Micah 7

Micah 7:14-20

In this chapter, 1. The prophet, in the name of the church, saith lawfully that the law of religion, and the danger of inquiry and censorship which overwhelmed the nation, and bore down the forces of all that is just and forced, ver. 1—6. 2. The prophet, for the fate of the church, prefers comfort, and counsels them what to do. (1.) They must have an eye to God, ver. 7. (2.) They must consequently bear up against the infirmities of the enemy, ver. 8—10. (3.) They must patiently lie down under the rebels of their God, ver. 9. (4.) They must report that the trouble would continue long, and endeavour to make the best of it, ver. 11—13. (5.) They must encourage themselves with God’s promise, in nature to the prophet’s prayers, ver. 14, 15. (6.) They must forgive the fact of their triumphant enemies, ver. 16, 17. (7.) They must strengthen triumph in the mercy and faithfulness of God, ver. 18—20. and with that comfortable word the prophets conclude.

1. WO is me, for I am as + when they have gathered the summer-fruits, as the grape-gleanings of their vintage: there is no clutter to eat: * my soul defend the first-ripe fruit. 2. * The 2 good men is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood: they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3. * That they may * do evil with both hands earnestly, * the prince afeeth, * and the judge afeeth for a reward: and the great man he uttereth; his mischievous defier: So they wrap it up. 4. The best of them * is a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge: the day of thy watchmen and the willation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. 5. * I truly ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from that doth in thy bosom. 6. For * the son dishonoreth the father, speaking contemptibly of him, behaving disrepeable and disobedient; and the daughter rifeh up against her mother, with hastinely unbecoming her sea, as well as her relation; the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies

2. I—6. Like righteous Lot, the prophet here bewails his unhappy fate, compelled to dwell among such an abandoned people; for a gracious heart is pained to behold the overflowings of ungodines.

3. He was singular and solitary, and scarce could find a gracious companion amidst the thousands of his countrymen: so few good men remained, as the berries which hung on the vine after the gleanings. There is no clutter to eat, no society of upright men to join with; my soul defend the first-ripe fruit, longed for the converse of such as had the first fruits of the spirit, as the holy men of old, but there were none remaining. The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men, at least the prophet could not find them; but, like Elijah, thought he was left alone. Note, it is a fad symptom of a nation’s ruin when good men are taken away, and they who rise up in their places appear utterly degenerate from their party.

4. They flick at nothing to get wealth, lying in wait for blood, that they may feize the food of the innocent; and like wild health, hunting their very brethren into their soils, that they may plunder and oppress them. With faith and a light unto me, the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinners of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and the sinms of the earth, and

5. All good faith was lost among them, no such thing as a friend was to be met with, and no confidence to be put in any who pretended to be a guide in church or flute; nay, the very wife of their bosom was not to be troffed, being in those degenerate days base enough to betray the secrets of her husband, v. 5.

6. All reverence of parents was banished, the son dishonoreth the father, speaking contemptibly of him, behaving disrepeable and disobedient; and the daughter rifeh up against her mother, with hastinely unbecoming her sea, as well as her relation; the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies

are those of his own house; his children, his servants, who should be most solicitous to advance his interest, conspiring to ruin him. Note, Nothing shows an abandoned heart more strongly, than contempt of parental authority.

7. Therefore I will look unto the LORD: I will wait for the God of my Salvation: * my God will hear me. 8. * Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: When I fall, I shall arise: when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. 9. * I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have finned against him, until he plead my cause, and exercise judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. 10. * Then she that is mine enemy shall be it, and shame shall cover her which hid unto me, * Where is the LORD thy God? mine * eyes shall behold her: now shall she be troden down as the mine of the fleets. 11. In the day that * thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. 12. In that day also * he shall come unto thee, multitudes of the Jews returning to Jerusalem from Affyria, and from the fortified cities, where they had been captives, and from all places whither they had been dispersed and fled for shelter. And in a spiritual feast this may be applied to the building the walls of the spiritual Zion; into which, from all parts, multitudes of converts shall flock together. Notwithstanding the land shall be defiance, for the cause of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their things; these gracious prophecies shall not supercede the divine threatenings going before, to as to embolden the impenetrant with hopes of impunity; nor, on the other hand, shall all the sins and sufferings of the people change these designs of mercy, which, notwithstanding the distress to which they shall be first reduced, shall be brought to pass in their season.

8. In these calamitous times the prophet looks upward, thence cometh his hope. I will look unto the Lord, since no dependence was to be placed on man; I will wait for the God of my Salvation, for the performance of his promises, the removal of the pretext disbelief, or for Christ’s appearing, whose incarnation the good men of old so earnestly defend; my God will hear me, and answer my prayers, of which all his people may be confident, when they wait upon him faithfully and patiently. Having thus call his care upon God, the prophet, in the person of his people,

9. Profeces his confidence in God. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; though call down, God’s people were not destroyed, and short would be the triumphing of their enemies; when I fall, I shall arise, strengthened with divine power; when I sit in darkness, disconsolate, deprived, the Lord shall be a light unto me, reviving, comforting, and quickening me, and bringing me out of all my afflictions; and thus at all times ought the redeemed of the Lord to stay themselves upon him.

