My Failure Isn’t the End of the Story

Micah 7:8 (ESV) 8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.

Overview of Micah 

Micah 1:1 (ESV) 1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

The prophet Micah identified himself by his hometown, called Moresheth Gath, which sat near the border of Philistia and Judah about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem. Dwelling in a largely agricultural part of the country, Micah lived outside the governmental centers of power in his nation, leading to his strong concern for the lowly and less fortunate of society—the lame, the outcasts, and the afflicted (Micah 4:6). Therefore, Micah directed much of his prophecy toward the powerful leaders of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah, respectively (1:1) (Insight for Living w/ Chuck Swindoll)

• Chapter 1: coming destruction as a result of judgement
• Chapter 2: woe to the oppressors 
• Chapter 3: rulers and prophets denounced
• Chapter 4: Zion re-established
• Chapter 5: Birth and rule of Christ foretold 
• Chapter 6: indictment of the Lord, what does the Lord require and destruction of the wicked. 
• Chapter 7: waiting on God for salvation. 

God is the only One we can trust!

Micah 7:5-7 (ESV) 5 Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; 6 for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises 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 But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Without God, man will turn on each other no matter how close the relationship. 

• When we look for any rescue outside of God’s salvation, we will surely be let down.  

Micah 7:8 (ESV) 8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.

You may see me fall….. you may fall…. But don’t count me/you out! 

• Our failures aren’t the headline in the news of our life…. SALVATION IS THE HEADLINE!! 

When I sit in darkness…. 

• Not moving around in the darkness, Sitting…. Waiting…. 
• The LORD will be a LIGHT to me. 

1 John 1:5-7 (ESV) 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Micah 7:9 (ESV) 9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.

I will bear the indignation of the LORD…. Because I earned it, I sinned. 

• Micah is confessing for his people…. Confession is necessary before restoration can occur! 

1 John 1:8-10 (ESV) 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.

• Only after I sit and wait will God bring me out to the light….
• Vindication: the act of clearing someone or something from blame

Micah 7:10 (ESV) 10 Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.

It is then that our enemies will be shamed. 

• You asked me where was my God….. well now you see Him! 

Revelation 6:12-17 (ESV) 12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Who is like OUR GOD? 

Micah 7:18-20 (ESV) 18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

1 John 3:1-3 (ESV) 1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.