Just a little, little town. Well, which Bethlehem are we
talking about? Bethlehem of Judah. That one right there. Not anywhere
else is this Bethlehem. Yet out of thee shall he come
unto me, this one who is smitten of his enemies, this one to be
ruler in Israel," now watch this, "...whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting." Here is the place of our Savior's
birth. The Lord Jesus Christ comes into this world as a man,
being born at Bethlehem. Now you stop and read the accounts
in the gospel narratives And for folks who don't want to read
the scriptures, stop and read the history books and read the
accounts in the history books, and see what marvelous, marvelous,
mysterious wonders of providence God Almighty performed, ruling
the pagan hearts of unbelieving kings, to accomplish this fact,
that Christ, when he came out of his mother's womb, came into
this world there in Bethlehem of Judah. Bethlehem, this little bitty
town. This is the place where he was
to be born. And here's a description of his eternal free existence.
It doesn't say he shall be born, because he couldn't be born.
He couldn't be born. Oh, the man was born. Yeah, the
man was born. But he who comes forth from the
virgin's womb is more than a man. He's God Almighty. He shall come In the volume of the book it
is written to me, I delight to do thy will, O my God. And here
is his deity, the deity of this man, described by Micah, this
man of peace, our Savior, whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting. In other words, Micah says, when
he comes forth in human flesh, from the womb of the born there
at Bethlehem of Ephrathah. He is just in the process of
doing what he's been doing from old, even from everlasting. He's coming forth to save his
people. And then Michael speaks of the majesty of Christ in his
glorious exaltation. Look at chapter 5, verse 4. And he shall stand, this one
who were smitten by the hands of his enemies, this one who
came forth at Bethlehem, he shall stand and feed in the strength
of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God,
and they shall abide. For now shall he be great unto
the ends of the earth. Ask of me, I will give you the
heathen for your inheritance. Father, the hour has come. The glory which thou gavest me,
before the world was, now give it to me now. And that glory
I give to my people. The angel told Mary, he shall
be great. His name great unto the ends
of the earth because of his accomplished redemption for his people. And
then Micah, as I told you, his name means Who is like God? I've been describing for you
God Almighty. You've been worshipping the gods
of the heathen. You've been worshipping the gods
that men make. You've been worshipping gods
of your own addiction. Gods for this and gods for that
and gods for the other thing. But I'm talking to you about
God. Now who's like him? Who's like him? It's as though
he wraps his prophecy up by saying, let me tell you, that which distinguishes
God from all gods. That which describes God who
really is God. And the people had turned aside
to lying vanities, but Micah's heart was fixed on God's promise
of deliverance. He says in verse 7 of chapter
7, Therefore will I look unto the Lord, I'll wait for the God
of my salvation. And unable to contain himself,
he simply, he ratchets this thing up I don't know that there is
another book in the Bible. I won't say that for certain.
I don't know that there is another book in the Bible. I don't know
of any other book written by a man that's wrapped up like
this. Micah doesn't draw a conclusion.
He doesn't summarize what is said. He simply declares the
great glory of God as he wraps the book up, Book of Verse 18.
Who is God like unto thee? that pardoneth iniquity, 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. Thou wilt
perform the truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, and thou which
thou hast sworn unto our fathers from days of old." Now, here's
the thing that distinguishes God from all imaginary gods. The gods of the heathen, the
gods that men make, the gods that men imagine, the gods that
men conjure up, are God's fertility and God's and God's judgment,
God's act to be appeased. He who is God delights in mercy. Delights in mercy. Can you imagine that? God Almighty
delights in mercy. Oh, God teach me to delight in
it. He delights in the exercise of
mercy. He delighteth in mercy. And God's
mercy, that mercy which he delights, is always effectual mercy. It's
never an idle, meaningless act to do when we're talking about
God's mercy. Oh, no. God's mercy is described in these
last verses like this. Because he delighteth in mercy,
he will pardon iniquity. What makes you think God will
pardon sin? Because he delights in mercy. He delights in mercy. Because he delights in mercy,
he lifts up sin from the sinner, takes it away, lays it on his
son, the scapegoat, who bears it away forever, and puts it
away by the sacrifice of himself. The Lord God passes by the transgression
of the remnant of his people because He delighted in my sin. How can I put this? Having put away our sin by the
sacrifice of his Son, God passes by it, taking no notice of it, as if
