good afternoon sorry<\/p>\n
if you will open your bibles to micah 7<\/p>\n
please<\/p>\n
so today we're going to finish with this<\/p>\n
book of prophecy and hopefully we will<\/p>\n
see god's heart for broken<\/p>\n
wayward people clearly in these last 20<\/p>\n
verses<\/p>\n
and micah 7 is a bit like a miniature<\/p>\n
version of the rest of the book actually<\/p>\n
there's pain there's sorrow and there<\/p>\n
are promises and suffering<\/p>\n
and then there is grace<\/p>\n
and i believe that micah 7 further<\/p>\n
reinforces the call to repentance to a<\/p>\n
humble walk with god and to stand firm<\/p>\n
in god's promises to his people from<\/p>\n
and so as we look into chapter 7 i want<\/p>\n
us i want to call us to encounter and<\/p>\n
experience the boundless<\/p>\n
grace of god which enables us to look to<\/p>\n
jesus in faith during trials<\/p>\n
and<\/p>\n
to lament the brokenness of the world<\/p>\n
so if we could let's have someone read<\/p>\n
this in tai read the whole chapter<\/p>\n
and english speakers if you would just<\/p>\n
follow along we're going to read the<\/p>\n
entire<\/p>\n
[Music]<\/p>\n
foreign<\/p>\n
m<\/p>\n
resolution<\/p>\n
[Applause]<\/p>\n
so we're going to start with verses one<\/p>\n
through six living in lament<\/p>\n
so lament is not<\/p>\n
a popular christian activity or topic in<\/p>\n
fact it's really not a popular topic or<\/p>\n
activity for any group of people<\/p>\n
anywhere<\/p>\n
but sometimes as christians<\/p>\n
even our praise songs are really really<\/p>\n
happy and they give us the picture that<\/p>\n
christianity should be<\/p>\n
always happy all the time<\/p>\n
for<\/p>\n
me<\/p>\n
or the lament that we encounter in<\/p>\n
scripture it more honestly reflects<\/p>\n
real life in the real world<\/p>\n
than the social media posts that most of<\/p>\n
us and most of our friends post most of<\/p>\n
the time the teleporting time<\/p>\n
can come until<\/p>\n
is where micah starts chapter 7 and it's<\/p>\n
where we're going to begin looking at<\/p>\n
god's word to us today so first of all<\/p>\n
what is lament<\/p>\n
one definition is that it is a<\/p>\n
passionate expression of grief or sorrow<\/p>\n
which<\/p>\n
after reading micah 7 1 through 6 seems<\/p>\n
like a pretty good definition for what<\/p>\n
we just read so micah starts off these<\/p>\n
this passage with the words<\/p>\n
woe is me<\/p>\n
quantity<\/p>\n
well first of all as the end of his<\/p>\n
ministry nears he looks around and he<\/p>\n
sees the spiritual state of his own<\/p>\n
people all that he can see is<\/p>\n
hard-hearted unrepentant selfish people<\/p>\n
because<\/p>\n
and in verses two and three he complains<\/p>\n
that they are hard-hearted ruthless and<\/p>\n
unjust and he cries out that the thing<\/p>\n
that they really do well<\/p>\n
is evil and he says their hands are on<\/p>\n
what is evil to<\/p>\n
in verses three and four he sees unjust<\/p>\n
selfish<\/p>\n
power-hungry politicians and leaders he<\/p>\n
sees that those who are considered the<\/p>\n
great men or great in the society they<\/p>\n
freely speak and act on their own evil<\/p>\n
desires<\/p>\n
and going even deeper he sees that this<\/p>\n
atmosphere of ruthlessness and injustice<\/p>\n
has also created this culture of fear<\/p>\n
and mistrust and even violence<\/p>\n
they all lie and wait for blood and they<\/p>\n
hunt each other with a net in verse 5<\/p>\n
friends and neighbors are not to be<\/p>\n
trusted<\/p>\n
so this is a pervasive evil that has<\/p>\n
trickled down throughout all levels of<\/p>\n
society<\/p>\n
that people<\/p>\n
and worst of all we see in verse 6 that<\/p>\n
this evil has even reached to the family<\/p>\n
so there's infighting and mistrust and<\/p>\n
hatred among the people<\/p>\n
who are supposed to be the most closely<\/p>\n
linked together<\/p>\n
