Micah 7:8 (NKJV)
“I Will Rise”
September 29, 2024
Judah had gone through the disastrous reign of Ahaz, who was a vassal to the Assyrians, who desecrated the Temple of God in Jerusalem, who had engaged in child sacrifice to appease his Assyrian masters. Micah was prophesying in the reign of Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, who was a good man, but still wondered about an alliance with the Assyrians or the Egyptians. Micah had witnessed the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722BC and did not wish to see the same things in the south. It is in Micah that we find the famous statement that is etched in the Library of Congress in Washington DC, “What does the Lord require of you, to seek justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6). As with most of the prophets, Micah has a great concern about the moral lives of the people. There is a great vision of darkness in the land, a great sense that the country is without any sense of where it is going morally. “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us.” (Micah 3). Micah has grasped the human condition without God. He details the sins of his people, the selfishness that leads to oppression, the religious failures of prophets and priests, and the violence that had become all too common in his world. Families in disarray, communities in trouble, institutions that were supposed to hold the nation together simply falling apart. Nothing was as it should be. Judges cannot be trusted. He says in our chapter today verse 5, that neighbors should not be trusted. Do not confide in friends or even in your wife. Sons are against fathers, daughters against mothers. Does this sound familiar to anyone? In contrast, society did not view itself as doing anything wrong! Judah sees itself on the right path! So, the Prophet Micah had to face enemies, enemies who criticized him for Whom he stood for. “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;” NOTE: The enemy is the one spoken of in verse 10 who says, “Where is the LORD your God?” Make sure you know who the enemy is or else you will be fighting the wrong war! – The enemy is not your boss, the enemy is not your minister, the enemy is not your deacon, the enemy is not your spouse, the enemy is not your parent, the enemy is not your teacher. The “enemy” is the World! "Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light." The enemy may have overwhelmed you with trouble, he may have even tripped you up and you may have stumbled, but being down is not where God has destined you to be. Down is not your destiny! You shall rise!
Our Sin - When I fall, I will arise! There is an old saying that goes, “You can’t keep a good man down.” King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 24:16, “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” A person who trusts in the Lord and depends on God throughout his life may trip and fall over and over again, but he won’t stay down. He will overcome obstacles and challenges by God’s grace and strength, dusting himself off and rising again. Resilience is one of the blessings of those who choose right living because God is on their side. King David said in Psalm 37, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.” Even when enemies rage against them, the righteous can say, “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” (NLT). We can’t let shortcomings and failures keep us down and discouraged. We will make many mistakes in this walk of faith, but God will give us the strength to get up, get over it, try again, and succeed. Paul said to the Ephesians, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (2:4). I know I will rise in the ages to come, because I have been raised up together with Jesus and God made me sit together with Him in heavenly places!
Our Seat – When the Prophet writes, “When I sit in darkness,” I need you to know today, THAT IS NOT YOUR SEAT! In Psalm 1 the phrase "seat of the scornful" appears, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful". This verse describes a downward spiral that begins with being influenced by the ungodly, then joining them, and finally sharing their scornful attitudes and behavior. This seat refers to the act of associating with people who are critical, disrespectful, and mock the people of God. But the Prophet tells us that sometimes even the people of God sit in darkness! But that is not your seat! Every one of us has had some dark nights but we always found joy in the morning! Because Colossians 1 says, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 5 says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.’” You may have a pity party in the darkness of a moment, but that is not your seat. Arise out of that darkness and Christ will give you light!
Our Salvation – Because the Lord is my light and my salvation the Prophet says, “The Lord will be a light to me.” Psalm 27 reads, “The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.” 119 reads, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Isaiah (60) said "Rise up and shine, for your light has come. The shining-greatness of the Lord has risen upon you.” Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). God is light, and it is His plan that believers shine forth His light, becoming more like Christ every day. “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Believers in Christ must confess any darkness within themselves – their sins and transgressions – and allow God to shine His light through them. 2 Corinthians 4 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” The Prophet Isaiah tells us (59:19), “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight.” I’m telling you this afternoon, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit that God is about to raise up a standard against the enemy who has been overwhelming you with trouble. Though it may be dark now, the Lord will be a light to you, and you will rise. You may have fallen today, but you shall arise IN THE OF NAME JESUS! The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, “Thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Jesus Christ defeated Satan at Calvary over 2000 years ago and you simply need to place your trust completely in that finished work! Do not let the devil have a say so in your life. Philippians 1 says, “He who has begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Family, God has begun a good work in us and He is going to continue this work and we are going to see mighty results through it. God is going to raise us up for His glory! Because He is our risen Saviour, We will rise.