he didn't see it. So much so that it is written,
he doth not behold iniquity in Israel. He will not impute sin
to any of his people, not one sin. He will not call his own
into account for any sin. He called our Savior into account
for our sin. Through the blood of Jesus Christ,
it's covered, it's atoned, it's washed away. How can I say what I want to
say? Let me use the words of Mr. Spurgeon. Our sins are so effectually removed
that we shall not ultimately suffer any loss or damage through
having sinned. He pardons iniquity. He passes by transgression. Thirdly, God will not retain
his just anger against us, his people, because he delights in
mercy. Hold your hands here and turn
back to Isaiah chapter 12. In that day, same day that Micah
is talking In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee,
though thou wast angry with me. Thine anger is turned away, and
thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also is become
my salvation." God's anger, wrath, and justice. being fully satisfied
by Christ Jesus the Lord, are turned away from his people
forever, forever. Then Micah says, fourthly, that
God Almighty will turn toward us in compassion, because he
delights in mercy. Look at verse 19 and 20. He will
subdue our iniquities. I pray every day, every day, often
through the day, constantly I pray. Lord God, keep me from the evil
that's in me. And he does. doesn't look like
it most of the time, but he does. And he's going to sure enough
subdue our iniquities. And they will have no power over
us forever. He will cast out all our sins
into the depths of the sea. I don't know how deep the sea
is. Some of you fellas can tell us. I read a story several years
ago, riding in a train, reading one of those, they call it a
geographical magazine, I guess, sort of like National Geographic.
He was just reading the magazine on the train, and suddenly he
said, well, bless God! And the fellow said, what did
you read? He said, I just read that the sea, the deepest place
in the sea is seven miles deep. And I remembered in the book
of God that he cast my sins into the depths of the sea. Bless
God. Cast them away behind his back.
Remove from us as far as the east is from the west. And he
will perform all his covenant, all his mercy, and all his truth
which he swore to Jacob and Abraham. I'm so glad that he didn't just
say to Abraham, I'm tickled to death he first said Jacob. Well,
but Jacob is Abraham's son. Yeah, but Jacob wasn't quite
the same fellow as Abraham. weak, conniving, Abraham steadfast,
strong, Jacob, Jacob. God will perform what he swore
to Abraham, Jacob. God will perform what he swore
to Jesus Christ, our Savior, who is Abraham's to Lindsay Campbell
and to Don Fortner, all of them. He will perform his mercy and
his truth. In truth and justice, he put
away my sins. In mercy, he came to this center,
dead in trespasses and sins and subdued my iniquities, and gave
me a new nature, called me to be born of his Spirit, planted
a new nature in me, and a new power in me, called the power
of his grace. And he will do the same for every
chosen sinner, because he delights in mercy. If God delights in mercy, how
we ought to delight to proclaim it. If God delights in mercy,
how we ought to exercise it. Be merciful one to another. All children of God, be merciful. John Fortner, be merciful. Merciful to the ignorant, the
fallen, the corrupt, the vile. Merciful to the guilty and merciful
to one another. And what reason we have to seek
his mercy. If I were that poor and hungry
and thirsty and my family was starving and naked and there was somebody
I heard upon fairly good account who had lots of money and it
was just his delight to give it away. Just his delight to
give it away. He won't embarrass you, he won't upbraid you, he won't ask you a lot of
questions, he won't ask you a lot of questions, he won't ask you
a lot of questions, he won't ask you a lot of questions, he
won't ask you a lot of questions, he won't ask you a lot of questions,
he won't ask you a lot of questions, he won't ask you a lot of questions,
he won't ask you a lot of questions, he won't ask you a lot of questions,
he won't ask you a lot of questions, he won't ask you a lot of questions, he
won't ask you a lot of questions, he won't ask you a lot of questions, he won't
ask you a lot of questions, he won't ask you And he'll give you whatever you need.
He'll give you whatever you need. Do you know what I'd do? I'd swallow my pride. And I'd
walk up and knock on his door like the beggar I am. And I'd
say, man, I'm hungry. I got nothing to eat. I'm thirsty. I don't have any money to buy
me a drink. My wife and kids are naked at home. Can't even
bring them out. Got nothing to buy anything with
them for. Oh, hush, man. Take this and go get some food.
God Almighty delights in mercy, in mercy. Lord, thou hast won,
at length I yield my heart, thy mighty grace compels, surrenders
all to thee. Against thy killers long I strove,
but who can stand against thy love? Love conquers even me. If thou hadst bid thy thunders
roll and lightning flash to blast my soul, I still had stubborn
bid. But mercy hath my heart subdued,
a pleading Savior I have been, and now I hate myself.