“Compassionate and Sympathetic” 9-26-21

Overview

Compassionate and Sympathetic: Knowing the Heart of God

"Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy" Micah 7:18. The prophet's name itself means "Who is like God?"—and the answer is none. Unlike the temperamental false gods of the surrounding nations, who must be appeased and flattered, Yahweh is not lying in wait, eager to pour out wrath. His delight rests in showing steadfast love, and the verb is ongoing: He is always offering, always giving, always pardoning. The joy of the Father is not catching His child in error, but restoring, redeeming, and recovering the relationship that sin has broken.

The Hebrew word for compassion in Micah 7:19 carries the sense of "tender bowels"—at the very gut of the eternal I AM is concern and care for His children. And His compassion is not passive sentiment; it is active intervention. "He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." Sin here is personified, echoing the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, where Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen were hurled into the sea. Sin truly does pursue us—sometimes sweet-talking, sometimes trying to mow us down, often felt with painful tangibility in things like addiction. But God does not stand by while His children are overtaken. He steps in, goes to battle, and crushes our iniquities under His foot. He casts them not at the shoreline, where they would wash up again and again, but into the depths—gone, dead, defeated.

This is no accident of imagery. As Israel passed through the waters into the promised land, so we have been brought through the waters of baptism into the freedom of Christ. "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" 1 Corinthians 6:11. As sin continues to pursue us, it continues to be washed and crushed into the depths of the baptismal waters. While we may still bear some consequences of sin this side of heaven, eternally He has vanquished them.

A Father who has compassion on His children calls those children to share His heart. When Jesus saw the crowds, "He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd... The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few" Matthew 9:36-37. The laborers He sends are us. Paul urges believers to be compassionate and sympathetic toward one another (see Colossians 3:12), and what God commands, God empowers. Everyone you know struggles. Everyone you know has sin pursuing them. Everyone you know needs the God who crushes iniquity and casts it into the sea. Having received His compassion, we are sent to carry it to a harvest that is still plentiful.

Transcript

If you would, please open your Bibles to the prophet Micah, the prophet Micah chapter 7. 1s

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been getting to know the heart of God, having 10s

a glimpse into the heart of God. 16s

A couple weeks ago, we learned that God is gentle and humble. 20s

Last week, we learned that God is merciful and gracious. 24s

And one of the words that we heard last week in the sermon was that God has to be provoked 30s

into anger, that his natural state of being is one of grace and mercy. 37s

And it reminded me of brought a picture to my mind of a child learning to ride a bike. 47s

And how a father will ride alongside that child. 54s

And the father does not stand by hoping for waiting for anticipating that moment when 60s

the child will undoubtedly falter and fall and fail in writing the bike. 66s

But instead, the father runs alongside propelling the child forward in this journey 74s

on the bicycle. 84s

And God does not stand by waiting for us to falter, to sin, to fail as we have the propensity 87s

to do in our sinful nature. 97s

But in his heart that is gentle and humble, in his heart that is gracious and merciful, 100s

he propels us forward through his spirit and by his spirit. 110s

And today we're going to talk about two more aspects of God and knowing his heart. 117s

And that is God who is compassionate and sympathetic. 124s

And compassion used in our text today really brings up that familiar relationship, 128s

that family relationship of father to child. 138s

And so that also brings to mind that image of the father, writing or walking alongside his 142s

child, writing the bike. 149s

So we're going to turn to verse 18, where Micah, he cries out or writes out 152s

who is a God like you. 158s

Now this may be a little play on words on his very own name because the name Micah means 160s

who is like God. 167s

So I don't know, is that a play on words or is that part of his role as prophet that even 169s

his name speaks of the prophecy which he will bring. 176s

Who is a God like you? 181s

And the answer is of course none. 184s

There is no God like Yahweh. 188s

Now Micah is not giving any lip service to other gods or admitting that there are other gods. 192s

He is not only installing Yahweh for the infinite awesomeness and mighty deeds that Yahweh gives. 202s

