Put no trust in a neighbor, have no confidence in a friend. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms. For the son treats the father with contempt. The daughter rises up against her mother. The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the men of his own house. But, as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
– Micah 7:5–7
What a powerful few verses Micah 7:5–7 are. As Micah describes the conflict, the division, the lack of trust between people, between him and neighbors, him and friends, even a warning about a husband and a wife and potential conflict there and then, with fathers and sons and daughters and mothers. This summary statement at the end of verse six, a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. What do you do when people who are close to you let you down in some way, people who are closest to you, people you have looked to and leaned upon and trusted in.
Rather than continuing to live conflict-filled lives with our families, friends, and neighbors, we ought to look to the Lord for unity.
These Verses Remind Us to Put Our Faith in God
Micah chapter seven, as for me, I will look to the Lord. What a powerful contrast. But as for me, I will look to the Lord and the picture’s clear. I will look to the one who will never let me down. I will look to the one who I can always trust. And I will look to the one who will always, always, always be faithful to me, who will always care for me with wisdom, who will always uphold me with his righteous right hand, who will lead me and guide me in ways that he guarantees are ultimately for my good. I will look to the Lord.
I will wait for the God of my salvation. Even that, this picture of dependence on God. I’m waiting on God. I am trusting in God. I’m leaning on God. He will come through for me. That’s what he says, my God will hear me and not just hear me. The whole picture is God will hear and answer me when I call to him. God will help me when I call to him. Oh, be encouraged today.
Divisiveness in the World and the Church
I just think about all the divisiveness and the world around us, the culture around us in my country. I think about the divisiveness, even among God’s people, sometimes among professing followers of Jesus, among people that you want to look to lean on, trust in and Micah chapter seven verses five through seven is just reminding us to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord. Yes, to be, in an Ephesians four kind of way, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace and the church eager to be peacemakers as God’s word calls us to, eager to honor everyone, eager not to promote division, but to heal division. These are all thrusts that we see in scripture.
The ways that God calls us to cultivate peace and seek unity, particularly as his people. Jesus prayed that for us so clearly in John chapter 17 and it’s such a clear theme we see all throughout the New Testament. At the same time, and this is kind of the point, keep your eyes looking to the Lord. And the more you are looking to the Lord, trusting in him, honoring him, following him, the more I am doing that, then the more we will grow in unity together, the more we will grow in fellowship with one another.
The Unity of the Church Revolves Around Jesus
Our unity revolves around Jesus. Our unity revolves around looking to the Lord, waiting for, depending on the God of our salvation, knowing that he hears us. Oh God, I’m just freshly encouraged reading these verses to know that right now I can, every one of us can, look to you and know that we can trust in you.
Micah 7:5–7 Praising God For Being Our Friend
God, we praise you as our not just savior, Lord King, sovereign ruler in our lives, our father in heaven, our salvation and, in addition to all these things, you are all these things and you are our trustworthy friend. Oh God, all glory be to your name. You, God on high, are our trustworthy friend today. We look to you, we wait for you, we trust in you, we rest in you, and we lean upon you, upon you alone.
You are our ultimate trustworthy friend. You hear us and you answer us. And you promise to help us and lead us, and guide us. And we can always, always, always depend on you. We were created to depend on you. So we take our place right now rightfully before you, saying we are waiting on you, we’re trusting in you, we’re looking to you, we’re leaning upon you for everything our soul needs. And we trust you will provide it.
Prayer For Us to be Trustworthy in Our Relationships
You will help us in every way. And God, we pray that with your help, we would be trustworthy neighbors and we would be trustworthy friends, we would be trustworthy spouses and trustworthy parents and children, God that we would love even those who set themselves up against us as our enemies. God, we pray that we would be all of these things in relationships with one another, because we are looking to you, because we are depending on you, waiting on you, the God of our salvation, and you are helping us. Oh God, may it be so in each of our lives right now today, tomorrow.
Help us to look to you continually, nonstop, to lean upon you constantly, to wait upon you as our trustworthy friend and the sovereign King over all. Thank you. Just even saying that, that you the sovereign King of all are each of our trustworthy friend. All glory be to your name. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
