Faith Formation: Micah- Justice, Kindness, humility

Do not rejoice over me, my enemies; when I fall I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. I must bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he takes my side and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall see his vindication. Then my enemies will see and shame will cover those who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will see their downfall; now they will be trodden down like the mire of the streets. Micah 7:8-10

Elijah sat in a cave, depressed at the opposition and death threats he faced. He felt very alone. The prophets often felt this way. Jeremiah lamented having to proclaim the word of the LORD to priests who responded by persecuting him. Amos was told to go home to Judah and bother Israel no more. Micah may have felt the same way. Even so the prophets bore the indignation and continued to speak for God. They were less concerned for their own rights and dignity, and more concerned about faithfulness to God. The rest of the prophets words, though still difficult to bear, expressed confidence in God's faithfulness. "But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me." 7:7 Salvation and light may not come quickly or on demand. Patience and endurance, the hallmarks of faith in suffering, would sustain the prophet and the people.

While this passages, and others, use the first person pronoun "I", it was the voice of the community, the nation, the city, and the faith that cried the lament. Cities, like Jerusalem, were referred to with feminine pronouns, "your" as in "your God" is feminine in Hebrew. Lamentations was a communal Lament that at times used first person language, "My transgressions... the LORD handed me over... For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for my comforter is far from me." Lamentations 1:14-16. The community speaks as an individual.

The "enemies" were God's tools to discipline or punish the transgressions of Israel/Jerusalem. Still they were enemies and the afflictions they suffered on the people were immense. In part it was physical destruction and loss of sovereignty and land to Babylon in 587 BCE. More, it was felt as a disaster to the communities' faith in God. Were the gods of enemy Babylon more powerful than the God of Israel? If not, where was God's protection which was sung of continually in the Temple by the priests? Would it be blasphemous to think that God used Israel's enemies as tools of destruction to bring them to repentance and a renewal of the covenant?

The community confessed it's unfaithfulness and the consequences. They had fallen and sat in darkness. The imagery of darkness may come from prisons which were dark without windows of access to light. Jeremiah was imprisoned at the bottom of a well, dark, wet and cold. They bore indignation, the taunts of their enemies, the ridicule of conquerors. "By the rivers of Babylon ... our captors asked us for songs and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion!" Psalm 137 "I have become the laughingstock of all my people, the object of their taunt songs all day long." Lamentations 3:14 The enemy shamed the community by laughing the question, "Where is the LORD your God?" That question contained the seriousness of Israel's offense and lament, and its shame and guilt. Less that God was absent from them, they showed themselves to be absent from God.

The lamenter did not try to make excuses or dodge the guilt or defend or deny the fault. Indeed, less concerned for their own suffering or self-esteem, they expressed deeper concern for the way God was belittled and dismissed by those who taunted with the question. They lamented the question because it struck home where their faith had fallen. "My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, 'Where is your God?' ... As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, 'Where is your God?'" The Psalm returned again and again from that lament to an expression of hope. "Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my help and my God." Psalm 42 The Psalmists prayed that perhaps God would defend God's name. "Rise up, O God, plead your cause; remember how the impious scoff at you all day long. Do not forget the clamor of your foes..." Psalm 74:22-23 "Why should the nations say, 'Where is your God?' Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes." Psalm 79:10 The issue was finally a 1st Commandment concern about God, faithfulness, and faith. Israel longed to see the vindication of God's name. As much as they knew their own shame, they wanted vengeance against the shaming of God's name. They wanted to see their enemies, those who taunted the name of God "trodden down like the mire of the streets."

Do Justice. Love Kindness. Walk humbly with God.

Pastor Tim Bauer