Prayer and its response.
How mysteriously great is the privilege of prayer! How wonderful that finite creatures may thus draw near to the Infinite, carrying their needs into the Divine presence, breathing their desires into the ear of God, and obtaining from him all required mercy and grace! We think of the patriarch who, weary and worn with his wanderings, slept, with a stone for his pillow, and we speak of the ladder he beheld connecting the spot where he lay with the very throne of God, as his vision; but the thought of prayer changes this into a blessed reality, for communication between earth and heaven has been established, and thus human spirits rise to God, and enrichments descend from him to satisfy men's deepest needs! Prayer, in the highest conception of it, is a thoughtful communion with God. It is intercourse with God. It is sympathetic contact with him. It is an exercise in which we engage that we may have fellowship with the Invisible, and may thus understand the Divine will, and become increasingly disposed to become obedient thereunto. Helpful, indeed, is the influence we derive from communion with the pure and holy amongst men; then say how elevating must be contact with him who is perfect in purity, the Eternal Spirit! But prayer is also supplication. We have wants. God has constituted us dependent beings. Needs, both temporal and spiritual, press upon us at times with a heavy weight. And prayer is the soul, deeply conscious of these necessities, coming to God with intense desire seeking their supply. Our supplications, however, should rise beyond our own individual wants. Prayer should be presented by us on behalf of others. In this holy exercise we should seize upon interests broader than those pertaining to our own personal life, and, with a true concern, should bear these up before the throne of God. As the great Intercessor pleads for us before his Father's throne, so we also in our measure are to be intercessors for men. The Prophet Micah comes before us in these verses as exercising this intercessory function. Note here—
I. THE DEVOTED SEER PLEADING WITH GOD ON BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE. (Verse 14.) Observe:
1. He makes mention of their peculiar relationship to the Most High:
2. He recalls the frowner manifestations to them of the Divine goodness in the bestowment of rich blessings. "The days of old."
3. He supplicates the Divine Shepherd to be with them in the dark days now before them, sustaining them and enriching them with plenty (verse 14).
II. THE DIVINE RESPONSE TO THE EARNEST SUPPLICATION OF THE PROPHET.
1. The prophet was assured that there should be deliverance wrought for his people by Divine interposition (verse 15).
2. It was declared to him that the foes who would triumph over them should ultimately be covered with confusion and shame (verses 16, 17). Intercessory prayer is still an essential part of the ministry of the Church; it is mighty and prevailing; it commands and wields the forces of heaven. "The effectual fervent prayer of s righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).
The forgiving God.
No words could possibly have been more appropriate than these by way of bringing this brief book of prophecy to a close. When we think of the degenerate character of the age in which this prophet lived, and when we remember that he had constantly to deal with human guilt and depravity, to declare the Divine judgments, and to endeavour by warnings and threatenings to bring home to men a sense of their sinfulness,—what could be more fitting than that, in closing his contribution to the Divine oracles, he should expatiate, as he does here so impressively, upon Jehovah as being the forgiving God. His design in these verses clearly was to extol the grace and mercy of the Lord his God. As he thought of the Divine forgiving love, he felt that with the Most High none can compare. With warmest admiration, combined with the profoundest adoration, he asks, "Who is aged like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?" (Micah 7:18). And instead of attempting to answer his own inquiry, he indicates what his answer would be by enlarging yet further upon God's pardoning grace: "He retaineth not," etc. (Micah 7:18, Micah 7:19). Let us reflect upon the incomparableness of the Lord our God, viewed as the Divine Forgiver. Consider—
I. WHAT THIS DIVINE FORGIVENESS IMPLIES.
1. The great fact of sin. There are those who have endeavoured to explain away this solemn fact of sin; who contend that there is not to be found in man any intentional preference of wrong to right; that what we call sin is something predicable of society rather than of the individual; that man himself is right enough, but lacks the science required to organize society rightly; and that what we call sin is after all only the development of these discordant causes in society. See Bushnell's reply to this, setting forth on this theory our inconsistency in blaming the persons by whom sinful acts have been wrought, and in censuring ourselves when we have done unworthy acts, etc. ('Nature and the Supernatural,' Micah 5:1-15.). There is no escape from admitting the great fact of sin. The Word is unerring as it declares that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23); that "there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Romans 3:12); and that "every mouth must be stopped, and the whole world stand guilty before God" (Romans 3:19).
