Devotional on Micah 7
<p>Micah 7:                                                     GREAT EXPECTATIONS
-  Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.  2.  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 a net.  3.  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.  4.  The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
How many of us have not wished that the world was a better place; we long for the firstripe fruit, at its best, but instead have come into a world too late to see Eden.
How often do we see a seeming lack of integrity and leadership among those in high places.
How many of us have not wished that we were better men, more like Jesus or Moses or Paul; when faced with our sin, we long for the firstripe fruit, at its best in our lives.
And we look around the world and hear nothing but the bad news, we look to ourselves and see sin.  And we long for the firstripe fruit, at its best
DISCOURAGEMENT
SADNESS
DISAPPOINTMENT
DEPRESSION Can be the result unless we decide to see things the way God does!
-  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. 6.  For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
The condition of Israel in Micah's time was such that even those things and people which should have been trustworthy and a source of comfort & refuge, could not be trusted.
This can be a time of God's shaking if we've grown too comfortable.
This is true in EVERY CASE where men trust in someone or something other than God.
When we look to ourselves up against the standards God sets, how can we ever trust ourselves?
Micah shared this experience, and looking both at the nation of Israel and himself, could have only dispare, if not for one great truth!
-  Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
Micah would let God be the solution, and wait for HIS solution to those things which were always before Micah.  Micah was confident that God would hear him.
Let the Lord work His work!
Psalms 37:7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Lamentations 3:25-26  25  The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.  26  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
-  Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.
Who is the enemy?  Is it THEM or is it US?  No matter!
The fall is not denied, IT IS ANTICIPATED!  IT IS EXPECTED, And so is the rising!
The darkness is not denied, IT IS ANITICIPATED, IT IS EXPECTED but so is the light from the Lord.
Let the Lord work His work!
-  I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
The Lord's chastisement IS ANITICIPATED, IT IS EXPECTED
Not avoided, skirted or forgotten !
Let the Lord work His work!
Job 34:31-32  31  Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:  32  That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
Lamentations 3:39-42  39  Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?  40  Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.  41  Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.  42  We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
In the same manner, complaining about the condition of the world, or its people, or being impatient with loved ones or fellow christians will accomplish nothing.
It is recognized however that the chastisement and the conditions are temporary, and the chastisement leads to GOD PLEADING OUR CAUSE!
Skip down to v. 18 ...
-  Who is a 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.  19.  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.  20.  Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Deuteronomy 30:6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Matthew 22: 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.</p>