Micah 7:14-17 - Homiletics

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 ).