Passage Read: Micah 1-4
Meditation Verses: 3:1-4
Thought
God promises a time when these rulers who have abused His people, who think they're still in good with God, though they do everything backwards, calling evil good and good evil, there will come a time when they have the audacity to cry out to God because of overwhelming trouble and God will not answer them. It is amazing to me that they will even bother to cry out to God, but it will likely be because they have cried out to all their false gods and received no deliverance, so they break down and cry out to the God who originally brought them out of Egypt, who is supposed to be Israel's God. They will remember Him, as if He might be obligated to do whatever they want because He is their God, He belongs to them and they are supposed to belong to Him. He will not answer them, because they do belong to Him but they have not acted so.
Application
Many people want God to show Himself to them, but they don't do what He asks. They think and act as if God should respond to them, but they don't respond to Him. They think, "He wants me to worship Him, let Him prove Himself worthy of my worship by doing some major thing I want, then I will worship Him." But God proved Himself over and over again in history, from beginning to now. His compassion may move Him to act on some people's behalf, but He also knows who is truly intending to uphold their end of the bargain and who is only seeking to manipulate Him and will not in fact believe in Him. It is we who were always obliged to obey and honor Him; He has done more than is necessary to receive and deserve our worship! We must prove ourselves if we really want Him to take ownership of us and deliver us and bless us as His beloved people! If God answers an unbeliever or disobedient believer's request, it is to prove He is more loving and gracious than they are, especially if that person does not respond with humility, faith and full submission. That person proves themselves a liar, while God proves Himself merciful, not an idiot. If I don't walk in humility and obedience, honoring God as my Lord, then I should expect nothing from Him of anything I ask. But if I ask and He grants, I had better bow myself all the more under His authority and command, otherwise, I'm only heaping up judgment against myself.