In The Word
Read: Micah 7:7-20
God Is the Source of Salvation and Light
7 But as for me, I will be on the watch for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Do not rejoice over me, enemy of mine.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I live in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.
9 I will endure the rage of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will look at His righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look at her;
At that time she will be trampled down
Like mud of the streets.
11 It will be a day for building your walls.
On that day your boundary will be extended.
12 It will be a day when they will come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the Euphrates River,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 And the earth will become a wasteland because of her inhabitants,
On account of the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,
The flock of Your possession
Which lives by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of a fruitful field.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
As in the days of old.
15 “As in the days when you went out from the land of Egypt,
I will show you miracles.”
16 Nations will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick up dust like a snake,
Like reptiles of the earth.
They will come trembling out of their fortresses;
To the Lord our God they will come in trepidation,
And they will be afraid of You.
18 Who is a God like You, who pardons wrongdoing
And passes over a rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy.
19 He will again take pity on us;
He will trample on our wrongdoings.
Yes, You will cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give truth to Jacob
And favor to Abraham,
Which You swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Having declared the indictment of the Lord to God’s people, Micah declared hope. In Micah 7:7, he says, “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation.” In spite of all the wrongs committed by the people, there was still hope. God was still the God of love and kindness. Even though the people stopped pursuing God, God never stopped pursuing them. The prophet declared his personal position with God. As it concerned him, Micah would wait for the justice of the Lord. No matter what others were doing around him, he would place his hope in the loving–kindness of God.
Micah hoped that by putting his hope in God, God would vindicate him and bless his life; Micah hoped that his enemies would fall and his borders would increase. This was the hope of all who would heed the word of the Lord. If they would but turn back to God, He would cast all their sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).
Many times we allow the actions of others to determine whether or not we will follow the Lord. But we do not need to worry about what those around us are doing. We need to take up the position of Micah by declaring, “As for me!” When we stand before the Lord, we will not be able to say we were persuaded by others. We have to give a personal account for our actions (Romans 14:12). Take your stand today for God, and He will execute justice on your behalf.