this is a picture that micah gives us of<\/p>\n
a society in ruin it's a picture of a<\/p>\n
people<\/p>\n
who have become their own little gods<\/p>\n
and who are reaping the consequences<\/p>\n
of and this is a picture of mankind all<\/p>\n
the way throughout the scriptures<\/p>\n
like in romans 3 none<\/p>\n
is righteous<\/p>\n
no not one no one understands no one<\/p>\n
seeks for god all have turned aside and<\/p>\n
together they have become worthless<\/p>\n
no one does good not even one<\/p>\n
whenever<\/p>\n
metacon deal so judah micah's people<\/p>\n
god's people they become a society that<\/p>\n
is corrupt from top to bottom<\/p>\n
and despite micah's<\/p>\n
warnings and pleadings and preaching<\/p>\n
they<\/p>\n
so micah has very good reason to lament<\/p>\n
and in this situation any future<\/p>\n
restoration of god's people it must have<\/p>\n
seemed impossible<\/p>\n
but why does this matter to us how does<\/p>\n
this idea or actually reality of lament<\/p>\n
affect us as we live our lives in 2021.<\/p>\n
so have you ever laying awake at night<\/p>\n
worrying about the world that your<\/p>\n
children are growing up in<\/p>\n
because i have and i i still often do<\/p>\n
do you ever struggle with hopelessness<\/p>\n
or disappointment when you look at your<\/p>\n
reality your life encompass in<\/p>\n
comparison to your dreams<\/p>\n
or do you ever just want to give up when<\/p>\n
you see mismanagement or corruption and<\/p>\n
injustice<\/p>\n
in community leaders and in government<\/p>\n
yes<\/p>\n
so<\/p>\n
so you see lament if you read the<\/p>\n
scriptures and if you just pay attention<\/p>\n
to the world around you this should be<\/p>\n
like a normal<\/p>\n
regular and even a holy rhythm of our<\/p>\n
lives it is a right response to a life<\/p>\n
under the fall<\/p>\n
japan<\/p>\n
but as we think about lament what it<\/p>\n
means to lament i want to give us three<\/p>\n
applications to lamenting<\/p>\n
first of all is don't be ashamed of your<\/p>\n
lament<\/p>\n
it's right to look around you and inside<\/p>\n
of you even and grieve<\/p>\n
and grieve for the evil the injustice<\/p>\n
and just the wrongness of it all all<\/p>\n
is not well and we shouldn't pretend it<\/p>\n
is<\/p>\n
second of all don't waste your lament<\/p>\n
let yourself feel<\/p>\n
what paul talks about in romans 8<\/p>\n
that the whole world is groaning for<\/p>\n
things<\/p>\n
and third don't let your lament become<\/p>\n
despair see it's so easy to lose sight<\/p>\n
of god<\/p>\n
to forget his promises and then just to<\/p>\n
lose hope altogether that is despair<\/p>\n
but as one pastor said about this<\/p>\n
passage the difference between lament<\/p>\n
and despair<\/p>\n
is that unlike despair lament<\/p>\n
knows where to look that's it<\/p>\n
from<\/p>\n
so let's move on to verses 7 through 13<\/p>\n
looking to the lord<\/p>\n
i think that's<\/p>\n
so now that we've looked at micah's<\/p>\n
lament let's see what he does with this<\/p>\n
lament and why this kind of lament<\/p>\n
actually honors god<\/p>\n
and as we start off wants to see that<\/p>\n
verse 7 seems to be the key or the<\/p>\n
foundation to understanding this passage<\/p>\n
and to understanding micah's lament if<\/p>\n
we want to see how to lament well we've<\/p>\n
got to understand verse 7<\/p>\n
so micah says but as for me<\/p>\n
i will look to the lord<\/p>\n
i will wait for the god of my salvation<\/p>\n
my god will hear me<\/p>\n
has just passionately expressed his deep<\/p>\n
grief<\/p>\n
and disappointment about the spiritual<\/p>\n
state judah and how does he respond<\/p>\n
but as for me<\/p>\n
now just imagine this you've been<\/p>\n
pouring your heart out you've been<\/p>\n
pouring your soul out you've been<\/p>\n
warning and preaching and pleading with<\/p>\n
the people<\/p>\n
