God Calls us to Lament; Micah 1:1-9

I had my regular check-up, and the doctor is happy with my blood pressure and cholesterol. He says I'm looking healthy, but there's just one problem. I'm not sad enough.

He's ordered sackcloth and ashes for me. Oh, and a viewing of "Old Yeller."

Ok, so it's absolutely ridiculous that a doctor would prescribe sadness, yet that's precisely what Micah prescribes for his people. His diagnosis is that they have abandoned God, and his remedy is "lament and wail" (Micah 1:8) and to shave their heads as a sign of mourning (verse 16). Micah's people need to learn how to be sad.

But we don't want to be sad! Instead, we want to declare with Nehemiah, "The joy of the Lord is our strength!" But Micah asks us, "Do your hearts break for the things that break God's heart?" So until they do, Doctor Micah calls us to lament everything we aren't.

In this message, we'll hear what breaks God's heart and Micah's call to a holy sadness.