good afternoon sorry<\/p>\n
if you will open your bibles to micah 7<\/p>\n
please<\/p>\n
teach it so today we're going to finish<\/p>\n
with this book of prophecy and hopefully<\/p>\n
we will 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<\/p>\n
and suffering and then there is grace<\/p>\n
also<\/p>\n
and i believe that micah 7 further<\/p>\n
reinforces the call<\/p>\n
to repentance to a humble walk with god<\/p>\n
and to stand firm<\/p>\n
in god's promises to his people<\/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<\/p>\n
boundless grace of god which enables us<\/p>\n
to look to jesus in faith<\/p>\n
during trials and to lament the<\/p>\n
brokenness<\/p>\n
[Music]<\/p>\n
so if we could let's have someone read<\/p>\n
this in<\/p>\n
thai read the whole chapter and english<\/p>\n
speakers if you would just follow along<\/p>\n
we're going to read the entire<\/p>\n
passage<\/p>\n
of<\/p>\n
foreign<\/p>\n
why<\/p>\n
[Applause]<\/p>\n
so lament is not a popular christian<\/p>\n
activity or topic in fact it's really<\/p>\n
not a popular<\/p>\n
topic or activity for any group of<\/p>\n
people anywhere<\/p>\n
but sometimes as christians even our<\/p>\n
praise songs<\/p>\n
are really really happy and they give us<\/p>\n
the picture that christianity<\/p>\n
should be always happy all the time<\/p>\n
can come close<\/p>\n
but if we're honest lament or the lament<\/p>\n
that we encounter in scripture<\/p>\n
it more honestly reflects real life<\/p>\n
in the real world than the social media<\/p>\n
post that most of us<\/p>\n
and most of our friends post most of the<\/p>\n
time<\/p>\n
like social media congratulations<\/p>\n
well lament is where micah starts<\/p>\n
chapter seven and it's where we're going<\/p>\n
to begin looking at god's word to<\/p>\n
us today so first of all what<\/p>\n
is lament mikhail teaches<\/p>\n
one definition is that it is a<\/p>\n
passionate expression of grief<\/p>\n
or sorrow which after reading michael<\/p>\n
7 1 through 6 seems like a pretty good<\/p>\n
definition for what we just read so<\/p>\n
micah starts off these<\/p>\n
this passage with the words woe is me.<\/p>\n
why is micah lamenting like this<\/p>\n
thomas me<\/p>\n
well first of all as the end of his<\/p>\n
ministry nears he looks around<\/p>\n
and he sees the spiritual state of his<\/p>\n
own people<\/p>\n
all that he can see is hard hearted<\/p>\n
unrepentant<\/p>\n
selfish people<\/p>\n
come on<\/p>\n
and in verses two and three he complains<\/p>\n
that they are hard-hearted<\/p>\n
ruthless and unjust and he cries out<\/p>\n
that the thing that they really do well<\/p>\n
is evil and he says their hands<\/p>\n
are on what is evil to do it well<\/p>\n
he sees unjust selfish power-hungry<\/p>\n
politicians and leaders<\/p>\n
he sees that those who are considered<\/p>\n
the great men or great in the society<\/p>\n
they freely speak and act upon their own<\/p>\n
evil 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
can<\/p>\n
in verse 2 they all lie and wait for<\/p>\n
blood<\/p>\n
and they hunt each other with a net in<\/p>\n
verse 5<\/p>\n
friends and neighbors are not to be<\/p>\n
trusted so this is<\/p>\n
a pervasive evil that has trickled down<\/p>\n
throughout<\/p>\n
all levels of society<\/p>\n
and worst of all we see in verse 6 that<\/p>\n
this evil has even reached<\/p>\n
to the family so there's infighting and<\/p>\n
mistrust and hatred<\/p>\n
among the people who are supposed to be<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
most closely linked together<\/p>\n
with<\/p>\n
this is a picture that micah gives us of<\/p>\n
a society in ruin<\/p>\n
it's a picture of a people who have<\/p>\n
become their own little gods<\/p>\n
and who are reaping the consequences<\/p>\n
and this is a picture of mankind all the<\/p>\n
way throughout<\/p>\n
the scriptures<\/p>\n
like in romans 3 none is righteous<\/p>\n
no not one no one understands<\/p>\n
no one seeks for god all have turned<\/p>\n
aside and together they have become<\/p>\n
worthless no one does good not even one<\/p>\n
whenever i'm wrong<\/p>\n
so judah micah's people god's people<\/p>\n
they've become a society that is corrupt<\/p>\n
from<\/p>\n
top to bottom and despite micah's<\/p>\n
warnings and pleadings and preaching<\/p>\n
they simply<\/p>\n
will not turn away from their<\/p>\n
so micah has very good reason to lament<\/p>\n
and in this situation<\/p>\n
any future restoration of god's people<\/p>\n
