Micah 7:7 Ulasan

In this chapter, I. The prophet, in the name of the church, sadly laments the woeful decay of religion in the age wherein he lived, and the deluge of impiety and immorality which overwhelmed the nation, which levelled the differences, and bore down the fences, of all that is just and sacred (Mic 7:1-6). II. The prophet, for the sake of the church, prescribes comforts, which may be of use at such a time, and gives counsel what to do. 1. They must have an eye to God (Mic 7:7). 2. They must courageously bear up against the insolences of the enemy (Mic 7:8-10). 3. They must patiently lie down under the rebukes of their God (Mic 7:9). 4. They must expect no other than that the trouble would continue long, and must endeavour to make the best of it (Mic 7:11-13). 5. They must encourage themselves with God's promises, in answer to the prophet's prayers (Mic 7:14, Mic 7:15). 6. They must foresee the fall of their enemies, that now triumphed over them (Mic 7:16, Mic 7:17). 7. They must themselves triumph in the mercy and grace of God, and his faithfulness to his covenant (Mic 7:18-20), and with that comfortable word the prophecy concludes.

The prophet, having sadly complained of the wickedness of the times he lived in, here fastens upon some considerations for the comfort of himself and his friends, in reference thereunto. The case is bad, but it is not desperate. Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. I. "Though God be now displeased he shall be reconciled to us, and then all will be well, Mic 7:7, Mic 7:9. We are now under the indignation of the Lord; God is angry with us, and justly, because we have sinned against him." Note, It is our sin against God that provokes his indignation against us; and we must see it, and own it, whenever we are under divine rebukes, that we may justify God, and may study to answer his end in afflicting us, by repenting of sin and breaking off from it. Now, at such a time, 1. We must have recourse to God under our troubles (Mic 7:7): Therefore I will look unto the Lord. When a child of God has ever so much occasion to cry, Woe is me (as the prophet here, Mic 7:1), yet it may be a comfort to him that he has a God to look to, a God to come to, to fly to, in whom he may rejoice and have satisfaction. All may look bright above him when all looks black and dark about him. The prophet had been complaining that there was no comfort to be had, no confidence to be put, in friends and relations on earth, and this drives him to his God: Therefore I will look unto the Lord. The less reason we have to delight in any creature the more reason we have to delight in God. If princes are not to be trusted, we may say, Happy is the man that has the God of Jacob for his help, and happy am I, even in the midst of my present woes, if he be my help. If men be false, this is our comfort, that God is faithful; if relations be unkind, he is and will be gracious. Let us therefore look above and beyond them, and overlook our disappointment in them, and look unto the Lord. 2. We must submit to the will of God in our troubles: "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, will bear it patiently, without murmuring and repining, because I have sinned against him." Note, Those that are truly penitent for sin will see a great deal of reason to be patient under affliction. Wherefore should a man complain for the punishment of his sin? When we complain to God of the badness of the times we ought to complain against ourselves for the badness of our own hearts. 3. We must depend upon God to work deliverance for us, and put a good issue to our troubles in due time; we must not only look to him, but look for him: "I will wait for the God of my salvation, and for his gracious returns to me." In our greatest distresses we shall see no reason to despair of salvation if by faith we eye God as the God of our salvation, who is able to save the weakest upon their humble petition, and willing to save the worst upon their true repentance. And, if we depend on God as the God of our salvation, we must wait for him, and for his salvation, in his own way and his own time. Let us now see what the church is here taught to expect and promise herself from God, even when things are brought to the last extremity. (1.) My God will hear me; if the Lord be our God, he will hear our prayers, and grant an answer of peace to them. (2.) "When I fall, and am in danger of being dashed in pieces by the fall, yet I shall arise, and recover myself again. I fall, but am not utterly cast down," Psa 37:24. (3.) "When I sit in darkness, desolate and disconsolate, melancholy and perplexed, and not knowing what to do, nor which way to look for relief, yet then the Lord shall be a light to me, to comfort and revive me, to instruct and teach me, to direct and guide me, as a light to my eyes, a light to my feet, a light in a dark place." (4.) He will plead my cause, and execute judgment for me, Mic 7:9. If we heartily espouse the cause of God, the just but injured cause of religion and virtue, and make it our cause, we may hope he will own our cause, and plead it. The church's cause, though it seem for a time to go against her, will at length be pleaded with jealousy, and judgment not