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Sermon #26 Micah Series
Title: Looking, Waiting, Expecting
Text: Micah 7:7 Subject: Living by Faith Date: Tuesday Evening — April 17, 2012 Tape: Micah #26 Readings: Lindsay Campbell and Larry Brown Introduction:
If you can remember three words, you will be able to remember my message and my outline. — Looking, Waiting, Expecting. That is the title of my message; and those are the three points by which I will deliver it. — Looking, Waiting, Expecting. Our text will be Micah 7:7.
“Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7)
The word “Therefore” connects our text with the immediately preceding context. So let’s read the opening verses together with our text. — Micah 7:1-7.
“1 ¶ 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. 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. 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.” “7 ¶ Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:1-7)
“Therefore”
“Therefore” moves us from great necessity to a priceless privilege. This portion of Holy Scripture speaks of a time when those we should be able to trust with unlimited confidence are not to be found, a time when neither a companion nor a familiar friend, nor even a child or a wife, could be trusted (vs. 5-6).
Such has been the experience of many in the past.
As it was in the days of Micah, so was in the days of our Savior while he walked upon the earth.
We should not be surprised to experience the same great heaviness. Our Savior taught us to expect such times as these (Matthew 10:24, 34-36).
(Matthew 10:24) “The disciple is not above [his] master, nor the servant above his lord.”
(Matthew 10:34-36) “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes [shall be] they of his own household.”
If we look for help from men, if we hope that the next president, or senate, or congress will improve things, we are sure to find out hope vanity! The prospect manward is today as dark and depressing in the extreme as it was in Micah’s day. Note what a disintegrating and destructive force sin is.
The wisdom of this world not only separates man and God (Isaiah 59:2), but seeks to alienate friends, break up families, destroy human confidences, and gender a pessimism expressed in the passionate verdict of the psalmist, — “All men are liars!”
Most conclude, “I cannot place confidence in others, but I can trust myself.” If you do, you are a fool. — “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:36; Jeremiah 17:5, 9).
(Jeremiah 17:5, 8-9) “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD… 9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Shut Up
The opening word of verse 7, “Therefore,” means that we are completely shut up to God. Oh, blessed enclosure! Oh! what a blessed place that man is in, who is altogether shut up to God!
(Micah 7:7) “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”
Blessed is that person who can from the heart lift his heart the Lord Jehovah, the God of heaven and earth with such confidence, looking to him in faith, waiting upon him in patience, expecting him to hear and answer his prayer in blessed hope! I say, — Blessed is that disappointment, trouble, sorrow, or affliction, whatever it may be, that compels us to leave everything to the Lord God our Savior!
(Micah 7:7) “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”
Looking
“Therefore I will look unto the LORD.” — “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help” (Psalms 121:1). — “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct [my prayer] unto thee, and will look up” (Psalms 5:3). — That is to say, “I will pray and look up. I will pray and look to the LORD!” — I will look to the Lord (Jehovah) alone. I will put my trust in God my Savior. I will look up to the Lord in prayer, place my confidence in him, expect all good things from him, and wait for them from him.
The name by which the triune God revealed himself to Moses, “Jehovah,” describes his character as God our Savior. He is the eternal, unchangeable, faithful, covenant keeping God. He revealed himself by this new name when he came as the Redeemer of his distressed people to redeem and deliver them out of Egypt’s cruel bondage.
God’s glorious redemptive name is Jehovah. The word “Jehovah” means “Savior” or “Deliverer” (Exodus 6:3). God in Christ is God mighty to save! Jehovah essentially means “to be.” And our Lord Jesus Christ declares that he is the One “which is, which was, and which is to come” (Revelation 1:4). He is the eternal God of salvation, redemption, and deliverance.
I am told that the Jews had such reverence for this name that they would not allow it to be spoken in common conversation, read aloud, or even written. When the scribes would write the word Jehovah in copying the Scriptures, they would bathe themselves before writing it. I would not have us given over to Jewish superstitions; but I do pray that God will give us a true reverence for his name. — “This glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD” (Deuteronomy 28:58) is not to be taken in vain, used in common speech, or spoken with any levity. — “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). He that sent redemption to his people and commanded his covenant forever is to be reverenced by us. — “Holy and reverend is his name” (Psalm 111:9).
The word “look” is commonly used throughout the Word of God to speak of faith in Christ.