2. The Divine interposition with a view to the deliverance of the race from this terrible blight. We can form no true conception of the Divine forgiveness unless these facts of personal guilt and transgression, and of the Divine interposition in order to our deliverance, are kept prominently before us. And even at this stage our admiration is called into exercise, and we cry, "Who is a God like unto thee?" This is intensified as we consider—
II. WHAT THIS DIVINE FORGIVENESS INCLUDES. It includes deliverance from the sad consequences of sire Note what these are.
1. Mark the consequences of sin to the individual.
2. Consequences resulting to society. These also are sad and distressing. "The bad inheritance passes, and fears, frauds, crimes against property, character, and life, abuses of power, oppressions of the weak, persecutions of the good, piracies, wars of revolt, wars of conquest, are the staple of the world's bitter history. It is a pitiless and dreadful power, as fallen society must necessarily be". The Divine forgiveness means deliverance from all these sad consequences of evil It is not a bare pardon merely, but it carries with it enfranchisement from the blighting effects of evil There is the impartation to the forgiven of a Divine power, an inward spiritual force to enable them to resist the evil and downward tendencies; the lost power is restored, and which is mighty in "subduing our iniquities" (verse 19). There is the impartation to the forgiven of peace of conscience; the discordant and disturbing elements are hushed; the harmonies are restored. There is the experience of renewed communion with the Eternal. The soul, accepted and renewed, would ever abide at the feet of the Lord. There is oneness and agreement now, and hence fellowship is possible and practicable, yea, is felt to be desirable and essential "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." And whilst suffering and death remain, yet by a Divine alchemy the character of these life sorrows becomes entirely changed, and they cease to he viewed as harsh inflictions, but are accepted as the loving discipline by which the Divine Father renders the character perfect and entire, whilst "the sting of death" having been taken away, the terror also is gone. And as men become thus brought into this holy experience will the regeneration of the world and its complete deliverance from evil be brought to pass. What a fulness of meaning, then, there is when God is spoken of as "pardoning iniquity"! And as we think how that this forgiveness carries with it all the privileges, honours, and enjoyments here and hereafter of the spiritual life, our admiration of him who has made all this possible to the individual and the race rises higher still, and we cry with wondering and adoring love, "Who is a God like unto thee?"
III. WHAT THIS DIVINE FORGIVENESS INVOLVES.
1. It has involved on the part of God all that is comprehended in the gift and work of his Son Jesus Christ; for it is through Christ alone that this forgiveness of sin is secured. "In him have we redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins" (Colossians 1:14). It involved the heavenly Shepherd's coming forth to seek his lost and fallen world. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Lo! the Christ of God, the Gift of the Father's love, clothed himself in our humanity, obeyed the Law we had broken, atoned for sin in the death of the cross, that we might not perish, that we might exchange the wilderness for the fold, be lifted out of the lost condition into hope, dignity, and character here, and be raised hereafter to immortal purity, peace, and joy. The power of human language is too weak adequately to describe the love of God as expressed even in the minutest of his doings; but in reference to this seeking the erring, with a view to their restoration, it signally fails, and we can only adoringly cry, "Who is a God like unto thee?"
2. On the part of man this Divine forgiveness involves penitence and faith. "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). On conditions thus simple the vilest transgressor may find mercy of the Lord. And if there is another thought which leads us to feel this pardoning love of God to be the more wonderful, it is the remembrance that he has not only provided the pardon, but even condescends to plead with men, that they may be led to fulfil the righteous conditions and to receive the boon (Isaiah 1:18; Revelation 3:20). Let us not repel him who has come to bless us by turning us away from our iniquities, but rather give him a hearty greeting. Then, with this ancient seer and with the forgiven through all ages, we shall cry, with hearts overflowing, with love and praise, "Who is a God like unto thee?" (verses 18, 19).