mh_parser/vol_split/33 - Micah/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Mic.viii" n="viii" next="Nah" prev="Mic.vii" progress="88.45%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Mic.viii-p0.1">M I C A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Mic.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Mic.viii-p1" shownumber="no">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, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.1-Mic.7.6" parsed="|Mic|7|1|7|6" passage="Mic 7:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.7" parsed="|Mic|7|7|0|0" passage="Mic 7:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. 2. They must
courageously bear up against the insolences of the enemy, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.8-Mic.7.10" parsed="|Mic|7|8|7|10" passage="Mic 7:8-10">ver. 8-10</scripRef>. 3. They must patiently
lie down under the rebukes of their God, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.9" parsed="|Mic|7|9|0|0" passage="Mic 7:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. 4. They must expect no other than that
the trouble would continue long, and must endeavour to make the
best of it, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.11-Mic.7.13" parsed="|Mic|7|11|7|13" passage="Mic 7:11-13">ver. 11-13</scripRef>.
5. They must encourage themselves with God's promises, in answer to
the prophet's prayers, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.14-Mic.7.15" parsed="|Mic|7|14|7|15" passage="Mic 7:14,15">ver. 14,
15</scripRef>. 6. They must foresee the fall of their enemies, that
now triumphed over them, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.16-Mic.7.17" parsed="|Mic|7|16|7|17" passage="Mic 7:16,17">ver. 16,
17</scripRef>. 7. They must themselves triumph in the mercy and
grace of God, and his faithfulness to his covenant (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.18-Mic.7.20" parsed="|Mic|7|18|7|20" passage="Mic 7:18-20">ver. 18-20</scripRef>), and with that
comfortable word the prophecy concludes.</p>
<scripCom id="Mic.viii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7" parsed="|Mic|7|0|0|0" passage="Mic 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Mic.viii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.1-Mic.7.6" parsed="|Mic|7|1|7|6" passage="Mic 7:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.viii-p1.11">
<h4 id="Mic.viii-p1.12">The Sins of the People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p1.13">b. c.</span> 700.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.viii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered
the summer fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage: <i>there
is</i> no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first-ripe fruit.
  2 The good <i>man</i> is perished out of the earth: and
<i>there is</i> 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 asketh, and
the judge <i>asketh</i> for a reward; and the great <i>man,</i> he
uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.   4 The
best of them <i>is</i> as a brier: the most upright <i>is
sharper</i> than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen <i>and</i>
thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.   5
Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep
the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.   6
For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against
her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's
enemies <i>are</i> the men of his own house.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p3" shownumber="no">This is such a description of bad times as,
some think, could scarcely agree to the times of Hezekiah, when
this prophet prophesied; and therefore they rather take it as a
prediction of what should be in the reign of Manasseh. But we may
rather suppose it to be in the reign of Ahaz (and in that reign he
prophesied, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.1" parsed="|Mic|1|1|0|0" passage="Mic 1:1"><i>ch.</i> i. 1</scripRef>)
or in the beginning of Hezekiah's time, before the reformation he
was instrumental in; nay, in the best of his days, and when he had
done his best to purge out corruptions, still there was much amiss.
The prophet cries out, <i>Woe is me!</i> He bemoans himself that
his lot was cast in such a degenerate age, and thinks it his great
unhappiness that he lived among a people that were ripening apace
for a ruin which many a good man would unavoidably be involved in.
Thus David cries out, <i>Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech!</i> He
laments, 1. That there were so few good people to be found, even
among those that were God's people; and this was their reproach:
<i>The good man has perished out of the earth,</i> or <i>out of the
land,</i> the land of Canaan; it was a <i>good land,</i> and <i>a
land of uprightness</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.26.10" parsed="|Isa|26|10|0|0" passage="Isa 26:10">Isa. xxvi.
