Introduction – Micah ends with a
song of victory and praise over the mercy of God. Too often, we think of mercy as a passive, resistable offer from
God. But mercy is a characteristic of God,
and He will have mercy on whom He will.
That is why He is able to say that He will have mercy on Abraham (and
all his descendants).
Micah has
described a nation of prophets, priests and kings all full of sin – and a
people who love it as long as the corruption favors them. What should we expect from God? But God delights in mercy.
Incomparable Mercy – “Who is a God
like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant
of His heritage?” (v18a) –
Micah
– is a shortened form of this question “who is like God”. It is possible that the word-play emphasizes
the closing of the book with this capstone of truth.
Who Pardons
Iniquities Like This? – Plenty of ‘gods’ pardon sins, but
always at a cost from the one seeking the pardon – which isn’t really a pardon,
but a wage-earned. Only in Christ can
we have the One who is just and at the same time justifies (Rom 3:26). His pardon is all of grace; it is free to
us; we do nothing (Eph 2:1-10).
A Source of Delight – “He does not
retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.” (v18b) – His anger
does not go away because over time, He gets over it. It doesn’t end because you finally pay up enough in penance. It goes away because He delights in mercy. And in this merciful forgiveness –
There is No
Guilt – We do not deserve any of this. But at the same time, we do not have to hang
our heads in embarrassment, for it is all to the praise of the glory of His
grace.
There is No
Condemnation – Because all sin is washed away (past, present
and future), there is nothing left to condemn (Rom 8:1-2). My constant battle with present sin does not
rattle my assurance when I fall upon His mercy.
There is No
Alienation – God hasn’t invited you in to His home, but
set you off in the corner a bit ashamed to have you in His place. Because He delights in mercy, He delights
over you with singing (Zeph 3:17), for by His grace, you have called upon His
salvation (Mic 7:7).
Mercy in His
Name – When God allows His glory to pass by Moses,
mercy is His name (Ex 34:6-7). As we have
seen in Micah, He abounds in justice, but He delights in mercy.
The Power of Mercy – “He will again
have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths
of the sea” (v19) – This song is borrowing words from another victory song
(Ex 15:10-11). The promise of a
glorious return from exile is given in Micah’s day, pointing back to the exodus
and pointing forward to the wonders of the Messiah.
Subduing our
Iniquities – We too, were slaves, and we too, have been
set free (Rom 6:5-8).
Casting All our
Sins – How much of our sin? How far can He throw? (see also Psalm
103:8-12).
The Promise of Mercy – “You will give
truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from
days of old” (v20) –Upon these promises, God acknowledged the groaning of
the Israelites in their bondage to Egypt (Ex 2:24). The same promises are held in Christ in Mary’s song (Luke 3:50,
54-55), and all who are in Christ are there according to the same promises (Eph
2:11-13, Gal 3:29).
In the Teeth of Mercy – As God pours out
the mercy He delights in, He keeps full control over who receives it and He
will chastise those who misuse it.
Electing Love
– God gave His Son out of His mercy towards us. He did not simply offer this precious mercy. He determined before time who were to be the
recipients, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was
given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (1 Tim 1:9).
Don’t Harden
Your Hearts – Today, if you hear of this mercy, in refusing
it, you are asking the Lord to harden your heart (Psalm 95:8-11). And once your heart is hardened, what makes
you think you will ever turn to His mercy later? God is not merciful so that you may trifle with your sin now.
He is not
Tight-Fisted with His Mercy – He has promised His mercy to Abraham
and Jacob and their seed. He has
promised them that through them all nations shall be blessed. The outpouring of this mercy is not like
squeezing blood from a turnip. It is
more like an ocean where you can never find the end or the bottom. And it is His delight. Dave Hatcher –
January 28, 2000