only given against, but executed upon, the enemies of it. (5.) "He will bring me forth to the light, make me shine eminently out of obscurity, and become conspicuous, will make my righteousness shine evidently from under the dark cloud of calumny, Psa 37:6; Isa 58:10. The morning of comfort shall shine forth out of the long and dark night of trouble." (6.) "I shall behold his righteousness; I shall see the equity of his proceedings concerning me and the performance of his promises to me." II. Though enemies triumph and insult, they shall be silenced and put to shame, Mic 7:8, Mic 7:10. Observe here, 1. How proudly the enemies of God's people trample upon them in their distress. They said, Where is the Lord their God? As if because they were afflicted God had forsaken them, and they knew not where to find him with their prayers, and he knew not how to help them with his favours. This David's enemies said to him, and it was a sword in his bones, Psa 42:10, and see Psa 115:2. Thus, in reproaching Israel as an abandoned people, they reflected on the God of Israel as an unkind unfaithful God. 2. How comfortably the people of God by faith bear up themselves under these insults (Mic 7:8): "Rejoice not against me, O my enemy! I am now down, but shall not be always so, and when my God appears for me then she that is my enemy shall see it, and be ashamed" (not only being disappointed in her expectations of the church's utter ruin, but having the same cup of trembling put into her hand), "then my eyes shall behold her in the same deplorable condition that I am now in; now shall she be trodden down." Note, The deliverance of the church will be the confusion of her enemies; and their shame shall be double, when, as they have trampled upon God's people, so they shall themselves be trampled upon. III. Though the land continue a great while desolate, yet it shall at length be replenished again, when the time, even the set time, of its deliverance comes. 1. Its salvation shall not come till after it has been desolate; so the margin reads it, Mic 7:13. God has a controversy with the land, and it must lie long under his rebukes, because of those that dwell therein; it is their iniquity that makes their land desolate (Psa 107:34); it is for the fruit of their doings, their evil doings which they have been themselves guilty of, and the evil fruit of them, the sins of others, which they have been accessory to by their bad influence and example. For this they must expect to smart a great while; for the world shall know that God hates sin even in his own people. 2. When it does come it shall be a complete salvation; and it seems to refer to their deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus, which Isaiah about this time prophesied of, as a type of our redemption by Christ. (1.) The decree shall be far removed. God's decree concerning their captivity, and Nebuchadnezzar's decree concerning the perpetuity of it, his resolution never to release them, "these shall be set aside and revoked, and you shall hear no more of them; they shall no more lie as a yoke upon thy neck." (2.) Jerusalem and the cities of Judah shall be again reared: Then thy walls shall be built, walls for habitation, walls for defence, house-walls, town-walls, temple-walls; it is in order to these that the decree is repealed, Isa 44:28. Though Zion's walls may lie long in ruins, there will come a day when they shall be repaired. (3.) All that belong to the land of Israel, whithersoever dispersed, and howsoever distressed, far and wide over the face of the whole earth, shall come flocking to it again (Mic 7:12): He shall come even to thee, having liberty to return and a heart to return, from Assyria, whither the ten tribes were carried away, though it lay remote, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress, those strongholds in which they thought they had them fast; for when God's time comes, though Pharaoh will not let the people go, God will fetch them out with a high hand. They shall come from all the remote parts, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain, not turning back for fear of your discouragements, but they shall go from strength to strength till they come to Zion. Thus in the great day of redemption God will gather his elect from the four winds.

INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 7 This chapter begins with a lamentation of the prophet, in the name of the church and people of God, concerning the general depravity and corruption of the times in which he lived, Mic 7:1; then declares what he was determined to do for his relief in such circumstances, Mic 7:7; comforts himself and the church with a good hope and firm belief of its being otherwise and better with them, to the shame and confusion of their enemies that now rejoiced, though without just reason for it, Mic 7:8; with promises of deliverance, after a desolation of the land for some time, Mic 7:11; and with the answer returned to the prayers of the prophet, Mic 7:14; which would issue in the astonishment of the world, and their subjection to the church of God, Mic 7:16; and the chapter is concluded with admiration at the pardoning grace and mercy of God, and his faithfulness to his promises, Mic 7:18.