10</scripRef>), but there were few good men in it, none upright
among them, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.2" parsed="|Mic|7|2|0|0" passage="Mic 7:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. The
<i>good man</i> is a <i>godly man</i> and a <i>merciful man;</i>
the word signifies both. Those are completely good men that are
devout towards God and compassionate and beneficent towards men,
that love mercy and walk with God. "These have perished; those few
honest men that some time ago enriched and adorned our country are
now dead and gone, and there are none risen up <i>in their
stead</i> that tread in their steps; honesty is banished, and there
is no such thing as a good man to be met with. Those that were of
religious education have degenerated, and become as bad as the
worst; <i>the godly man ceases,</i>" <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.12.1" parsed="|Ps|12|1|0|0" passage="Ps 12:1">Ps. xii. 1</scripRef>. This is illustrated by a
comparison (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.1" parsed="|Mic|7|1|0|0" passage="Mic 7:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>):
they were <i>as when they have gathered the summer fruits;</i> it
was as hard a thing to find a good man as to find any of the
summer-fruits (which were the choicest and best, and therefore must
carefully be gathered in) when the harvest is over. The prophet is
ready to say, as Elijah in his time (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.10" parsed="|1Kgs|19|10|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:10">1 Kings xix. 10</scripRef>), <i>I, even I only, am
left.</i> Good men, who used to hang in clusters, are now as the
<i>grape-gleanings of the vintage,</i> here and there a berry,
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.17.6" parsed="|Isa|17|6|0|0" passage="Isa 17:6">Isa. xvii. 6</scripRef>. You can find
no societies of them as bunches of grapes, but those that are are
single persons: <i>There is no cluster to eat;</i> and the best and
fullest grapes are those that grow in large clusters. Some think
that this intimates not only that good people were few, but that
those few who remained, who went for good people, were good for
little, like the small withered grapes, the refuse that were left
behind, not only by the gatherer, but by the gleaner. When the
prophet observed this universal degeneracy it made him <i>desire
the first-ripe fruit;</i> he wished to see such worthy good men as
were in the former ages, were the ornaments of the primitive times,
and as far excelled the best of all the present age as the first
and full-ripe fruits do those of the latter growth, that never come
to maturity. When we read and hear of the wisdom and zeal, the
strictness and conscientiousness, the devotion and charity, of the
professors of religion in former ages, and see the reverse of this
in those of the present age, we cannot but sit down, and wish, with
a sigh, <i>O for primitive Christianity again!</i> Where are the
plainness and integrity of those that went before us? Where are the
Israelites indeed, without guile? Our souls desire them, but in
vain. The golden age is gone, and past recall; we must make the
best of what is, for we are not likely to see such times as have
been. 2. That there were so many wicked mischievous people among
them, not only none that did any good, but multitudes that did all
the hurt they could: "<i>They all lie in wait for blood,</i> and
<i>hunt every man his brother.</i> To get wealth to themselves,
they care not what wrong, what hurt, they do to their neighbours
and nearest relations. They act as if mankind were in a state of
war, and force were the only right. They are as beasts of prey to
their neighbours, for <i>they all lie in wait for blood</i> as
lions for their prey; they thirst after it, make nothing of taking
away any man's life or livelihood to serve a turn for themselves,
and lie in wait for an opportunity to do it. Their neighbours are
as beasts of prey to them, for they <i>hunt every man his brother
with a net;</i> they persecute them as noxious creatures, fit to be
taken and destroyed, though they are innocent excellent ones." We
say of him that is outlawed, <i>Caput gerit lupinum—He is to be
hunted as a wolf.</i> "Or they hunt them as men do the game, to
feast upon it; they have a thousand cursed arts of ensnaring men to
their ruin, so that they may but get by it. Thus <i>they do
mischief with both hands earnestly;</i> their hearts desire it,
their heads contrive it, and then <i>both hands</i> are ready to
put it in execution." Note, The more eager and intent men are upon
any sinful pursuit, and the more pains they take in it, the more
provoking it is. 3. That the magistrates, who by their office ought
to have been the patrons and protectors of right, were the
practicers and promoters of wrong: <i>That they may do evil with
both hands earnestly,</i> to excite and animate themselves in it,
<i>the prince asketh, and the judge asketh, for a reward,</i> for a
bribe, with which they well be hired to exert all their power for
the supporting and carrying on of any wicked design <i>with both
hands. They do evil with both hands well</i> (so some read it);
they do evil with a great deal of art and dexterity; they praise
themselves for doing it so well. Others read it thus: <i>To do evil
they have both hands</i> (they catch at an opportunity of doing
mischief), <i>but to do good the prince and the judge ask for a
reward;</i> if they do any good offices they are mercenary in them,
and must be paid for them. The great man, who has wealth and power
to do good, is not ashamed to utter his mischievous desire in