He's also saying that all the bails, all these false gods who are worshiped, who are glorified, 211s

are nothing. 219s

God Yahweh is infinite in his awesomeness. 220s

All of those false gods are temperamental. 227s

They have to be appealed to. 231s

They have to be appeased in different manners, different ways. 233s

But Yahweh is not a God who needs to be appeased. 239s

He is not a God who is temperamental. 244s

What in this verse does Micah say makes God the God? 247s

He says, who is a God like you? 255s

Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgressions of the remnant of your possession. 258s

Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your possession. 268s

Yahweh, pardon's sin. 275s

He passes over transgression. 278s

He doesn't retain his anger. 281s

He doesn't hold a grudge. 284s

He doesn't keep a record of ones wrongdoing. 285s

Can we say the same? 291s

As people, can we say the same as parents? 294s

He doesn't retain his anger forever because he delights 301s

in showing clemency. 305s

Now, clemency is translated in the ESV as God delighting in showing his steadfast love. 309s

That is where his delight lies. 317s

He's not lying and wait anticipating eagerly the moment when he can pour out his wrath upon those who's sin. 321s

His delight is pardoning sin. 330s

His delight is showing his mercy. 334s

His delight is giving of his steadfast love. 337s

And the verb used is not a one-time action. 343s

I'm going to show you mercy once, but it's ongoing. 347s

He is always offering and giving and providing his steadfast love. 351s

The joy for the Father is not catching the child in error. 358s

He's not catching the child in wrongdoing. 365s

The joy of the Father is found in the restoration, 370s

the redemption and the recovery of the relationship that has been broken 375s

by sin. 382s

It's the relationship and the love of a Father for his children. 384s

He will again have compassion upon us. 391s

He will tread our nicquities under foot and we want to pay attention to this word compassion. 394s

This can be translated as with tender bowels he will show himself gracious to us. 401s

So last week we learned that God is long and nostril and this week we find that he has tender bowels. 407s

I am really glad that we have different English translations that make a little more sense. 415s

The English translation of this then is that at the gut at the very core of the eternal I.M. 421s

Is the Lord's compassion? His concern? His care for his people, for his children. 432s

His delight does not rest in the execution of his wrath. 441s

God's wrath serves his mercy and God's mercy accounts for the sin of the world. 447s

But his delight is redeeming and rescuing his children from that very sin, 456s

because the children of God cannot evade or escape their sinful nature. 468s

But at the gut of God is the delight in rescuing his children. 475s

He will tread our nicquities under foot. That means he will vanquish them totally and completely. 482s

And the really neat thing with this word in nicquities is that this word in nicquities here is given a 490s

sonification. It's personifying sin. If we go to Exodus, this is reflecting the song of Moses. 497s

Exodus 15, the song that is sung, in celebrating what God has done in bringing the Israelites out 508s

of Egypt and crushing the Egyptians and Pharaoh in the sea. Personifying sin. 517s

That's not fantastical. Is it think about your own lives or the lives of those you love? 527s

Sin isn't just a concept that's out there that we think about that we talk about kind of broad. 535s

We know we partake in it, but we don't really want to come to the details of it. 542s

Some sins we kind of dismiss and push off into this out there realm. 549s

But there are plenty of sins that are tangible, that are real and that we feel in a very physical sort of way. 558s

The first thing that comes to mind for me is addiction. Addiction of any sort, any kind. 571s

There is a realness, a tangibility to addiction. It is something that torments. 579s

It tortures. And while it's torturing the sinner, it's also luring them in. 590s

Time and time again. And there's a physical response and a physical feeling under the torture 599s

of those sins. And just as Pharaoh pursued the Israelites, 612s

our sin pursues us. And it chases after us and calls to us. Sometimes it sweet talks us. 619s

And sometimes it tries to mow us over. But it's there. And it's always pursuing us. 631s

But y'all wait doesn't stand by. And he doesn't watch for you to get mode over. 642s