Therefore I will look unto the Lord,.... Here the prophet, in the name of the church and people of God, declares what he would do in such circumstances, since there was no dependence on men of any rank, in any relation or connection with each other; he resolved to look alone to the Lord, and put his trust in him; look up to the Lord in prayer, use an humble freedom with him, place a holy confidence in him, expect all good things from him, and wait for them; look to Christ in the exercise of faith, which is, in New Testament language, a looking to Jesus; and the Targum interprets this clause of the Word of the Lord, the essential Word, who is to be looked unto, and believed in, as the Son of God, who is the true God, and eternal life; as the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world; as the Mediator between God and men: as in all his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; as the Lord our righteousness, and as the only Saviour and Redeemer of men; and that for all things; when in darkness, for light; when weak, for strength; when sick, for healing; when hungry, for food; when disconsolate, for comfort; in short, for all supplies of grace here, and for eternal glory and happiness hereafter; and though he is in heaven, and not to be seen with our bodily eyes, yet he is held forth in the word of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it; and is to be seen there with an eye of faith: I will wait for the God of my salvation; who is the author both of temporal, and of spiritual, and eternal salvation; for the light of his countenance, when he hides himself; for the performance of promises he has made; for answers of prayer put up to him; for discoveries of pardoning grace, having sinned against him; for help and assistance in all times of need; for the salvation of the Lord, for an application of it, for the joys and comforts of it; and for Christ the Saviour, his coming in the flesh, which all the prophets and Old Testament saints were looking and waiting for: and who, doubtless, was upon the mind and in the view of the prophet when he uttered these words, my God will hear me; this is the language of faith, both to say that God was his God, and that he would hear and answer him; the former is the ground of the latter; God has an ear to hear when his people cry; and sooner or later it appears that he does hear, by giving an answer of peace unto them, which issues in their salvation they have been praying, looking, and waiting for. The Targum is, "my God will receive my prayer.''

(Verse 5-7) Your day of reckoning has come, your visitation is here. Now there will be destruction: do not trust your friend, and do not rely on your leader. Guard the doors of your mouth against the one who lies in your bosom; for a son insults his father, and a daughter rises up against her mother; a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and enemies are those of a man's own household. But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for God, my savior; my God will hear me. LXX: Woe, woe, your vengeance has come, now there will be weeping for them: do not trust in friends, nor hope in leaders. Beware of those who lie with you, do not trust them, for a son brings shame to his father, and a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: a man's enemies are the members of his own household. But I will look to the Lord, I will wait for God my savior: my God will hear me. Except for the beginning of the chapter, both editions agree in the rest of the parts, and in the meantime, according to the historical context, it indicates the day of the siege of Samaria or Jerusalem, which had been eagerly awaited and feared, and its visitation, meaning captivity, saying: Your devastation has come: now there will be devastation for them, that is, for the inhabitants, or siege: Mabucha () indeed signifies more πολιορκίαν and φρούρησιν, that is, siege and custody, than devastation in Hebrew. Therefore, do not believe the words of prophets, nor lend your ear to the deceitful flattery of the divine; because if trust is rare among dear names and blood relations, how much more so in those who flatter you, lying for their own gain, and who command not what is useful for the sick, but what is delightful and pleasing! Do not trust a friend; for Achitophel rose up against David (2 Samuel 15), and true Achitophel Judas rose up against Christ (Matthew 26). And, do not trust in a leader, like the men of Shechem trusted in Abimelech (Judith 9). They made him king, and they were oppressed by him. Guard the gates of your mouth from the one who sleeps in your bosom (Ibid., 16): do not allow what Samson endured from Delilah (2 Kings 16). For a son brings shame to his father; notably Absalom to David: he defiled not only the kingdom, but also his father's concubines with incestuous relations. A daughter rises against her mother: although we may not find direct evidence in the Holy Scriptures, there are so many examples in