On Their Backs, at Their Head: Micah 2 (4)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 77.1-3
I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.

Psalm 77.1-3
(Leoni: The God of Abraham Praise)
My voice to God shall rise; I seek Him on His throne.
In days and nights of trouble I seek God alone!
When I remember Him, then am I sore distressed!
My spirit faints and longs to find in Him its rest.

Read Micah 2.8-11

Preparation
1. How does God refer to His people in these verses?

2. What made them so?

Meditation
By turning away from His Word (vv. 6, 7) God’s people had forfeited His promises, rejected the call to uprightness, and become His enemies.

Not a good place to be.

We were all at one time enemies of God (Rom. 5.10). What does that mean? They are enemies of God who take advantage of others, rather than love them as God commands (Mic. 2.8). The enemies of God have little compassion for the neediest people in their society (v. 9). They want what they want, and they don’t care who suffers in the process of getting their way (vv. 8, 9). They are God’s enemies who prefer to listen to lies and false-speaking spirits rather than the truth of His Word (v. 11). And they pursue worldly pleasures rather than God and His promises (v. 11).

All who make themselves enemies of God are on a path of defilement and destruction (v. 10). In this life they will know no permanent rest, for the rest our souls require can only be found in the Lord.

Pray for the enemies of God, that He might use us to make them His friends.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
One that is antagonistic to another; one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent: That is how Merriam-Webster defines the word enemy.

God said, “Lately My people have risen up as an enemy…” (Mic. 2.8). So, God’s people were antagonistic toward Him, seeking to injure, overthrow, and confound Him. That is NOT a good look!

And how foolish. Who wants to be antagonistic to the Creator of the whole world? And really, who would like to step up and inflict injury upon the One Who loves you most? The One Who invented and created Power. This truly is NOT a good idea.

Instead of choosing to be an enemy of God, we can choose to be His friends. But we are only given this opportunity because God is full of mercy, grace, and love. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5.8, 10).

We have been saved to live, so we will want to continue in our friendship with God. We will never again want to be His enemies. Jesus teaches us how to live in harmony with God. He said: “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (Jn. 15.9-14).

Reflection
1. What does it say about God and His grace that He saved us when we were His enemies?

2. What can you do to keep from becoming an enemy of God again?

3. What does it require of us to cultivate friendship with the Lord?

I regard the meaning to be, that they had risen up as against an enemy; that is that they had made God, their best father, their enemy, inasmuch as they had by their crimes provoked his displeasure. He then confirms this truth by saying, that they practiced robberies among themselves. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Micah 2.8

Closing Prayer: Psalm 77.7-20
Pray that God’s people might repent of sin and seek the Lord daily for revival, renewal, and awakening.

Psalm 77.7-20
(Leoni: The God of Abraham Praise)
O Lord, will You reject Your people without end?
Has favor ceased, are You no more our heav’nly Friend?
Your promise and Your love in anger are obscured;
my sin has turned Your hand away, Your beauty blurred.

Now let us call to mind Your deeds and wonders, Lord,
and meditate on all Your works and praise Your Word.
Full holy is Your way, great God of earth and heav’n.
To You, O God of strength and pow’r all praise be giv’n!

The waters and the deeps all tremble ‘neath Your hand.
The clouds give forth, the sky resounds across the land.
Your lightning flashes forth and lights the earth around;
we feel beneath our feet the trembling of the ground.

Your way leads through the sea; Your path the water parts.
Your footprints are to us deep mysteries in our hearts.
As then by Moses’ hand and Aaron’s law-filled voice,
You led Your sheep, lead us that we may all rejoice!

T. M. and Susie Moore

You can listen to last week’s summary of our study by clicking here.

Micah in God’s Covenant
Where does the book of Micah fit in God’s covenant with His people? Our workbook, God’s Covenant, can help you to answer that question and to gain a better understanding of how the grace of God reaches and transforms us in Jesus Christ. Order your free copy by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scripture are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.