Micah 7:20

Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob,.... That is, the promise made to Jacob, the Lord would faithfully perform and make good to his posterity, natural and spiritual, especially to those who are

Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou Thou wilt perform the truth - the faithful promise.

Thou, O God of mercy, wisdom, power, and faithfulness, whoever are honoured with being thine instruments and servants in doing somewhat herein, the work is thine, thou wilt raise up a deliverer, Cyrus shall be thine anointed to do this great work. Wilt perform, Heb. give, actually bestow what thou hast in mercy promised. The truth; nothing so certain as the word of God, it is the truth by way of eminency, his promise is yea and amen. To Jacob; the posterity of Jacob; he was that plain-hearted man who now gives name to all the upright and honest among his seed, which God will never finally cast off; though now carried captive, they shall be restored, rebuilt, and re-established, shall flourish, as , and this as they are a type of a more gloriously redeemed people. The mercy: it was mere grace in God to promise Abraham and his seed such excellent privileges, which Abraham’ s natural seed did inherit; but both this seed and this mercy looked beyond the natural descendants of Abraham, and beyond their return to the land of Canaan whence they were carried. The mercy to Abraham was, that in his seed all nations should be blessed and holpen, ,55,68. To Abraham; not only as father to Israel after the flesh, but to him as father of the faithful. Which thou hast sworn; not that there was on God’ s part any need of such confirmation, but that on our part all doubt might be removed, and we by the immutable things of God might have strong consolation, as . Unto our fathers; because this mercy was frequently repeated in the promises to the fathers after Abraham’ s time, by which promises a mercy to be perpetuated in Abraham’ s seed, till the redemption of the Israel of God by the Messiah, (of which all temporal deliverances of Israel were figures,) should be effected. From the days of old; ever since Abraham’ s days, and God’ s gracious adopting his seed to be the peculiar people of God: into this we do, as Israel did, resolve our assurance of final deliverance. Amen.

Micah 7:20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, [and] the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.Ver. 20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham] Heb. Thou wilt give; for all is of free gift. His love moved God to promise, his truth binds him to perform; 2 Samuel 7:18; 2 Samuel 7:21, "For thy word’ s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these things." Having made himself a voluntary debtor to his people, he will come off fairly with them; and not be worse than his word, but better. Hence, Revelation 10:1, Christ is said to have a rainbow upon his head; to show that he is faithful and constant in his promises, and that tempests should blow over, the sky be cleared. "For this is as the waters of Noah unto me," saith the Lord: "for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart," &c., Isaiah 54:9-10. God hath hitherto kept promise, with nights and days, Jeremiah 33:20; Jeremiah 33:25, that one shall succeed the other; therefore much more will he keep promise with his people. Which thou hast sworn unto our fathers] And, in them, to us, by virtue of the covenant. So he spake with us, when he spake with Jacob at Bethel, Hosea 12:4; and that the promises sworn to the fathers of the Old Testament belong also to us of the New, see Luke 1:55; Luke 1:73-74. Now, that God swore at any time to them, or us, he did it for our sakes doubtless; "that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us," Hebrews 6:17-18. Gloria Deo in excelsis.

(20) Thou wilt perform.—The closing words in the prophecy of Micah are gloriously taken up some centuries later by Zechariah: “As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:54-55).

Verse 20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob] The promises which he has made to Jacob and his posterity. Not one of them can ever fall to the ground. "And the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn;" viz., that "in his Seed all the families of the earth should be blessed;" that the Messiah should come from ABRAHAM, through his son ISAAC, by JACOB and DAVID; be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel. And this promise, and this oath, God has most signally fulfilled by the incarnation of Christ, who was sent to bless us by turning away every one of us from his iniquities; and for this purpose he was delivered for our offenses, and rose again for our justification; and repentance and remission of sins are preached in his name to all nations. The proclamation was first made at Jerusalem; and that the prophet refers to this, is evident from the use made of these words by Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, when, under the full afflatus of the Spirit of God, he quoted this prophecy of Micah, as fulfilled in the incarnation of Christ, Lu 1:72-73. The Chaldee paraphrases this last verse with spirit and propriety: "Thou wilt give the truth to Jacob his son, as thou hast promised by oath to him in Beth-el. And the mercy to Abraham and to his seed after him, as thou didst swear to him amidst the divisions. Thou wilt be mindful of us on account of the binding of Isaac, who was bound upon the altar before thee. And thou wilt do us that good, which, from the most ancient days, thou hast promised to our fathers by an oath." Between the divisions, refers to the covenant made between God and Abraham, Genesis 15:9-11; Genesis 15:17-18. Well might the prophet exult in his challenge to earth and hell. WHO IS A GOD LIKE UNTO THEE! Hell is speechless, earth is dumb. Infidels dare not open their mouths!!! Hallelujah! מי אל כמוך mi El camocha! JESUS is the mighty God and Saviour, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin, and saving to the uttermost all that come unto God through him. Blessed be God! Reader, lay this to heart.

20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob …] For the saints of old still ‘live unto God’ (i.e. in the sight of God they are alive), and still take an interest in the affairs of their successors; comp. Jeremiah 31:15, Luke 16:25-31, John 8:56, Revelation 6:9-11. This was not only a popular belief at the Christian era (comp. Matthew 27:47; Matthew 27:49), but is endorsed by our Lord and by the New Testament writers. ‘Truth’ here means ‘faithfulness;’ the promises alluded to are such as Genesis 22:16-18; Genesis 28:13-14.

Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham - What was free mercy to Abraham, became, when God had once promised it, His truth.

A , Micah 7:18-20.Reveling in the thought of a glorious future, the prophet ascribes all honor and praise to Jehovah, who alone is God.