conjunction with the prince and the judge, who are ready to support
him and stand by him in it. <i>So they wrap it up;</i> they perplex
the matter, involve it, and make it intricate (so some understand
it), that they may lose equity in a mist, and so make the cause
turn which way they please. It is ill with a people when their
princes, and judges, and great men are in a confederacy to pervert
justice. And it is a sad character that is given of them (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.4" parsed="|Mic|7|4|0|0" passage="Mic 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), that <i>the best of them
is as a brier, and the most upright is sharper than a
thorn-hedge;</i> it is a dangerous thing to have any thing to do
with them; <i>he that touches them must be fenced with iron</i>
(<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.23.6-2Sam.23.7" parsed="|2Sam|23|6|23|7" passage="2Sa 23:6,7">2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7</scripRef>), he
shall be sure to be scratched, to have his clothes torn, and his
eyes almost pulled out. And, if this be the character of the best
and most upright, what are the worst? And, when things have come to
this pass, <i>the day of thy watchmen comes,</i> that is, as it
follows, <i>the day of thy visitation,</i> when God will reckon
with thee for all this wickedness, which is called <i>the day of
the watchmen,</i> because their prophets, whom God set as watchmen
over them, had often warned them of that day. When all flesh have
corrupted their way, even the best and the most upright, what can
be expected but a day of visitation, a deluge of judgments, as that
which drowned the old world when <i>the earth was filled with
violence?</i> 4. That there was no faith in man; people had grown
so universally treacherous that one knew not whom to repose any
confidence in, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.5" parsed="|Mic|7|5|0|0" passage="Mic 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
"Those that have any sense of honour, or spark of virtue, remaining
in them, have a firm regard to the laws of friendship; they would
not discover what passed in private conversation, nor divulge
secrets, to the prejudice of a friend. But those things are now
made a jest of; you will not meet with a friend that you dare
trust, whose word you dare take, or who will have any tenderness or
concern for you; so that wise men shall give it and take it for a
rule, <i>trust you not in a friend,</i> for you will find him
false, you can trust him no further than you can see him; and even
him that passes for an honest man you will find to be so only with
good looking to. Nay, as for him that undertakes to be <i>your
guide,</i> to lead you into any business which he professes to
understand better than you, you cannot <i>put a confidence</i> in
him, for he will be sure to mislead you if he can get any thing by
it." Some by a guide understand a husband, who is called <i>the
guide of thy youth;</i> and that agrees well enough with what
follows, "<i>Keep the doors of thy lips from her that lieth in thy
bosom,</i> from thy own wife; take heed what thou sayest before
her, lest she betray thee, as Delilah did Samson, lest she be the
<i>bird of the air</i> that <i>carries the voice</i> of that which
thou sayest <i>in thy bed-chamber,</i>" <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.20" parsed="|Eccl|10|20|0|0" passage="Ec 10:20">Eccl. x. 20</scripRef>. It is an evil time indeed when
the prudent are obliged even thus far to keep silence. 5. That
children were abusive to their parents, and men had no comfort, no
satisfaction, in their own families and their nearest relations,
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.6" parsed="|Mic|7|6|0|0" passage="Mic 7:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. The times are
bad indeed when <i>the son dishonours his father,</i> gives him bad
language, exposes him, threatens him, and studies to do him a
mischief, <i>when the daughter rises up</i> in rebellion against
her own mother, having no sense of duty, or natural affection; and
no marvel that then the <i>daughter-in-law</i> quarrels with her
<i>mother-in-law,</i> and is vexatious to her. Either they cannot
agree about their property and interest, or their humours and
passions clash, or from a spirit of bigotry and persecution, <i>the
brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the
child,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:Matt.10.4 Bible:Luke.21.16" parsed="|Matt|10|4|0|0;|Luke|21|16|0|0" passage="Mt 10:4,Lu 21:16">Matt. x. 4; Luke
xxi. 16</scripRef>. It is sad when a man's betrayers and worst
enemies are the men of his own house, his own children and
servants, that should be his guard and his best friends. Note, The
contempt and violation of the laws of domestic duties are a sad
symptom of a universal corruption of manners. Those are never
likely to come to good that are undutiful to their parents, and
study to be provoking to them and cross them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Mic.viii-p3.14" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.7-Mic.7.13" parsed="|Mic|7|7|7|13" passage="Mic 7:7-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.viii-p3.15">
<h4 id="Mic.viii-p3.16">Seeking Comfort in God; The Sins of the
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p3.17">b. c.</span> 700.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.viii-p4" shownumber="no">7 Therefore I will look unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p4.1">Lord</span>; 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p4.2">Lord</span> <i>shall be</i> a light unto me.
