20250318

miles of crimson bushes

Micah 7:1-13 (JDV)

Micah 7:1 How sad for me! Because I am like one who — after the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest — finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.
Micah 7:2 Faithful people have vanished from the land; no one is upright among the people. They all wait in ambush to shed blood; they hunt each other with a net.
Micah 7:3 Both hands are good at accomplishing evil: the official and the judge demand a bribe; when the powerful man communicates the greed of his throat, they plot it together.
Micah 7:4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your guards, the day of your punishment, is coming; their panic is here now.
Micah 7:5: Do not rely on a friend; don’t trust in a close companion. Seal your mouth from the woman who lies in your arms.
Micah 7:6 Surely a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his household.
Micah 7:7 But I will look to Yahveh and wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
Micah 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, Yahveh will be my light.
Micah 7:9 Because I have sinned against him, I must endure Yahveh’s rage until he champions my cause and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see his salvation.
Micah 7:10 Then my enemy will see, and she will be covered with shame, the one who said to me, “Where is Yahveh your God?” My eyes will look at her triumphantly; she will be trampled like mud in the streets at that time.
Micah 7:11 A day will come for rebuilding your walls; your boundary will be extended on that day.
Micah 7:12 On that day, people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates River and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
Micah 7:13 Then the land will become a sinister desolation because of those who live there and because of their actions.

miles of crimson bushes

When I lived in Maine, I enjoyed looking on the bright red blueberry barrens, after harvest. It was an awesome sight to see miles of crimson bushes. Yet, it meant that there was no fruit left. The berries had already been harvested. This is how Micah saw his people. There was no righteousness left, no fruit for his master. Even his loved ones – even the one who lies in his arms – everyone was asking him where God was. Micah chose to wait for the LORD to reappear.

LORD, make us people who trust you, who dare to wait for you to show up, even when everyone around us is denying your existence.