WHERE IS ANOTHER GOD LIKE YOU?
In the conclusion to the book of Micah, we find a question that we would all do well to ponder, “Where is another God like you?…” (Micah 7:18, NLT). What is most startling about this question is the surrounding context in which it is found. Micah is, in part, a book that contains God’s prophetic warnings to His people, through the mouth of Micah, of impending judgement because of their sins. And yet at its conclusion, Micah says in praise of this same God who will bring judgment on His people, “Where is another God like you…” Micah is able to say this, as are we, because he knows that he serves a God who is “faithful” whose actions toward his people are characterized by “unfailing love” (Mic 7:20, NLT). Despite the judgement to come, God would not fail to preserve a remnant “pardon[ing] [their] guilt” and “overlooking [their] sins”—never ultimately disregarding and abandoning those deemed His “special people” (Micah 7:18). He would not forever “stay angry” with them. Why? Because He “delight[s] in showing unfailing love”!
Micah is incredibly wise to recall God’s character even in the midst of judgement. He is wise, through the personified voice of the city of Zion, to declare humbly1:
“As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. I will be patient as the LORD punished me, for I have sinned against Him. But after that, He will take up my case and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies. The LORD will bring me in the light, and I will see His righteousness. Then my enemies will see that the LORD is on my side…” (Micah 7:7-10a NLT, emphasis mine)
Today, ask yourself this question—and especially so if you feel acutely the weight of sin and guilt: “Where is another God like my God?” Say to yourself, “Yes, I have sinned against Him…” (Micah 7:9, NLT) but “once again You will have compassion on [me]. You will trample [my] sins under Your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! You will show [me] Your faithfulness and unfailing love as You promised to…Abraham and Jacob long ago.”
1) See the, ESV Study Bible (note on Micah 7:8-13), for an explanation of the likely "speaker(s)" here as "personified cities."
Micah is incredibly wise to recall God’s character even in the midst of judgement. He is wise, through the personified voice of the city of Zion, to declare humbly1:
“As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. I will be patient as the LORD punished me, for I have sinned against Him. But after that, He will take up my case and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies. The LORD will bring me in the light, and I will see His righteousness. Then my enemies will see that the LORD is on my side…” (Micah 7:7-10a NLT, emphasis mine)
Today, ask yourself this question—and especially so if you feel acutely the weight of sin and guilt: “Where is another God like my God?” Say to yourself, “Yes, I have sinned against Him…” (Micah 7:9, NLT) but “once again You will have compassion on [me]. You will trample [my] sins under Your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! You will show [me] Your faithfulness and unfailing love as You promised to…Abraham and Jacob long ago.”
1) See the, ESV Study Bible (note on Micah 7:8-13), for an explanation of the likely "speaker(s)" here as "personified cities."
by Pastor Craig, Worship & Music
Posted in Read Through the Bible
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