  9 I will bear the indignation of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p4.3">Lord</span>, because I have sinned against him, until
he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me
forth to the light, <i>and</i> I shall behold his righteousness.
  10 Then <i>she that is</i> mine enemy shall see <i>it,</i>
and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p4.4">Lord</span> thy God? mine eyes shall behold her:
now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.   11
<i>In</i> the day that thy walls are to be built, <i>in</i> that
day shall the decree be far removed.   12 <i>In</i> that day
<i>also</i> he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and
<i>from</i> the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the
river, and from sea to sea, and <i>from</i> mountain to mountain.
  13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of
them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p5" shownumber="no">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.
<i>Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p6" shownumber="no">I. "Though God be now displeased he shall
be reconciled to us, and then all will be well, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.7 Bible:Mic.7.9" parsed="|Mic|7|7|0|0;|Mic|7|9|0|0" passage="Mic 7:7,9"><i>v.</i> 7, 9</scripRef>. We are now under <i>the
indignation of the Lord;</i> God is angry with us, and justly,
because <i>we have sinned against him.</i>" 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 (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.7" parsed="|Mic|7|7|0|0" passage="Mic 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>Therefore I will look
unto the Lord.</i> When a child of God has ever so much occasion to
cry, <i>Woe is me</i> (as the prophet here, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.1" parsed="|Mic|7|1|0|0" passage="Mic 7:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), 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: <i>Therefore I will look unto the Lord.</i> 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,
<i>Happy is the man that has</i> the God of Jacob for his help, and
<i>happy am I,</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>I will bear the indignation
of the Lord,</i> will bear it patiently, without murmuring and
repining, <i>because I have sinned against him.</i>" Note, Those
that are truly penitent for sin will see a great deal of reason to
be patient under affliction. <i>Wherefore should a man complain for
the punishment of his sin?</i> 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
<i>wait for the God of my salvation,</i> 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 <i>God of our
salvation,</i> 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.) <i>My God will hear me;</i> if the Lord be our God,
he will hear our prayers, and grant an answer of peace to them.
(2.) "<i>When I fall,</i> and am in danger of being dashed in
pieces by the fall, yet <i>I shall arise,</i> and recover myself
again. <i>I fall,</i> but am not <i>utterly cast down,</i>"
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.37.24" parsed="|Ps|37|24|0|0" passage="Ps 37:24">Ps. xxxvii. 24</scripRef>. (3.)
"<i>When I sit in darkness,</i> desolate and disconsolate,
melancholy and perplexed, and not knowing what to do, nor which way
to look for relief, yet then <i>the Lord shall be a light to
me,</i> 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 <i>in a dark place.</i>" (4.) <i>He will plead my cause, and
execute judgment for me,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.9" parsed="|Mic|7|9|0|0" passage="Mic 7:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. 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 <i>will bring me forth
to the light,</i> make me shine eminently out of obscurity, and
become conspicuous, will make my righteousness shine evidently from
under the dark cloud of calumny, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.37.6 Bible:Isa.58.10" parsed="|Ps|37|6|0|0;|Isa|58|10|0|0" passage="Ps 37:6,Isa 58:10">Ps. xxxvii. 6; Isa. lviii. 10</scripRef>. The
morning of comfort shall shine forth out of the long and dark night
of trouble." (6.) "<i>I shall behold his righteousness;</i> I shall
see the equity of his proceedings concerning me and the performance
of his promises to me."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p7" shownumber="no">II. Though enemies triumph and insult, they
shall be silenced and put to shame, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.8 Bible:Mic.7.10" parsed="|Mic|7|8|0|0;|Mic|7|10|0|0" passage="Mic 7:8,10"><i>v.</i> 8, 10</scripRef>. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p8" shownumber="no">1. How proudly the enemies of God's people
trample upon them in their distress. They said, <i>Where is the
Lord their God?</i> 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,
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.42.10" parsed="|Ps|42|10|0|0" passage="Ps 42:10">Ps. xlii. 10</scripRef>, and see