it must have seemed<\/p>\n
impossible<\/p>\n
but why does this matter to us how does<\/p>\n
this idea<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
when you look at your reality your life<\/p>\n
encompass<\/p>\n
in comparison to your dreams<\/p>\n
or do you ever just want to give up when<\/p>\n
you see mismanagement or<\/p>\n
corruption and injustice in community<\/p>\n
leaders and in government<\/p>\n
yes<\/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<\/p>\n
this should be like a normal regular and<\/p>\n
even a<\/p>\n
holy rhythm of our lives it is a right<\/p>\n
response to a life under the fall<\/p>\n
cancer<\/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 don't be ashamed<\/p>\n
of your lament<\/p>\n
it's right to look around you and inside<\/p>\n
of you even<\/p>\n
and grieve and grieve for the evil the<\/p>\n
injustice and<\/p>\n
just the wrongness of it all all is not<\/p>\n
well<\/p>\n
second of all don't waste your lament<\/p>\n
let yourself feel what paul talks about<\/p>\n
in romans 8<\/p>\n
that the whole world is groaning for<\/p>\n
things to be<\/p>\n
made right yes<\/p>\n
and third don't let your lament become<\/p>\n
despair<\/p>\n
see it's so easy to lose sight of god<\/p>\n
to forget his promises and then just to<\/p>\n
lose hope all together<\/p>\n
but as one pastor said about this<\/p>\n
passage the difference between<\/p>\n
lament and despair<\/p>\n
is that unlike despair lament<\/p>\n
knows where to look that's<\/p>\n
so let's move on to verses 7 through 13<\/p>\n
looking<\/p>\n
to the lord<\/p>\n
so now that we looked at micah's lament<\/p>\n
let's see what he does<\/p>\n
with this lament and why this kind of<\/p>\n
lament<\/p>\n
actually honors god<\/p>\n
and as we start off i want us to see<\/p>\n
that verse 7 seems to be the key or the<\/p>\n
foundation to understanding this passage<\/p>\n
and to understanding<\/p>\n
micah's lament if we want to see how to<\/p>\n
well we've got to understand verse seven<\/p>\n
japan kundalini<\/p>\n
so micah says but as for me i will look<\/p>\n
to the lord i will wait for the god of<\/p>\n
my salvation<\/p>\n
my god will hear me.<\/p>\n
pray<\/p>\n
so micah has just passionately expressed<\/p>\n
his deep grief<\/p>\n
and disappointment about the spiritual<\/p>\n
state of judah<\/p>\n
and how does he respond<\/p>\n
but as for me i will look<\/p>\n
now just imagine this you've been<\/p>\n
pouring your heart out<\/p>\n
you've been pouring your soul out you've<\/p>\n
been warning and preaching and pleading<\/p>\n
with the people<\/p>\n
that they would just turn back just come<\/p>\n
back to god just<\/p>\n
do what you're supposed to do and you<\/p>\n
see no fruit<\/p>\n
no progress nothing<\/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 when someone calls you to lose<\/p>\n
faith<\/p>\n
what about when a trusted friend betrays<\/p>\n
you<\/p>\n
or when a boss or a company uses and<\/p>\n
uses<\/p>\n
and uses you and you're overlooked for<\/p>\n
promotions<\/p>\n
or advancements<\/p>\n
in<\/p>\n
what do you do to whom or to<\/p>\n
what do you look in those times<\/p>\n
so do you do you look to your bank<\/p>\n
account when all else crumbles around<\/p>\n
you do you<\/p>\n
run to your money or your stuff<\/p>\n
just to make you feel better<\/p>\n
or do you look to social media if you<\/p>\n
don't have money<\/p>\n
when someone wrongs you when someone<\/p>\n
causes you to lose face do you<\/p>\n
vent about it online just to gain<\/p>\n
sympathy from others and just to make<\/p>\n
the ones that you hurt look bad or when<\/p>\n
you're feeling worthless do you rush to<\/p>\n
post something<\/p>\n
that everybody's going to like post the<\/p>\n
perfect picture so that you can kind of<\/p>\n
collect<\/p>\n
people's likes and comments so that you<\/p>\n
can feel better about yourself again for<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
to save us to give us relief or even to<\/p>\n
give us worth<\/p>\n
really just to pull us out of lament<\/p>\n
around but micah has a much better<\/p>\n
recommendation and actually he<\/p>\n
recommends<\/p>\n
two interrelated things<\/p>\n
first of all he recommends<\/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<\/p>\n
but what does it actually mean to<\/p>\n
in this text he gives us two examples<\/p>\n
first one is<\/p>\n
god is his light in darkness in verse<\/p>\n
eight<\/p>\n