Illustration: The Brazen Serpent
(John 3:14-16) “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
(Isaiah 45:20-25) “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye [that are] escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god [that] cannot save. 21 Tell ye, and bring [them] near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? [who] hath told it from that time? [have] not I the LORD? and [there is] no God else beside me; —— a just God and a Saviour; [there is] none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not return, —— That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. —— 24 Surely, shall [one] say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: —— [even] to him shall [men] come; —— and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. —— 25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.”
I will look to God the Father, my Father. I will look to God the Son, my Covenant Surety. I will look to God the Holy Ghost, my Divine Comforter. — I will unto the Lord Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.
I will look unto the Lord for all things for all things…
I will look unto the Lord as he is held forth in…
O Holy Spirit of God, give me grace, in all my ways, in all my days, in every darkness, through every storm, to be looking unto the Lord Jehovah, my God! That is the first thing. — Looking! — “Therefore I will look unto the Lord.”
Waiting
Now, look at the next line. — “I will wait for the God of my salvation.” Oh, what a rich treasure we have in God our Savior. He who is our God is “the God.” And he who is “the God” is “the God of my salvation!” Just in proportion as we realize that he who is our God is the solitary God of the universe and that he is the God of our salvation, we will wait for him, patiently wait for him.
“I will wait for the God of my salvation” — If he tarry, I will wait for him; because he will surely come, he will not tarry (Habakkuk 2:3). That is the voice of faith; and that is the faith and patience of the saints (Revelation 13:10 14:12). Our dear Savior sometimes hides himself and seems to be far off. Sometimes, he seems to be far off for a very long time, until our eyes fail with weeping, looking for his salvation (Psalm 119:82); but at the appointed time he will appear. He will come near. He will show himself!
How often we are like Peter, to whom the Savior said, “What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter” (John 13:7). Let us therefore be content to wait. — “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7).
(Proverbs 3:5-6) “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
(Psalms 27:14) “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
(Psalms 130:5) “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.”
(Isaiah 8:17) “And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.”
(Isaiah 40:27-31) “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.”
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill He treasures up His bright designs, And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy and will break With blessings on your head.
His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His works in vain; God is His own interpreter. And He will make it plain.
(Psalms 62:5) “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation [is] from him.”
He upon who we wait is “The God of my salvation!” It is he who has saved us, and not we ourselves. He is…
“I will wait for the God of my salvation!” — I will wait for before him who is the author of temporal, and spiritual, and eternal salvation.
God hive me race, give us grace, that we may be able to say, with Jacob, when we are about to leave this world of woe, — “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD” (Genesis 49:18).
LOOKING — That’s the first thing. “Therefore will I look unto the Lord!” — Waiting — That’s the second thing. “I will wait for the God of my salvation!” Alright, here’s the third thing…
Expecting
“My God will hear me!” That is my reason for waiting upon him. I am confident that “My God will hear me!” That is my expectation of him.
(Micah 7:7) “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”
“My God will hear me!” — What a charming sentence! Can you say it? Only five words, but what meaning! Huge volumes of poetry have appeared from Chaucer to Tennyson to Frost; but here is the essence of poetry in five short, simple, one syllable, sublime words. You will never suck all the sweetness from this ripe fruit!
“My God will hear me!” — There is more eloquence in that sentence than in all the orations of Demosthenes. He that can speak these words truthfully is the richest, most powerful man in the world.
“My God will hear me!” — God the Holy Spirit puts this sentence in the mouth of every heaven born soul! Every child of God may “My God will hear me!” — “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
“My God will hear me!” — This sentence of gold is found in the deep, dark hole of heavy trouble. —— Heaven is brightest when earth is darkest; and heaven is warmest when earth is coldest.
First, look at the way Micah describes God. — “My God!” Martin Luther wrote, concerning this title given by Micah to the Lord, “There is a great deal of divinity in the personal pronoun ‘my.’ The theology taught in the term ‘my God’ is worth more than all the lectures ever given on the attributes. He who is “my God” is “the Lord.” He who is “my God” is “the God.” But no title given to God is sweeter and more meaningful that this. He is “my God!”…
(Psalms 62:5) “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation [is] from him.”
This is what I fully expect from him. — “My God will hear me!”
(Philippians 3:7-11) “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
(Philippians 3:20-21) “20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
(Micah 7:7) “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”
Amen.
Don Fortner
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