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.115.2" parsed="|Ps|115|2|0|0" passage="Ps 115:2">Ps. cxv. 2</scripRef>. Thus, in
reproaching Israel as an abandoned people, they reflected on the
God of Israel as an unkind unfaithful God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p9" shownumber="no">2. How comfortably the people of God by
faith bear up themselves under these insults (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.8" parsed="|Mic|7|8|0|0" passage="Mic 7:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>Rejoice not against me, O my
enemy!</i> I am now down, but shall not be always so, and when my
God appears for me then <i>she that is my enemy shall see it, and
be ashamed</i>" (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 <i>my eyes shall behold her</i> in the same
deplorable condition that I am now in; <i>now shall she be trodden
down.</i>" 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p10" shownumber="no">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 <i>till after it has been desolate;</i> so the
margin reads it, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.13" parsed="|Mic|7|13|0|0" passage="Mic 7:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. God has a controversy with the land, and it must lie
long under his rebukes, <i>because of those that dwell therein;</i>
it is their iniquity that makes their land desolate (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.34" parsed="|Ps|107|34|0|0" passage="Ps 107:34">Ps. cvii. 34</scripRef>); it is <i>for the
fruit of their doings,</i> 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.) <i>The decree shall be far removed.</i> 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 <i>thy walls shall
be built,</i> walls for habitation, walls for defence, house-walls,
town-walls, temple-walls; it is in order to these that the decree
is repealed, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.44.28" parsed="|Isa|44|28|0|0" passage="Isa 44:28">Isa. xliv.
28</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.12" parsed="|Mic|7|12|0|0" passage="Mic 7:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): <i>He shall come even to thee,</i> having liberty
to return and a heart to return, from Assyria, whither the ten
tribes were carried away, though it lay remote, and <i>from the
fortified cities,</i> and <i>from the fortress,</i> those
strongholds in which they thought they had them fast; for when
God's time comes, though Pharaoh will not <i>let the people go,</i>
God will fetch them out with a high hand. They shall come from all
the remote parts, <i>from sea to sea</i> and <i>from mountain to
mountain,</i> 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 <i>God will gather his elect
from the four winds.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Mic.viii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.14-Mic.7.20" parsed="|Mic|7|14|7|20" passage="Mic 7:14-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.viii-p10.6">
<h4 id="Mic.viii-p10.7">Encouraging Prospects; Encouraging
Promises. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p10.8">b. c.</span> 700.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.viii-p11" shownumber="no">14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of
thine heritage, which dwell solitarily <i>in</i> the wood, in the
midst of Carmel: let them feed <i>in</i> Bashan 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 <i>things.</i>
  16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their
might: they shall lay <i>their</i> hand upon <i>their</i> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.viii-p11.1">Lord</span> our God, and shall fear because of thee.
  18 Who <i>is</i> 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 <i>in</i> mercy.   19 He will turn again, he will
have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou
wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.   20 Thou
wilt perform the truth to Jacob, <i>and</i> the mercy to Abraham,
which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p12" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The prophet's prayer to God to
take care of his own people, and of their cause and interest,
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.14" parsed="|Mic|7|14|0|0" passage="Mic 7:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. When God is
about to deliver his people he stirs up their friends to pray for
them, and pours out <i>a spirit of grace and supplication,</i>
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.10" parsed="|Zech|12|10|0|0" passage="Zec 12:10">Zech. xii. 10</scripRef>. And when we
see God coming towards us in ways of mercy, we must go forth to
meet him by prayer. It is a prophetic prayer, which amounts to a
promise of the good prayed for; what God directed his prophet to
ask no doubt he designed to give. Now, 1. The people of Israel are
here called the <i>flock of God's heritage,</i> for they are the
sheep of his hand, the sheep of his pasture, his little flock in
the world; and they are his heritage, his portion in the world.
