December 2, 2019 - Suggested Reading Psalm 30 for the December 8th message on Micah 7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30:5 (NIV) 

All of us who write (emails, letters, texts, all forms of writing) understand something about structure, or the arrangement of words, in order to convey an intended message. The bible is written in a specific way, by God through His prophets in order to convey a specific message. We can see that Micah 7 contains a simple, easily discernible structure; 

a statement of misery over sin and a description of that sin in verses 1 thru 6, 

a statement of hope in the midst of darkness and a description of that hope in verses 7 thru 10, 

a prophetic utterance that a day (time period) of expansion will come for God’s people, and a description of that day vs 11 thru 17, 

and then a statement of God’s character and a description of how He deals with all of us
(vs 18 thru 20).

Micah is conveying the message that Judah’s sin will bring about a time of darkness brought about by foreign nations, and yet there will come a day of expansion for Judah which involves the nations coming to Judah through God’s miraculous intervention in the world according to His character of a God who forgives sin.

Psalm 30 was written for the dedication of the temple - which was called “a house of prayer” that place where God would hear from heaven and bring help to His people. This psalm is a song of a person who was delivered from sickness and death, and it contains praise for God’s actions and a description of the prayers the sinner offered to God while being afflicted. The sinner felt secure until the LORD hid His face, and then the sinner cried for mercy, and God turned his wailing into dancing through God's action in his life.

The truth that links Psalm 30 and Micah 7 together is found in verse 5 - for the anger that burns against Judah for their false worship and lack of love will only last for a moment compared to the favour of God that lasts a lifetime. The misery Micah experiences, the darkness the nation will go into is not comparable to the favour and love and blessing that will be their end state.

This eternal favour of God comes to the Jews and to us the nations in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and becomes real in this life, when we pray the prayer of Psalm 30. 

Oh friend let us end the night that grips us, let us cry out for mercy, confess the sin of pride and self reliance and enter into the rejoicing of the morning, living in the light of His favour.

Let us sing the praises of the Lord, praise His holy Name.