everyday life that we should mourn their magnitude rather than seek them out. Nurus contra socrum suam: ut uxor Esau consurrexit contra Rebeccam (Gen. XXVI). Inimici hominis, viri domestici ejus. Hic exempla non quaero, cum plura sint, quam ut testimoniis indigeamus. Cum ergo haec ita se habeant, nolite credere, Samaria (( Al. Samariae)) et Jerusalem, pseudoprophetis. Ego autem, inquit propheta, ad Dominum aspiciam, exsultabo in Deum Salvatorem meum, sive Jesum meum, et audiet me Deus meus. The Seventy interpreters follow, who say, Woe, woe, thy revenges are come, that is, the punishments which are to be inflicted for sins. For the Lord saith, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord (Rom. XII, 19; Deut. XXXII, 35). And in another place: The days of thy retribution are come (Hosea IX, 7). For the Lord doth avenge the clamours of them that cry unto him day and night, saying: How long, O holy and true Lord, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth (Rev. VI, 10)? So the avengers have come, and now there will be their lamentation, that is, of the avengers, so that those who laughed before may mourn, and immediately departing from the world, they may endure the torments, which that once richly robed and abundant in delights man endures in Hell, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 16; Matthew 8, 13). But what follows, 'now there will be'; understand either at the end of each person's life, or at the consummation of all things, and on the day of judgment, when the avengers will come upon all people. Therefore, do not trust friends, because every friend deceives through deception, and one who is a friend because of something is not as much a friend to the one they pretend to love (for he is called a friend by love) as to the thing that they cherish. When asked what a friend was, someone responded: Another self. But if the example of the Pythagoreans is opposed to us, who pledged themselves as sureties to a tyrant, we say that this is not a general statement against all friends and affections of love, but was uttered by God not against all time, but specifically concerning that which the Apostle says: In the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:1-2), and so on. For then a brother will betray a brother, and a father his son, and children will rise against their parents and have them put to death (Matthew X, 35, 36). But even now faith is rare: what is said on the lips is different from what is in the heart: the poison of the soul is hidden by the honey of the tongue. Many are friends of the wealthy, but they depart from the poor as well those who appear to be their friends. Hence it is said: If you have a friend, possess him in times of temptation (Ecclesiasticus VI, 7). I read in a certain Controversy: A friend is sought for a long time, found with difficulty, and difficult to keep. Theophrastus wrote three volumes about friendship, extolling it above all other virtues, yet also declaring that it is rare among human affairs. There is also Cicero's book On Friendship, which he dedicated to Laelius: in which he states what is often said among our people: Let our friend be like old wine, and let us drink it with pleasure, the word themselves almost the same. Friendship either accepts or creates equals: where there is inequality and one person is superior and the other subservient, there is not so much friendship as flattery. And elsewhere we read: Let the same soul be a friend. And the lyric poet praying for a friend says: Preserve, he says, the half of my soul. Therefore, do not believe in friends, that is, in those men who seek profit in friendships. If you want to delight in true friendship, be a friend of God, like Moses who spoke to God as a friend to a friend. Be a friend, like the Apostles, to whom the Savior said: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master desires; but I call you friends, because you have persevered with me in all my temptations. Friendship is delicate, which follows the successes and wealth of friends. Such people do not seem to me to be friends, but to love themselves. Let us consider more carefully the words of the Lord: But I call you friends, he says. And he gives the reasons why he calls them friends: Because you have persevered with me in temptation, and have not given up until now: but in all, he says, my temptations. Indeed, it sometimes happens that one who has persevered with us in one temptation is defeated by others and departs. Secondly, it is commanded: Do not hope in leaders, for cursed is the man who has hope in man (Jeremiah 17:5). In man there is vain hope, and true hope is in God. Therefore, Paul speaks: And from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things (Acts 20:30). And the Lord Himself through the prophet: The leaders of my people do not know me, the foolish sons are senseless and do not understand: they are wise to do evil, but they do not know how to do good (Jeremiah 4:22). Indeed, they were called