that they would just turn back just come<\/p>\n
back to god just do what you're supposed<\/p>\n
to do and you see no fruit<\/p>\n
no progress<\/p>\n
and maybe we can make this more personal<\/p>\n
so where or to what or to whom do you<\/p>\n
look<\/p>\n
when someone causes you to lose faith<\/p>\n
or what about when a trusted friend<\/p>\n
betrays you or when a boss or a company<\/p>\n
uses and uses and uses you and you're<\/p>\n
overlooked for promotions or<\/p>\n
advancements<\/p>\n
what do you do<\/p>\n
to whom or to what do you look in those<\/p>\n
times<\/p>\n
do you look to your bank account when<\/p>\n
all else crumbles around you do you run<\/p>\n
to your money<\/p>\n
or your stuff just to make you feel<\/p>\n
better<\/p>\n
or do you look to social media if you<\/p>\n
don't have money when someone wrongs you<\/p>\n
when someone<\/p>\n
causes you to lose face do you vent<\/p>\n
about it online just to gain sympathy<\/p>\n
from others and just to make the ones<\/p>\n
that you hurt look bad or when you're<\/p>\n
feeling worthless do you rush to post<\/p>\n
something that everybody's going to like<\/p>\n
post the perfect picture so that you can<\/p>\n
kind of collect people's likes and<\/p>\n
comments so that you can feel better<\/p>\n
about yourself again for a while<\/p>\n
see because we like our sin and because<\/p>\n
we're prone to idolatry and things like<\/p>\n
i just talked about we tend to look to<\/p>\n
these other things to save us to give us<\/p>\n
relief or even to give us worth really<\/p>\n
just to pull us out of lament<\/p>\n
but micah has a much better<\/p>\n
recommendation and actually he<\/p>\n
recommends two interrelated things<\/p>\n
first of all he recommends that we look<\/p>\n
to the lord<\/p>\n
so what does that look like because it's<\/p>\n
really easy to say and it's almost a<\/p>\n
christian cliche now but what does it<\/p>\n
actually mean to look to the lord<\/p>\n
christians<\/p>\n
in this text he gives us two examples<\/p>\n
first one is god is his light in<\/p>\n
darkness in verse eight so in times of<\/p>\n
in times of trouble everything around us<\/p>\n
seems dark our world seems to be<\/p>\n
crumbling around us and everything's<\/p>\n
going wrong and in those dark times<\/p>\n
micah says that god will be the light<\/p>\n
through which he sees everything around<\/p>\n
him so circumstances grief itself loss<\/p>\n
pain suffering none of these things will<\/p>\n
be the lens through which he sees<\/p>\n
and the second thing that he does to<\/p>\n
look to the lord is<\/p>\n
god is his help verse nine to look to<\/p>\n
god is to recognize that during grief<\/p>\n
during suffering<\/p>\n
nothing else can truly help see when<\/p>\n
when my kids are hurt or sad or ashamed<\/p>\n
or tired or angry<\/p>\n
who do they look to they look to mama<\/p>\n
and daddy<\/p>\n
and in both of these things do you see<\/p>\n
what micah is doing<\/p>\n
he is preaching the gospel to himself he<\/p>\n
is recounting the goodness and promises<\/p>\n
of god and this<\/p>\n
is what it means this is what it looks<\/p>\n
like to look to the lord this is what<\/p>\n
you do when life hurts this is when<\/p>\n
uncertainty comes up<\/p>\n
when it seems to be crushing you this is<\/p>\n
what it looks like<\/p>\n
and then second of all he recommends<\/p>\n
waiting on the god of our salvation in<\/p>\n
verse seven so notice first of all<\/p>\n
there's a humble reliance on god in<\/p>\n
spite of his own sin<\/p>\n
perfection or moral righteousness or<\/p>\n
that he has it all together he's<\/p>\n
admitting that he is a sinner and he's<\/p>\n
submitting to god's justice and he's<\/p>\n
trusting in god's mercy and this is<\/p>\n
actually the perfect example of walking<\/p>\n
and next he waits on god's justice so<\/p>\n
though people are mocking him though he<\/p>\n
