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"Shepherd Your people with Your staff"

Text: Micah 7:14

A HEARTFELT PRAYER

Micah’s knowledge of God’s judgment upon Judah had been well understood. The nation would have to be chastened through fiery judgment. The faithful prophet cried out to the LORD to what His people badly needed- close shepherding work.

“Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
The flock of Your heritage,
Who dwell solitarily in a woodland,
In the midst of Carmel;
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in days of old.”
Micah 7:14

1. “Shepherd Your people”

a) Micah’s plea was for God to shepherd His people closely and personally.

b) The human shepherds (kings, princes, judges etc.) had failed miserably.

2. “With Your staff”

a) Micah had seen how the sheep had gone astray so easily.

b) They would have the Shepherd’s staff to lead them back to the fold.

i) Firmness would be needed.

ii) The gentleness of a loving Shepherd was counted on.

3. “The flock of Your heritage”

a) Micah pleaded with God to consider the people as “His flock”.

b) And even more suggestively, “His heritage”.

i) This idea goes all the way back to what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 4:20.

ii) Moses had made a similar prayer earlier (Exodus 34:9).

4.”Who dwell solitarily in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel”

a) Carmel was a center of idolatry in the days of King Ahab (1 Kings 18).

b) If Israel were to remain in Carmel, it would remain “solitary”.

i) God would not be with His people.

ii) Israel was doomed to a godless future.

5. “Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in days of old”

a) Bashan was a rich and fertile land.

b) Gilead had the famous mountains of Pisgah and Nebo (associated with Moses’ death).

c) These regions would represent the Presence and the blessings of God.

Micah’s prayer was that God would be with His people as Shepherd and that He would bless abundantly.