leaders, he says, both my leaders and the leaders of my people. But because they did not know me and destroyed the meaning of the word by their actions, therefore the children are foolish and unintelligent: they have wisdom only to subjugate a simple flock to themselves and trample them under their feet; however, they do not know how to do good and govern the people. Do not believe in leaders (or judges), not in bishops, not in priests, not in deacons, not in any dignity of men. Nor do I mean that you should not be subject to such authorities in the Church: For whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death (Lev. XX, 9). And the Apostle teaches that we should obey the authorities in the Church; but it is one thing to honor leaders, another to place hope in leaders (I Pet. II). Let us honor the bishop, let us defer to the priest, let us rise for the deacon; and yet let us not place our hope in them: for the hope of man is in vain, and our certain hope is in the Lord (I Thess. IV). Third commandment: Guard against believing a woman who shares your bed. Hence the Apostle calls women vessels of weakness and orders that honor be shown to them by their husbands. For man was not created for woman, but woman for man (Ephesians 5). And he says, 'Wife, fear your husband' (1 Corinthians 11). To fear one's wife is to love one's husband with reverence. Men only to love; for love is the perfection of the saints. He says, 'Men, love your wives and do not be loved by them' (Ephesians 5:25); even though they may provoke anger and do things for which they deserve to endure bitterness. For this indeed signifies to be embittered: but you should not render them in return with bitterness. But also Solomon in Ecclesiastes: And he said, I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these. Perhaps, having learned from his own example, he does not trust women, through whom he had offended God. But also the sublime Poet (not another Homer, as Lucillus suspects about Ennius; but the first Homer among the Romans): .. . . . . . . Varium et mutabile semper Femina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Plenae sunt historiae Graecae et Latinae, quanti viri ab uxoribus suis decepti sint eorumque vita sit prodita. De Scripturis autem et Dalilae, cujus supra fecimus mentionem, et alterius ante Dalilam testantur exempla, quae arcanum Samson septem dierum expressit lacrymis, et amore simulato, quod latebat, invenit. Unde Samson postea loquitur: Nisi domuissetis vitulam meam, non invenissetis propositionem meam (Jud. XIII, 19) . So far, it is commanded that we not trust easily in friends, leaders, and wives. And the reason given is not sufficient in response to the proposition; for it is said: Because a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and the enemies of a man are those of his own household. For what does it pertain to a friend, a leader, a wife, if a son and daughter and daughter-in-law rise against their father, mother, and mother-in-law? Therefore, it seems to me that it can be connected in this way with the previous statements: Do not trust in friends, leaders, and wives, who can be changed and can be for a time: since even a son and daughter, forgetting their upbringing and infancy, rise against the authors of their lives and bodies, and it is a crime to harm them, whom it is also a crime to injure with one's face. But this explanation does not at all apply to the daughter-in-law rising up against her mother-in-law, and to a man, to whom his domestic enemies are hostile. Terence in Hecyra: What is this? All mothers-in-law hate their daughters-in-law: which, although it may be ambiguous, is nevertheless almost natural: that daughters-in-law hate their mothers-in-law, and mothers-in-law hate their daughters-in-law. This prophetic discourse describes the consummation and end of the world, and what kind of generation will precede the coming of the Antichrist. Now we must discuss according to the previous interpretation, in which we spoke about heretics: Listen, O three, and who adorned the city? Was it not the fire and the house of the wicked? And again, concerning the Church: Woe to me, for I have become like one who gathers straw in the harvest. And again: Woe to me, my soul: reverence ((Al. returning)) from the earth has perished; and among men there is no one who corrects. And furthermore: The prince demands, and the judge has spoken peaceful words, the desire of his soul. Hence, a double curse follows: Woe, woe, your vengeance has come: now there will be lamentation, and let us speak the scripture concerning heretics: Do not trust in friends, O simple people, and in wicked leaders who promise to be friends and leaders of heresy: for they seek not your salvation, but their own gain, and they trample the flock deceived by them underfoot: and be cautious not to believe anything of her who sleeps with you, whom I can only understand to be flesh, so that we may not easily believe the flattery of the flesh, lest