so in times of grief in times of trouble<\/p>\n
everything around us seems dark our<\/p>\n
world seems to be crumbling around us<\/p>\n
and everything's going wrong<\/p>\n
and in those dark times micah says that<\/p>\n
god will be the light through which he<\/p>\n
sees<\/p>\n
everything around him so circumstances<\/p>\n
grief itself loss pain suffering<\/p>\n
none of these things will be the lens<\/p>\n
through which he sees<\/p>\n
and the second thing that he does to<\/p>\n
look to the lord is god<\/p>\n
is his help verse nine so to look to god<\/p>\n
is to recognize that during grief during<\/p>\n
suffering<\/p>\n
nothing else can truly help see when<\/p>\n
when my<\/p>\n
kids are hurt or sad or ashamed or tired<\/p>\n
or angry<\/p>\n
who do they look to they look to mama<\/p>\n
and daddy<\/p>\n
no one else can help<\/p>\n
somebody<\/p>\n
missing<\/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<\/p>\n
he is recounting the goodness and<\/p>\n
promises of god<\/p>\n
and this is what it means this is what<\/p>\n
it<\/p>\n
looks like to look to the lord this is<\/p>\n
what you<\/p>\n
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
and then second of all he recommends<\/p>\n
waiting on the god of our salvation in<\/p>\n
verse seven<\/p>\n
so notice first of all there's a humble<\/p>\n
reliance<\/p>\n
on god in spite of his own sins<\/p>\n
and notice micah isn't claiming<\/p>\n
perfection or moral righteousness or<\/p>\n
that he has it all together<\/p>\n
he's admitting that he is a sinner and<\/p>\n
he's submitting to god's<\/p>\n
justice and he's trusting in god's mercy<\/p>\n
and this is actually the perfect example<\/p>\n
walking humbly with your god<\/p>\n
young<\/p>\n
and next he waits on god's justice so<\/p>\n
though people<\/p>\n
are mocking him though he is slandered<\/p>\n
he's attacked he looks to the lord and<\/p>\n
he<\/p>\n
waits on god to vindicate him<\/p>\n
on<\/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<\/p>\n
that the mockers will keep mocking but<\/p>\n
that his salvation and his<\/p>\n
vindication must come from god alone<\/p>\n
by puting<\/p>\n
and this is the question for each of us<\/p>\n
why is that<\/p>\n
so hard why can't we just look to the<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
believe the third phrase in verse seven<\/p>\n
notice he says but as for me i will look<\/p>\n
i will wait for the god of my salvation<\/p>\n
and the third<\/p>\n
my god will hear me from<\/p>\n
because underlying mike is looking to<\/p>\n
the lord and waiting on the salvation is<\/p>\n
the foundational belief<\/p>\n
that god hears him<\/p>\n
like<\/p>\n
why don't we believe this and and how do<\/p>\n
we come to believe<\/p>\n
and trust like this really we<\/p>\n
bask<\/p>\n
so let's look at verses 14 through 20<\/p>\n
through 20<\/p>\n
basking in his grace<\/p>\n
so back in america especially in the<\/p>\n
south where i'm from<\/p>\n
the springtime is glorious so after<\/p>\n
three<\/p>\n
or four months of dreary cold<\/p>\n
staying indoors most of the time um<\/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 no american<\/p>\n
and when the spring comes and the sun<\/p>\n
comes out the weather<\/p>\n
is perfect and the leaves and the<\/p>\n
flowers come out and they begin to<\/p>\n
appear again<\/p>\n
and all across the south people come<\/p>\n
outside in droves and<\/p>\n
yards and parks are full and people are<\/p>\n
getting together for outdoor parties and<\/p>\n
everyone just wants to be outside in<\/p>\n
nature<\/p>\n
yeah but mostly<\/p>\n
people come outside to see and feel<\/p>\n
and enjoy the sun again and so after<\/p>\n
after several weeks of dark cold days<\/p>\n
we're just ready to go out and to feel<\/p>\n
the sun on our skin<\/p>\n
and we bask in it we revel in it we soak<\/p>\n
it in<\/p>\n
as if we're never going to see it again<\/p>\n
let's<\/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
so let's take a look at how micah does<\/p>\n
this basking in god's grace<\/p>\n
through the last seven verses of micah<\/p>\n
and before we really dive into that i<\/p>\n
want you to notice just how much like a<\/p>\n
psalm<\/p>\n
this last section is to hello<\/p>\n
japanese<\/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<\/p>\n
and one quick point of application from<\/p>\n
all of us<\/p>\n
changing and they've been competing that<\/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<\/p>\n
