Micah 7:8-9 - The LORD Upholds Your Cause
- Chad Werkhoven
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Though you continue to fall, Christ continues to lift you back up.
Micah 7:8–9 (NIV)
CONTEXT: Today's passage comes at the end of a book full of judgment and lament. Micah ends with a forward look of hope. The current cataclysmic circumstances do not encompass reality in its entirety. Nations that opposed God’s kingdom will come undone. Walls torn down will be rebuilt. God’s mighty acts of salvation accomplished at the exodus will happen again. How can Micah be so confident? Because there is no God like Yahweh. Micah’s very name means “Who is like Yahweh?” The implied answer is no one. God’s character is revealed in his name (Lexham Context Commentary).
8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the Lord’s wrath,
until he pleads my case
and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 8: The Certainty of This Preservation
It is
not by our own merits or strength
but by God’s undeserved mercy
that we
neither forfeit faith and grace totally
nor remain in our downfalls to the end and are lost.
With respect to ourselves
this not only easily could happen,
but also undoubtedly would happen;
but with respect to God
it cannot possibly happen,
since
his plan cannot be changed,
his promise cannot fail,
the calling according to his purpose cannot be revoked,
the merit of Christ as well as his interceding and preserving cannot be nullified,
and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be invalidated nor wiped out.
Summary
It would be difficult to summarize all of God's people all throughout all times using just one word, but a good candidate might be the word remnant. After all, the history of God's people shows a continual cycle that's almost as consistent as a healthy heart rhythm on an EKG monitor. God saves His people, they rejoice and obey Him for a time, but after a generation or so, most people fall back into sin and its consequences.
But there's always a remnant. There's always a small number of people God preserves and restores. Think of Noah and his family, Joseph, the judges God raised up to save His people every other generation as they settled Canaan, the exiles that God brought back from Babylon, and the faithful Jews who put their hope in Jesus. God has always preserved a remnant in this new age as well throughout all the ebbs and flows of Church history.
Technically speaking, the prophet Micah wasn't formally part of a remnant group. He was part of the sinful generation that lived before Israel would fall to Babylon. As a prophet (one who represents God to the people), Micah called out the sins of his people, warning of judgment for their social injustice and false religion. A chapter before today's passage, Micah famously proclaimed the LORD's requirements for His people: that they would act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Yet the people continued to miss God's simple mark.
But Micah knows the LORD will be faithful, despite the ongoing and cyclical sins of His people. So even as he warns Israel of the LORD's coming wrath and the dark days to come, Micah has hope. He knows that the LORD will be his light, and will ultimately bring me (God's remnant people) out of the darkness and into the light.
Dig Deeper
This remnant theme forms a significant basis for this doctrine of the perseverance of the saints that we've been studying. The cycle of sin / suffering / salvation / sin / suffering / salvation keeps repeating like a heartbeat... not just generationally, but personally in each of our lives... sometimes on a daily basis!
Like Micah, you can look at yourself and see how you have fallen and sinned against Him, so you deservedly bear the LORD's wrath as you so often sit in darkness as your enemy gloats over you. And this doesn't just describe your life before you've come to realize your salvation in Christ, but even after!
But just as the LORD has always preserved a remnant of His people, you can be certain that He will preserve you. As the Canons put it, by God’s undeserved mercy, you can be certain that you will neither forfeit faith and grace totally nor remain in your downfalls to the end and be lost.
Micah knew that the LORD's grace is stronger than His wayward people. He knew that although he had fallen, he would rise, and that even though he sat in the darkness, the LORD would be his light. Living a millennia before Christ, Micah didn't know how, but he knew His God would plead his case, uphold his cause, and bring him out into the light.
You know that Christ's interceding and preserving cannot be nullified, so you have even more reason for optimism and confidence than Micah did!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who always preserves His people;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you live in Micah's confidence, that you would act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 2 Thessalonians 1
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