the hardness of the soul and the manly steadfastness be softened by her allurements. For the son who is born of God, neglecting his Creator, blasphemes him by whom he was created, as the Scripture says: 'Did not one God create you? Did not one father create all of you?' (Malachi 2:10). And he despises the heavenly soul of Jerusalem, and he scorns the Church as a mother, and whoever scorns her will die by death. And the daughter-in-law rises against her mother-in-law, which seems difficult to understand figuratively; but whoever reads the Song of Songs and understands the bridegroom of the soul, the word of God, and believes in the Gospel, which we have recently translated according to the Hebrews (wherein, in the person of the Savior, it is said: 'My mother recently brought me forth, the Holy Spirit in one of my hairs') (Matthew 10). He will not hesitate to say that the word of God has its origin in the spirit and that the soul, which is the bride of the word, has the Holy Spirit as its mother-in-law, who is called Rua in the feminine gender by the Hebrews. Therefore, heretics, having previously believed in the Scriptures, which were written and published by the Holy Spirit, transfer themselves to new doctrines and the leaven of the Pharisees and the commandments of men. And while they despise the word of God, they do harm to their mother-in-law. And so that you do not doubt, consider the words of Gabriel to Mary: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God' (Luke 1:35). After this, it follows: 'The enemies of man will be those of his own household.' According to our interpretation, it seems that every man's head is Christ, and Christ is the head of the Church (1 Corinthians 11:3): these are often his enemies, those who are thought to be in his house, that is, in the Church, and do not depart from the head, but go against their own head. They arrogantly promise knowledge of the Scriptures by their own judgement, without a teacher and the grace of the Lord, and they are ignorant and quarrel about questions, contentions, and battles of words. Truly, those who are truly in the house are enemies of the truth. However, we must know that in the Gospel the same words are used as we now read in the Prophet, but according to the context of that place, they have a different meaning. Whether they are taken from the Prophet or accepted by His own authority, it is for us to know, who has spoken both in the Prophets and in the Gospels. But there the Lord says: 'I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be those of his own household." (Matthew 10:35-36) Therefore, let us expound (if indeed we have been able to grasp the meaning of the Scriptures). The holy one understands that charity has grown cold, and that people in the end times will not be lovers of God, but lovers of themselves. They will believe in friends, leaders, wives, sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law, rising up against fathers, mothers, and mothers-in-law. Even the enemies within one's own household. He himself believes in the Lord, and all his contemplation is in his God. And although he may be oppressed by the tribulations and pressures of the world, having no confidence in anyone except the one who says, 'Do not be afraid, I have conquered the world' (John 16:36), he waits for his God and Savior, believing in him and always directing his eyes towards him, hoping to be heard whenever he calls upon him.

The prophet begins this chapter with lamenting the decay of piety and the growth of ungodliness, using a beautiful allegory to imply (as explained in Mic 7:2) that the good man is as seldom to be met with as the early fig of best quality in the advanced season, or the cluster after the vintage, Mic 7:1, Mic 7:2. He then reproves and threatens in terms so expressive of great calamities as to be applied in the New Testament to times of the hottest persecution, Mic 7:3-6. See Mat 10:35, Mat 10:36. Notwithstanding which a Jew is immediately introduced declaring, in the name of his captive people, the strongest faith in the mercy of God the most submissive resignation to his will, and the firmest hope in his favor in future times, when they should triumph over their enemies, Mic 7:7-10. The prophet upon this resumes the discourse, and predicts their great prosperity and increase, Mic 7:11, Mic 7:12; although the whole land of Israel must first be desolated on account of the great wickedness of its inhabitants, Mic 7:13. The prophet intercedes in behalf of his people, Mic 7:14. After which God is introduced promising, in very ample terms, their future restoration and prosperity, Mic 7:15-17. And then, to conclude, a chorus of Jews is introduced, singing a beautiful hymn of thanksgiving, suggested by the gracious promises which precede, Mic 7:18-20.

Therefore I will look unto the Lord - Because things are so, I will trust in the Lord more firmly, wait for him more patiently, and more confidently expect to be supported, defended, and saved.

THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE CORRUPTION; THE CHOSEN REMNANT, DRIVEN FROM EVERY HUMAN CONFIDENCE, TURNS TO GOD; TRIUMPHS BY FAITH OVER HER ENEMIES; IS COMFORTED BY GOD'S PROMISES IN ANSWER TO PRAYER, AND BY THE CONFUSION OF HER ENEMIES, AND SO BREAKS FORTH INTO PRAISES OF GOD'S CHARACTER. (Mic. 7:1-20) I am as when, &c.--It is the same with me as with one seeking fruits after the harvest, grapes after the vintage. "There is not a cluster" to be found: no "first-ripe fruit" (or "early fig"; see on Isa 28:4) which "my soul desireth" [MAURER]. So I look in vain for any good men left (Mic 7:2).

Therefore I will look unto the Lord--as if no one else were before mine eyes. We must not only "look unto the Lord," but also "wait for Him." Having no hope from man (Mic 7:5-6), Micah speaks in the name of Israel, who herein, taught by chastisement (Mic 7:4) to feel her sin (Mic 7:9), casts herself on the Lord as her only hope," in patient waiting (Lam 3:26). She did so under the Babylonian captivity; she shall do so again hereafter when the spirit of grace shall be poured on her (Zac 12:10-13).

The Church's Penitential Prayer, and the Divine Promise - Micah 7 The prophet responds to the threatening of the Lord (Mic 6:9-16) in the name of the believing church with a penitential prayer, in which it sorrowfully confesses the universality of the deep moral corruption, and painfully bemoans the necessity for the visitation of God (Mic 7:1-6); after which it rises, through belief in the fidelity of God, to the confidential hope that the Lord will cause the light of His grace to rise again upon the church, which is bearing the merited punishment, and will not let its enemies triumph over it, but will procure it justice, and deeply humble the foe (Mic 7:7-13); and to this it appends a prayer fore the renewal of the former manifestations of grace (Mic 7:14). The Lord answers this prayer with the promise that He will renew for His people the wonders of the olden time (Mic 7:15-17); whereupon the prophet closes by praising the mercy and grace of the Lord (Mic 7:18-20).

"This confession of sin is followed by a confession of faith on the part of the humiliated people of God" (Shlier.) Mic 7:7. "But I, for Jehovah will I look out; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Mic 7:8. Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy! for am I fallen, I rise again; for do I sit in darkness, Jehovah is light to me." By ואני what follows is attached adversatively to the preceding words. Even though all love and faithfulness should have vanished from among men, and the day of visitation should have come, the church of the faithful would not be driven from her confidence in the Lord, but would look to Him and His help, and console itself with the assurance that its God would hear it, i.e., rescue it from destruction. As the looking out (tsâphâh) for the Lord, whether He would not come, i.e., interpose to judge and aid, involves in itself a prayer for help, though it is not exhausted by it, but also embraces patient waiting, or the manifestation of faith in the life; so the hearing of God is a practical hearing, in other words, a coming to help and to save. The God of my salvation, i.e., from whom all my salvation comes (cf. Psa 27:9; Isa 17:10). Her enemy, i.e., the heathen power of the world, represented in Micah's time by Asshur, and personified in thought as daughter Asshur, is not to rejoice over Zion. כּי, for, not "if:" the verb nâphaltı̄ is rather to be taken conditionally, "for have I fallen;" nâphal being used, as in Amo 5:2, to denote the destruction of the power and of the kingdom. The church is here supposed to be praying out of the midst of the period when the judgment has fallen upon it for its sins, and the power of the world is triumphing over it. The prophet could let her speak thus, because he had already predicted the destruction of the kingdom and the carrying away of the people into exile as a judgment that was inevitable (Mic 3:12; Mic 6:16). Sitting in darkness, i.e., being in distress and poverty (cf. Isa 9:1; Isa 42:7; Psa 107:10). In this darkness the Lord is light to the faithful, i.e., He is their salvation, as He who does indeed chasten His own people, but who even in wrath does not violate His grace, or break the promises which He has given to His people.