Piper: Broken under his indignation, bold in his grace.

Posted on by Pam Larson

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication. Micah 7:8-9

John Piper unpacks these verses for us:

Do you see this in verse 9? An amazing verse from God’s Word this morning!

I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him . . .

There’s brokenness and contrition and remorse—”I have sinned against God! And I will not try to defend myself or in any way lessen my guilt. I will bear the indignation of the Lord. He has every right to be angry with me. I put my hand upon my mouth and my back to the rod. For I have sinned against the Lord of glory, and I am ashamed.”

But then look at the next two lines of verse 9:

. . . until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.

There’s boldness and confidence and ruggedness—“God will plead my cause. God will execute judgment for me.”

I have sinned against him, and so I am broken beneath the his holy indignation. But this very God—this very same angry God—will soon plead my cause, he will take my side and vindicate me, and so I am bold in his grace. Broken under his indignation, bold in his grace.

What is so remarkable and helpful about this verse is that it keeps these two things so close together. Many of us feel that we can’t live this way—keeping these two things so close together. If we think of God as angry with us, we collapse in despair. If we think of God as gracious to us, then we feel there is no place for brokenness and remorse. And so today we tend to separate what the Bible keeps together.

The message today, then, is this: Let’s keep these things together! When we sin, let’s accept the indignation of God and not deny it or hide ourselves from it. But not only that: when we sin, let’s be bold and believe that this very God will soon plead our cause and vindicate us in justice. That’s today’s message: in your experience of God keep together what God has joined—brokenness and boldness.

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