is slandered he's attacked he looks to<\/p>\n
the lord and he waits<\/p>\n
and he knows that he can't vindicate<\/p>\n
himself he knows that his attackers are<\/p>\n
going to keep attacking that the mockers<\/p>\n
will keep mocking but that his salvation<\/p>\n
and his vindication must come<\/p>\n
and this is the question for each of us<\/p>\n
why is that so hard<\/p>\n
why can't we just look to the lord and<\/p>\n
wait on the lord our god of our<\/p>\n
salvation<\/p>\n
i think that mostly it's because that we<\/p>\n
don't actually believe the third phrase<\/p>\n
in verse seven<\/p>\n
notice he says but as for me i will look<\/p>\n
and the third<\/p>\n
my god will hear me.<\/p>\n
looking to the lord and waiting on the<\/p>\n
salvation is the foundational belief<\/p>\n
that god hears him<\/p>\n
why don't we believe this and how do we<\/p>\n
come to believe and trust like this<\/p>\n
really we bask<\/p>\n
in his grace<\/p>\n
so back in america<\/p>\n
especially in the south where i'm from<\/p>\n
the springtime is glorious so after<\/p>\n
three or four months of dreary cold<\/p>\n
staying indoors most of the time<\/p>\n
you're missing the green trees and the<\/p>\n
flowers and the green grass and<\/p>\n
everybody's tired and just a bit<\/p>\n
depressed<\/p>\n
and when the spring comes and the sun<\/p>\n
comes out the weather is perfect and the<\/p>\n
leaves and the flowers come out and they<\/p>\n
begin to appear<\/p>\n
and all across the south people come<\/p>\n
outside in droves and yards and parks<\/p>\n
are full and people are getting together<\/p>\n
for outdoor parties and everyone just<\/p>\n
wants to be outside in nature<\/p>\n
but mostly<\/p>\n
people come outside to see<\/p>\n
and feel and enjoy the sun again<\/p>\n
and so after after several weeks of dark<\/p>\n
cold days<\/p>\n
we're just ready to go out and to feel<\/p>\n
the sun on our skin and we bask in it we<\/p>\n
revel in it we soak it in as if we're<\/p>\n
never gonna see it<\/p>\n
do you want to know how to train your<\/p>\n
heart to look at god or to look to god<\/p>\n
to wait on god and to believe that he<\/p>\n
hears you<\/p>\n
you have to revel in<\/p>\n
savor enjoy and bask in his grace<\/p>\n
so let's take a look at how micah does<\/p>\n
this basking in god's grace through the<\/p>\n
last seven verses of micah and before we<\/p>\n
really dive into that i want you to<\/p>\n
notice just how much like a psalm this<\/p>\n
last section is to<\/p>\n
hello<\/p>\n
in fact so the language and the<\/p>\n
structure and even a lot of the<\/p>\n
references are from the psalms and one<\/p>\n
quick point of application from all of<\/p>\n
us<\/p>\n
one quick point of replication is that<\/p>\n
when we face lament when we are grieved<\/p>\n
like micah when we want reassurance hope<\/p>\n
and restoration we go to the psalms<\/p>\n
moving from lament in verses one through<\/p>\n
six there's a sort of and then there's a<\/p>\n
personal declaration of god's goodness<\/p>\n
and might and justice in verses 7<\/p>\n
through 13. and then micah closes this<\/p>\n
book which is<\/p>\n
with what is basically a worship song<\/p>\n
so let's look at just a couple of ways<\/p>\n
which micah goes about basking in god's<\/p>\n
grace<\/p>\n
in these last seven verses and we're<\/p>\n
only going to focus on two things<\/p>\n
prayer<\/p>\n
and praise<\/p>\n
so look at prayer first in verses 14<\/p>\n
through 17<\/p>\n
micah is praying god's promises<\/p>\n
to who<\/p>\n
to god<\/p>\n
calls on god to be a shepherd he calls<\/p>\n
israel the flock of your inheritance he<\/p>\n
calls god to use his staff to comfort<\/p>\n
and shepherd judah he begs for<\/p>\n
restoration<\/p>\n
micah reminds god of his plan to bring<\/p>\n
the nations into submission<\/p>\n
to silence and defeat his own enemies<\/p>\n