And he doesn't watch for you to get lured in by sweet words. Instead, in his compassion and care, 649s

as your father, he steps in. And he goes to battle for you. And he crushes 659s

your sin. He crushes your inequities under his foot. 670s

Mike has says, you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. In Exodus 15, 679s

in the song, listen to these words, Moses and his Israelites sing this song to the Lord. 686s

I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously, horse and writer. He has thrown into the 692s

sea. The Lord is my strength and my might. And he has become my salvation. This is my God, 698s

and I will praise him. Pharaoh's chariots and his army he cast into the sea. He picked officers. 706s

His picked officers were sunk in the red sea. The floods covered them. They went down into the 714s

depths, like a stone. In your steadfast love, you led the people whom you redeemed and guided them 720s

by your strength to your holy abode. When the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots and his chariot 728s

drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the Israelites 735s

walked through the sea on dry ground. Not only does God step in and intervene by his own power, 743s

but he casts our sin into the depths of the sea as he cast Pharaoh and his chariots into the 752s

depths of the sea never to be seen or heard from again. Our sin has been cast into the depths. 762s

God did not cast it at the shoreline where it would wash up over and over and over again for us to 771s

live every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit. He has cast them into the depth of the sea, 779s

gone, dead, defeated. It is not coincidental that the Israelites were brought 793s

through the waters into the promised land and we as Christians, by God's holy word, 806s

are told that we are brought through the waters of baptism into total forgiveness of our sin, 816s

into total freedom in the promise of Christ. In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote, 826s

you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and 833s

in the spirit of our God. In the waters of baptism, you crossed through the sea, you crossed through 840s

the sea and as your sin pursued you and continues to pursue you, it continues to be washed and crushed 850s

into the depths of the baptismal waters. Who is like God? Who is like God? None. There is none 859s

that is like God and the incomparibility lies directly in God's own tangible intervention into history 879s

to intervene and go to battle against our sin, the sin that continues to pursue us. 889s

There are so many hard lessons that we can learn in life and sometimes we deal with the consequences 899s

of our sin, but God has gone to battle for us so that while this side of heaven we may deal with 907s

some of the consequences of our sin eternally, eternally, he has vanquished them from us that we 918s

will enter into heaven, into paradise with him, holy and completely cleared of the sin that 928s

sues us so hard. A father has compassion for his child. A father has sympathy for his child 938s

who is struggling in the midst of this world. I love our reading that we had our gospel reading, 952s

where Jesus is with the crowds and what is his reaction to the crowds, he has compassion on them. 962s

He sees them struggling, he sees them harassed, he sees them as wandering sheep without their 971s

shepherd and he heals them and he cures them and he teaches them and he tells his disciples, 981s

the harvest is plentiful. There are so many, so many who hurt, so many who are in sin, 994s

but the laborers are few pray for the Lord to send laborers. Do you know who God has sent 1004s

as his laborers? Are you pointing to yourself? Because you have been freed from your sin 1015s

and you have the words of that freedom upon your lips. In the New Testament, Paul writes that 1030s

we are to be compassionate and sympathetic to others and what God commands God empowers, 1040s

God has shown us his heart of care and concern for his children and he has called us 1051s

as his missionaries, as his laborers to share his heart with those around us. 1060s

The harvest continues to be plentiful, do any of you know anyone who does not struggle in life. 1071s

Do any of you know anyone who does not have sin pursuing him or her? Do any of you know anyone 1080s

that doesn't need God to intervene and crush his or her iniquities and cast them into the depth 1093s

of the sea. I guarantee you there is no one this side of heaven who is not part of the harvest 1106s

in need of God's redemption, in need for God's compassion. We have received his care 1121s

and we have received his sympathy and his compassion. He knows the weakness of our flesh 1134s

and he gives us strength by his spirit and he calls us in his compassion to have compassion 1145s

for those around us. This is the gut of God and in knowing his gut of compassion and concern. 1154s

We are able to share his heart. 1172s