But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.
– Micah 5:2–5
So I read this whole passage because it’s a prophecy of Jesus. This is one of those amazing, stunning, jaw-dropping places in the Bible where we see, hundreds of years before Jesus even came, prophecy about where he would be born and who he would be, specifically born in Bethlehem. “From you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
Micah 5:2–5 points to Jesus Christ as our perfect peace.
This is not just talking about anybody. This is talking about the ancient of days. God in the flesh. And he will bring, and there’s so much promise here, bring security to God’s people. He will shepherd God’s people.
And verse 5 is what I want to lead us to pray according to. “He shall be their peace.” And in this prophecy from Jesus, in Micah 5, specifically verse 5, I want to encourage you today, in a fallen world where there’s so much unrest in our hearts and struggle in our lives, in a world at war, not just physical wars that we might think of in the headlines today, although that’s definitely part of it, but we’re in a spiritual battle daily, in our lives, in others’ lives, and there is an adversary who wants to destroy your life and my life today and wants to destroy our relationships, wants to destroy the lives of the people around us.
We wake up in spiritual war, we go to sleep, we sleep through the night amidst spiritual war. And God says in Micah 5:5, “I’m sending one, my son, who will be your peace in the middle of the war.” And I just want to pray that over you.
Micah 5:2–5 reminds us to bring our anxieties to Jesus.
Obviously, I don’t know all that’s going on in your life right now, but God does, and God is speaking through his Word right now saying, “In Jesus, you have peace, security, strength that far outweighs everything that this fallen world throws at you.” And so God, I pray for this peace in my own life and for this peace over others’ lives that your word says is ours in Jesus. Just think about Philippians 4 and your promise that we don’t need to be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving to you, to present a request to you to lay the things that are heavy on our hearts before you and our lives and others’ lives, and you, the God of peace, will fill us with a peace that passes all understanding to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
I pray that over every single person listening right now. I pray that you would guard their hearts and minds with your peace that passes all understanding, the peace that only comes from Jesus, who has made the way for us to have peace with you. No matter what this world throws at us, we have peace with you. We can be still and quiet in our souls and have rest in our souls before you.
This verse reminds us that our hope for peace in Christ will not disappoint us.
Jesus, you have made this possible. You have reconciled us to God. Romans 5, we have been justified through faith. We now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we know, as your word says right after that in Romans 5, that even suffering will produce perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope, and hope will not disappoint us, because you’ve poured out your love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit you have given us.
Oh God, I just pray for this peace that was promised to come in Jesus in Micah 5 that is ours today would fill us, guard us, keep us today. And, oh God, we pray that you would help us to spread this peace in a world at war.
Prayer for the Odienne Jula People
God, we pray specifically today for the Odienne Jula people of Côte d’Ivoire. God, for 174,000 Muslim Odienne Jula people of Côte d’Ivoire. Please, oh God, may the peace of Jesus spread to them. And may the peace of Jesus spread in all the quarters of the Earth. In Russia and Ukraine, in Palestine and Gaza, and Israel. May the peace of Jesus spread in Syria and Somalia. God, we pray that through your church, the peace of Jesus would spread today through us. Oh God, we praise you for making this peace possible in sending Jesus to us. Jesus, we praise you as our peace today. Help us to live in the otherworldly, all-surpassing peace that you provide in us today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