10. He humbly bows before the chafning rod, and owns the righteousness of the sufferings brought upon the land. I will bear the indignation of the Lord with patient submission, because I have finned against him, and therefore should not dare murmur against God’s righteous judgment; for all true penitents lay their mouths in the dust: whatever indignation is upon them, their sins have delivered it, and they will justify God in his judgment, and so doing they may hope for God’s appearing on their behalf; until he plead my cause, as he aforesaid will in due time, and parents judgment for me, pouring down vengeance on all the oppressors of his people; and he will bring me forth to the light, espouse their quarrel, and refusing them from their calamities, making his favour towards them openly appear; and I shall behold his righteousness; his justice in punishing their wicked enemies, his grace in succouring his afflicted people, his faithfulness in accomplishing his promises; for they who humbly submit themselves to God, and call their care upon him, shall ever find he careth for them.

11. Their enemies, covered with confusion, shall behold this salvation, so unlike what they looked for, is it. They once tauntingly asked, Where is the Lord thy God? and now they are answered, Lo! this is our God, and we have waited for him: mine eyes shall behold her, their enemies, reduced to the lowest state of abject wretchedness; now shall she be troden down as the more in the streets: which was fulfilled in the conquests of Babylon by the Persians, and shall be proved true in the destruction of all the foes of God’s spiritual Israel. In the day that thy walls are to be built, the walls of Jerusalem, after their return from Babylon; in that day shall the decree be far removed which obstructed the building for a while. In that day also he shall come unto thee, multitudes of the Jews returning to Jerusalem from Affyria, and from the fortified cities, where they had been captives, and from all places whither they had been dispersed and fled for shelter. And in a spiritual feast this may be applied to the building the walls of the spiritual Zion; into which, from all parts, multitudes of converts shall flock together. Notwithstanding the land shall be defiance, for the cause of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their things; these gracious prophecies shall not supercede the divine threatenings going before, to as to embolden the impenetrant with hopes of impunity; nor, on the other hand, shall all the sins and sufferings of the people change these designs of mercy, which, notwithstanding the distress to which they shall be first reduced, shall be brought to pass in their season.

4 N 14. ¶ Babine Christ 210. Orris. a Hs. exvi. 11. Job exi. 5. a Pf. levi. 9. Hs. abs. 25. a Pf. exoi. c. Or. comp. and charge. a Read. summ. 6, 7. Pf. exi. 9. Hs. levi. 18. Job. iii. 5. d Luke 1.74, 75. e Heb. vi. 17, 18. 14. ¶ Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bafhan and Gilead, as in the days of old. 15. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things. 16. ¶ The nations shall see, and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee. 18. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us: he will subdue our iniquities: and thou wilt cast all their fins into the depths of the sea. 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. We have here, 1. The prophet’s prayer on the behalf of his people. Feed thy people with thy rod, directing them in their way, and bringing them into green pastures; the flock of thine heritage, whom he hath chosen for his own, and therefore is peculiarly engaged for their preservation and safety; which dwell solitarily in the wood, separated from the rest of mankind by the distinguishing grace of God, and even in their captivity unmixed with the nations; in the midst of Carmel, scattered in Assyria, as sheep upon a mountain without a shepherd: let them feed in Bafhan and Gilead, as in the days of old, in the richest pastures, abounding in all blessings spiritual and temporal; as will be the case when they shall be gathered from their dispersion into the gospel-church, and made one fold under one shepherd. 2. God is pleased graciously to answer the prophet’s prayer.

According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, will I shew

unto him marvellous things; as wonderful should be their deliverance from Babylon, as from Egypt, and more amazing his work of redemption by Jesus Christ, rescuing his people from their spiritual enemies, and eclipsing all the former manifestations of his power and grace exerted on their behalf. Their insulting foes shall then be confounded, silent with shame, and stopping their ears, as unwilling to hear the wonders of God’s love towards his people, v. 16. Yea, the curse of the serpent shall be upon them, Gen. iii. 14, trodden into the dust, and prostrate before those whom once they trampled upon like worms of the earth, severe daring to lift their heads from their lurking-places, for fear of the Lord our God, whose judgments are upon them, and because of thee, whom they have abused, but now behold triumphant over them. And so low shall every enemy of Christ’s church and people be brought at last. 3. With wonder, love, and praise the prophet beholds what God is about to do for his church. Who is a god like unto thee? none can be found like him for the perfection of his nature, and the works of his providence and grace; especially that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage; this being God’s distinguishing glory, that he is a pardoning God, and this above all things raises the admiration, and engages the affections of the miserable sinner: he retaineth not his anger for ever; though for a time, by our unfaithfulness, we provoke him to visit our iniquities with the rod, and our sin with scourges, he is not implacable nor inexorable, but ready to receive the returning soul, because he delighteth in mercy, and waits to be gracious; more ready to pardon them with to pray, and willing to give exceeding abundantly beyond all we can ask or think. He will turn again, though he withdraws for a little moment his loving-kindness in displeasure, and turns away his face from us, he will have compassion upon us, mourning his absence, and seeking his return; he will lift up again the light of his countenance, removing our sorrows, and speaking peace to our troubled souls: he will subdue our iniquities, delivering us from the power as well as punishment of them; breaking the yoke of corruption, and putting our inbred enemies under our feet. His grace shall overcome our depravity, and sin shall not have any longer the dominion over us, which a soul who hath tasted the bitterness of sin, looks upon as the most inestimable blessing: and thou wilt cast all their fins into the depths of the sea, they shall be not only forgiven but forgotten; so totally done away in the blood of a Redeemer, that they shall never be remembered against us, and not one of all the numerous host ever rise up again to distress, or to destroy us. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham; the everlasting covenant of grace shall stand fast to all their seed, and the faithfulness of God is engaged for the fulfilment of it, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible that God should lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge, to lay hold of the hope set before us. And for this, for ever and for ever praise the Lord, O my soul! THE