Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3184
“For the inhabitant of Marroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.” Micah 1:12.
The village of the bitter spring, for that is probably the meaning of this name, Maroth, experienced a bitter disappointment. At the time when the Assyrians invaded the land, the inhabitants expected that deliverance would come to them from some quarter or other. From the context, I judge that they placed some sort of reliance upon the Philistines. They possibly had some hope that the king of Egypt would come up to attack Sennacherib. Evidently they looked for help everywhere except to God and, consequently, as no good came to them from the men upon whom they had relied, trial and overwhelming distress came to them from the hand of God. He was angry at their trust in men and their lack of trust in Himself and, therefore, He punished their unbelief by their total overthrow! The Assyrian swept over them and stopped not till he reached the gate of Jerusalem, where Hezekiah’s faith in God made the enemy pause and retreat.
The fact recorded in the text suggests to us, first, sad disappointments—“the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came.” And secondly, strange appointments—evil came down from the Lord.” When we have considered these two things, we will change the subject, altogether, and speak about expectations which will not end in disappointment.
I. First, then, we are to think of SAD DISAPPOINTMENTS. “The inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came.”
Disappointments are often extremely painful at the time. Even in little things, we do not like to be disappointed. If our expectations are not realized, we feel as if a sharp thorn has pierced our flesh. But in great matters, disappointment is much more serious. In the case of the inhabitants of Maroth, it was fatal—they expected to be delivered from the Assyrians, but they were either slain on the spot, or carried away captive to Nineveh. It would be the most terrible disappointment of all if our expectations concerning our souls should not be realized! It would be painful to the last degree to discover upon our dying bed that the good we had looked for had not come—to find that we had built our house upon the sand and that when we most needed its shelter, it was swept away! O Lord, disappoint not Your servant’s hope! All my expectation is from You and You have said, “They shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.” Any other expectation beside this, concerning our eternal interests, will only bring us pain and misery forever.
Disappointments in this life, however, although they are at times very painful, are sometimes of such a character that could we know all the truth, we would not lament them. There are many who have looked forward to a change in their condition in life, or their position in society—and they have been disappointed. For a time they have been ready to wring their hands in anguish, yet if they knew what the consequences would have been if their expectations had been realized, they would fall down upon their knees and devoutly praise the Lord for the disappointment which had been so great a blessing in disguise to them! You, my Brother, had expected to be rich by this time, but God knew that had you been rich, you would have been proud and worldly and would have ceased to enjoy fellowship with him—so He kept you poor that you might still be rich in faith! You, my Friend, had expected to be in robust health at this time, but had you been so, you might not have been walking so humbly before the Lord as you are now doing. You, my oft-bereaved Brother, had hoped to see your family spared to grow up, so that you might have had sons and daughters upon whom you could have leaned in your declining days—yet they might have proved a plague and a sorrow to you instead of a comfort and a blessing. Complain not that they were taken from you in their childhood by that kind hand which made them blest
forever and only deprived you for a while of their companionship, which might not have been an unmixed blessing to you. Rest assured, O child of God, that whatever happens to you is as it should be! Believe that if you could have infinite wisdom, and the helm of your life’s vessel could be entrusted to your hands, you would steer it precisely as God steers it! You would not always guide the ship through smooth water any more than He does. If you could be unerring in judgment and could be your own guide, you would choose for yourself the track which God has chosen for you. It is Divine Love and Infallible Wisdom that have ordered all things for you up to this very moment, so whatever your disappointments may have been, comfort yourself with the assurance that they have been among your greatest blessings!
There are some expectations which are certain to be disappointed. When a man expects to prosper through wrongdoing, his expectations will certainly not be realized—at least not in the long run, however much he may seem to prosper for a while. When a man thinks that happiness can be found in the ways of sin, he will be bitterly disappointed sooner or later. When a man expects that by self-reliance he will be able to gain all that he needs without trusting to a stronger arm than his own, his expectations will not be realized. When a man is relying upon his fellow creature—when he thinks that the all-important matter for him is to have some rich patron or powerful friend—and he is under the delusion that he can do without any help from Heaven—he is sure to be disappointed! And he who is depending upon his own good works and trusting to his own unaided resolutions to hold on in the way of holiness will be terribly disappointed unless he repents before it is too late! There are some things which only fools will expect—things which are contrary to the laws of Nature, and things which are contrary to the rules of Divine Grace! The man who never sows good corn, but yet expects to reap at harvest time, is a fool and his disappointment will come in the form of thorns and thistles all over his fields! The sluggard who lies in bed and lazily says, “A little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to sleep,” may expert in that way to become wealthy, but Solomon long ago said to him, “Your poverty shall come as one that travels and your need as an armed man.” This is true in spiritual things as well as in temporal. God gives blessing to effort and diligence—not to idleness and lethargy!