to the psalms<\/p>\n
foreign moving from lament in verses one<\/p>\n
through six<\/p>\n
there's a sort of and then there's a<\/p>\n
personal uh declaration of god's<\/p>\n
goodness and might and<\/p>\n
justice in verses 7 through 13. and then<\/p>\n
micah closes this book which is<\/p>\n
so let's look at just a couple of ways<\/p>\n
which micah goes about<\/p>\n
basking in god's grace in these last<\/p>\n
seven verses<\/p>\n
and we're only going to focus on two<\/p>\n
things prayer<\/p>\n
and praise<\/p>\n
so in uh let's look at prayer first in<\/p>\n
verses 14 through 17<\/p>\n
micah is praying god's promises<\/p>\n
to who to god<\/p>\n
he calls israel the flock of your<\/p>\n
inheritance he calls god to use his<\/p>\n
staff to comfort and shepherd judah he<\/p>\n
begs for 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 he's<\/p>\n
basking<\/p>\n
in the access that he has to god<\/p>\n
almighty<\/p>\n
this is the kind of boldness from that<\/p>\n
comes from believing<\/p>\n
my god<\/p>\n
is actually training his own heart to<\/p>\n
walk with god through lament and to<\/p>\n
look to god always by walking through<\/p>\n
and looking at god's promises mikhail<\/p>\n
do you want to learn to look to the lord<\/p>\n
in times of grief and lament<\/p>\n
do you want your heart to be at rest in<\/p>\n
those kind 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<\/p>\n
all understanding will guard our hearts<\/p>\n
and so prayer is this intimate basking<\/p>\n
in god's grace that takes us directly<\/p>\n
to the throne of god and it's there for<\/p>\n
us<\/p>\n
every waking minute of the day<\/p>\n
and then the last thing he does is<\/p>\n
praise<\/p>\n
and the he closes the book<\/p>\n
this book with judgment and pain he<\/p>\n
closes it with praise of god for his<\/p>\n
boundless grace<\/p>\n
and this is where we find and this is<\/p>\n
where we<\/p>\n
bask in the full sunlight of god's grace<\/p>\n
because<\/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<\/p>\n
and he is driven to praise and worship<\/p>\n
why because there is<\/p>\n
no god like this how long<\/p>\n
poor day<\/p>\n
you see because our little gods our<\/p>\n
idols<\/p>\n
they don't pardon iniquities they don't<\/p>\n
pass over transgression they don't deal<\/p>\n
with our sins<\/p>\n
and they don't show us faithfulness they<\/p>\n
only bring this guilt and<\/p>\n
shame and an ever-growing sense of<\/p>\n
dissatisfaction<\/p>\n
words to the people of judah and to us<\/p>\n
he points<\/p>\n
us to this god this<\/p>\n
is a god who forgives our wickedness our<\/p>\n
rebellion<\/p>\n
and our guilt who canceled the record of<\/p>\n
debt that stood against you and i<\/p>\n
by nailing it to the cross this is the<\/p>\n
god who will tread<\/p>\n
our iniquities underfoot<\/p>\n
around<\/p>\n
this is the god who keeps his word who<\/p>\n
will not break covenant<\/p>\n
you show faithfulness to jacob and<\/p>\n
steadfast love<\/p>\n
to abraham<\/p>\n
and he says this is the god who despite<\/p>\n
your failures and my<\/p>\n
failures welcomes all of us who come to<\/p>\n
him<\/p>\n
for he will again have compassion on us<\/p>\n
he delights<\/p>\n
in steadfast love<\/p>\n
so listen if you struggle to look to the<\/p>\n
lord in times of grief<\/p>\n
in times of lament if you tend to<\/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<\/p>\n
through grief and lament the only way<\/p>\n
that you and i will be able to look to<\/p>\n
the lord to wait on his salvation<\/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 holy<\/p>\n
word that you've given us we thank you<\/p>\n
that you have shown us<\/p>\n
how to lament 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 love you<\/p>\n
and desire you more than anything else<\/p>\n
and let us<\/p>\n
bask in your boundless grace<\/p>\n
help us to turn from our idols help us<\/p>\n
to turn<\/p>\n
to you we ask all this in your name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","teacher":null,"original_publish_date":"20210726","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OakJqdepfUY","video_id":"OakJqdepfUY","video_duration":"44:15","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964","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=964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":965,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions\/965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}