The Mercy God Shows

Bible Passage: Micah 7:7-20

This sermon closes out the series on Micah by looking at the final chapter of the book. The prophet has been direct in calling out Israel for their sin, as well as in setting before them the future promises of God. Here we find this note of hope comes to the fore once more, as we see that God still has mercy and future even for a people who have turned from him.

Hope In the Darkness (v7-10): The tone of these verses is confident waiting for God to provide salvation, and we see an audacity of hope that is staggering. The prophet openly acknowledges his sin and accepts God’s discipline, yet remains confident that God will not abandon him forever. His defence is not that his acts are righteous but that God himself will be his advocate and saviour (v7) who will bring him out into the light. In other words, his hope is that he will receive the grace of God even in spite of sin, and because of this there can be no place for the enemy to gloat against God’s people.

A Future Beyond the Ruins (v11-13): In light of grace received, we see now what the new reality will be for the people of God. These verses speak of both rebuilding and expanding. As the people are redeemed and restored, so the ruins of what went before will be restored into something secure. God’s people will be brought into a place of security, provision and experience of his promise. In the most immediate sense this was fulfilled in the stories of Haggai, Ezra, and Nehemiah as the people returned from exile, but we also see a picture here for the bigger restoration of God’s people that we see in Christ, both now and into eternity. Along with this rebuilding we also see an expansion taking place, and the boundaries of the land were extended and people from other nations were drawn in. Though the kingdom of God starts small, it spreads and grows into something large, and sees people from all the nations of the earth brought into what God is doing.

The Mercy That Restores (v14-20): In this final part of the book, the focus turns to God. Restoration doesn’t happen because of anything the people have done, but because of the faithful mercy of God. He is the one who will shepherd his people and bring them into fertile spaces where they can feed, and he is the one who will show them his wonders and mighty deeds. This all flows from God’s character, which we see clearly set out in verse. 18. What marks God out as God is his eagerness to forgive sins and show mercy. Even when we have turned a long way from God, there is always mercy available and forgiveness ready for us as we turn back to him. The mercy Micah celebrates finds its fullest expression at the cross, where God dealt with sin not by ignoring it but by bearing it in Christ.

Potential Applications

• The passage carries a clear message of grace. Use the moment to invite anyone, no matter what sin they may be guilty of, to come to Jesus and find forgiveness in him.
• There are implications of this for how we treat others as well. Sometimes we can want to hold the wrongdoings of others against them, but understanding the forgiving nature of God and seeing how he has forgiven us should make us ready to forgive the wrongs of others as well.
• The passage speaks of people from different nations coming into the people of God, and in the New Testament we see this come to pass. You could spend some time praying for the spread of the gospel into different countries and for God to draw people of many nationalities into your own congregation.