what is micah doing here he's basking in<\/p>\n
the access that he has to god almighty<\/p>\n
this is the kind of boldness from that<\/p>\n
comes from believing<\/p>\n
is actually training his own heart to<\/p>\n
walk with god through lament and to look<\/p>\n
to god always by walking through and<\/p>\n
looking at god's promises<\/p>\n
do you want to learn to look to the lord<\/p>\n
in times of grief and lament do you want<\/p>\n
your heart to be at rest in those kind<\/p>\n
of times<\/p>\n
well paul actually tells us how to do<\/p>\n
that he says by prayer<\/p>\n
and supplication and thanksgiving to god<\/p>\n
and that by those things the peace of<\/p>\n
god which surpasses all understanding<\/p>\n
will<\/p>\n
and so prayer is this intimate basking<\/p>\n
in god's grace that takes us directly to<\/p>\n
the throne of god<\/p>\n
and it's there for us every waking<\/p>\n
minute of the day<\/p>\n
and then the last thing he does<\/p>\n
is praise<\/p>\n
he closes the book<\/p>\n
this book<\/p>\n
with judgment and pain he closes it with<\/p>\n
praise of god for his boundless grace<\/p>\n
and this is where we find and this is<\/p>\n
where we bask in the full sunlight of<\/p>\n
god's grace blessings<\/p>\n
who is a god like you pardoning iniquity<\/p>\n
and passing over transgression micah<\/p>\n
looks around at the other gods of the<\/p>\n
other nations and he is driven to praise<\/p>\n
and worship why because there is no god<\/p>\n
like this<\/p>\n
you see because our little gods are<\/p>\n
idols<\/p>\n
they don't pardon iniquities<\/p>\n
they don't pass over transgression they<\/p>\n
don't deal with our sins and they don't<\/p>\n
show us faithfulness they only bring<\/p>\n
this guilt and shame and an ever growing<\/p>\n
sense<\/p>\n
but in micah's final words to the people<\/p>\n
of judah and to us he points us to this<\/p>\n
god<\/p>\n
this is a god who forgives our<\/p>\n
wickedness our rebellion and our guilt<\/p>\n
who canceled the record of debt that<\/p>\n
stood against you and i by nailing it to<\/p>\n
the cross<\/p>\n
this is the god who will tread our<\/p>\n
iniquities underfoot<\/p>\n
this is the god who keeps his word who<\/p>\n
will not break covenant you show<\/p>\n
faithfulness to jacob and steadfast love<\/p>\n
to abraham<\/p>\n
and he says this is the god who despite<\/p>\n
your failures and my failures welcomes<\/p>\n
all of us who come to him<\/p>\n
for he<\/p>\n
will again have compassion on us he<\/p>\n
delights in steadfast love<\/p>\n
so listen if you struggle to look to the<\/p>\n
lord in times of grief in times of<\/p>\n
lament if you tend to despair<\/p>\n
then come and bask in this kind of grace<\/p>\n
and the only way that you and i will<\/p>\n
walk well through pain through grief and<\/p>\n
the only way that you and i will be able<\/p>\n
to look to the lord to wait on his<\/p>\n
is if we personally encounter embrace<\/p>\n
and bask in his boundless grace<\/p>\n
father we thank you for this book for<\/p>\n
this<\/p>\n
holy word that you've given us we thank<\/p>\n
you that you have shown us how to lament<\/p>\n
you've shown us<\/p>\n
what it looks like when we let our sins<\/p>\n
rule our hearts<\/p>\n
help us lord fill our hearts with<\/p>\n
yourself<\/p>\n
let us long for you<\/p>\n
love you<\/p>\n
desire you more than anything else<\/p>\n
and let us bask<\/p>\n
in your boundless grace<\/p>\n
help us to turn from our idols help us<\/p>\n
to turn to you<\/p>\n
we ask all this in your name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20211103","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wCh3uxzla9s","video_id":"wCh3uxzla9s","video_duration":"43:07","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":926,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions\/926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}