Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Pre-exilic Prophets 4 (4)
Pray Psalm 71.23, 24.
My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.Sing Psalm 71.23, 24 (3).
(Solid Rock: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
My lips with joy and praises ring; to You, Redeemer, praise I bring!
I praise Your goodness all day long; LORD, humble all who do me wrong.
Refrain
A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
my Rock and Fortress ever be.
Read Micah 7.14-20; meditate on verses 18-20.
Preparation
1. What makes God unique?
2. In what does God delight?
Meditation
God promises that He will come to shepherd His flock, as they occupy their place before Him in all the nations. When our Shepherd King comes to care for the flock of His heritage, great blessing will ensue.
For then the people will feed, be delivered, and know great wonders from the Lord (vv. 14, 15; cf. Jn. 14.12). It will be a deliverance like when He brought them out of Egypt with many signs and great power.
Then nations will see and be ashamed of the power of God, which they will see in His sheep (v. 15). The mouths of the nations shall be stopped, they will know the curse of God, and they will be subject to Him and fear Him, as they see the great things He does in and for His people (vv. 16, 17; cf. Ps. 126).
Forgiveness, mercy, compassion, and righteousness will abound among the people of the Lord (vv. 18, 19). How many ways can the Lord say this, to impress upon us the wonder of grace? He pardons iniquity, passes over transgressions, does not retain His anger forever, delights in mercy, has compassion on us, and casts all our sins away into the depths of the ocean! Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Thus God’s covenant is fulfilled, when the Shepherd King comes to take away our sins. The truth of God, in the form of the promises made to the fathers, will be given to the people of God for the blessing of the world (v. 20). For all the promises of God are “Yes!” and “Amen!” in our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1.20).
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments” (Ps. 119.164).
However, the only way we can possibly be thankful for His righteous judgment is because of the work of redemption that Jesus accomplished for us. Otherwise, His righteous judgment would condemn us to eternal separation from Him.
But because of Jesus, God delights in showing us mercy—pardoning our sins and passing over our transgressions (Mic. 7.18).
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
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).
“He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities” (Mic. 7.19).
So often, when the word subdue is used, it is in reference to our enemies.
“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries” (Ps. 81.13, 14).
But truly, our own sins are our worst enemies. And praise God, He has taken on the task of subduing them for us, when we plead for His help to do so (1 Jn. 1.8-10).
His great acts against our sins are as wondrous as His works against the Egyptians (Mic. 7.15).
“I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” (Ex. 15.1).
“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7.19).
“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103.11, 12).
“My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You cover/plaster over my iniquity” (Job 14.17).
Plastered over. Sealed up. Forgiven. Our sins far away. Because of Jesus and His great work for us.
“Yes” and “Amen” in our Lord Jesus Christ!
Reflection
1. How has God revealed His mighty power in your life?
2. Our sins are forgiven and cast away, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still sin. Explain.
3. Whom will God bless through you today? How should you prepare for that?
As their sin brought them into bondage, so God’s pardoning their sin brought them out. All who find pardoning mercy, cannot but wonder at that mercy; we have reason to stand amazed, if we know what it is. When the Lord takes away the guilt of sin, that it may not condemn us, he will break the power of sin, that it may not have dominion over us. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Micah 7.14-20
Pray Psalm 71.17-22.
Give thanks to God for the “righteous deeds” by which He has saved us. Praise our Good Shepherd for watching over us continually. Praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that there is no one like Him.
Sing Psalm 71.17-22 (3).
(Solid Rock: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
O LORD, I praise Your righteousness Who me from youth have taught and blessed.
Forsake me not when I am old, ’til I Your mercies all have told!
Refrain
A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
my Rock and Fortress ever be.
Your righteous deeds are great and true. O God, there is no one like You!
Though many troubles I have seen, You will revive my soul again!
Refrain
Increase my greatness, comfort me, and unto You shall praises be.
Your truth I will exalt full well, O Holy One of Israel!
Refrain
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures 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.