<i>Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.</i> 2. This flock <i>dwells
solitarily in the wood,</i> or <i>forest, in the midst of
Carmel,</i> a high mountain. Israel was a peculiar people, <i>that
dwelt alone, and was not reckoned among the nations,</i> like a
flock of sheep in a wood. They were now a desolate people
(<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.13" parsed="|Mic|7|13|0|0" passage="Mic 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), were in the
land of their captivity as sheep in a forest, in danger of being
lost and made a prey of to the beasts of the forest. They are
<i>scattered upon the mountains as sheep having no shepherd.</i> 3.
He prays that God would <i>feed them there with his rod,</i> that
is, that he would take care of them in their captivity, would
protect them, and provide for them, and do the part of a good
shepherd to them: "Let <i>thy rod and staff comfort</i> them, even
in that darksome valley; and even there let them want nothing that
is good for them. Let them be governed by thy rod, not the rod of
their enemies, for they are thy people." 4. He prays that God would
in due time bring them back to feed in the plains of Bashan and
Gilead, and no longer to be fed in the woods and mountains. <i>Let
them feed</i> in their own country again, <i>as in the days of
old.</i> Some apply this spiritually, and make it either the
prophet's prayer to Christ or his Father's charge to him, to take
care of his church, as the great Shepherd of the sheep, and to go
in and out before them while they are here in this world as in a
wood, that they may find pasture as in Carmel, as in Bashan and
Gilead.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p13" shownumber="no">II. God's promise, in answer to this
prayer; and we may well take God's promises as real answers to the
prayers of faith, and embrace them accordingly, for with him saying
and doing are not two things. The prophet prayed that God would
feed them, and do kind things for them; but God answers that he
<i>will show them marvellous things</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.15" parsed="|Mic|7|15|0|0" passage="Mic 7:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), will do for them more than
they are able to ask or think, will out-do their hopes and
expectations; he will <i>show them his marvellous
lovingkindness,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.7" parsed="|Ps|17|7|0|0" passage="Ps 17:7">Ps. xvii.
7</scripRef>. 1. He will do that for them which shall be the
repetition of the wonders and miracles of former ages—<i>according
to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt.</i> Their
deliverance out of Babylon shall be a work of wonder and grace not
inferior to their deliverance out of Egypt, nay, it shall eclipse
the lustre of that (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.16.14-Jer.16.15" parsed="|Jer|16|14|16|15" passage="Jer 16:14,15">Jer. xvi. 14,
15</scripRef>), much more shall the work of redemption by Christ.
Note, God's former favours to his church are patterns of future
favours, and shall again be copied out as there is occasion. 2. He
will do that for them which shall be matter of wonder and amazement
to the present age, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.16-Mic.7.17" parsed="|Mic|7|16|7|17" passage="Mic 7:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16,
17</scripRef>. The <i>nations about</i> shall take notice of it,
and it shall be said <i>among the heathen, The Lord has done great
things for them,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.126.2" parsed="|Ps|126|2|0|0" passage="Ps 126:2">Ps. cxxvi.
2</scripRef>. The impression which the deliverance of the Jews out
of Babylon shall make upon the neighbouring nations shall be very
much for the honour both of God and his church. (1.) Those that had
insulted over the people of God in their distress, and gloried that
when they had them down they would keep them down, <i>shall be
confounded,</i> when they see them thus surprisingly rising up;
they shall be <i>confounded at all the might</i> with which the
captives shall now exert themselves, whom they thought for ever
disabled. They shall now <i>lay their hands upon their mouths,</i>
as being ashamed of what they have said, and not able to say more,
by way of triumph over Israel. Nay, <i>their ears shall be deaf</i>
too, so much shall they be ashamed at the wonderful deliverance;
they shall stop their ears, as being not willing to hear any more
of God's wonders wrought for that people, whom they had so despised
and insulted over. (2.) Those that had impudently confronted God
himself shall now be struck with a fear of him, and thereby
brought, in profession at least, to submit to him (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.17" parsed="|Mic|7|17|0|0" passage="Mic 7:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>They shall lick the
dust like a serpent,</i> they shall be so mortified, as if they
were sentenced to the same curse the serpent was laid under
(<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.3.14" parsed="|Gen|3|14|0|0" passage="Ge 3:14">Gen. iii. 14</scripRef>), <i>Upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat.</i> They shall be
brought to the lowest abasements imaginable, and shall be so
dispirited that they shall tamely submit to them. <i>His enemies
shall lick the dust,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.72.9" parsed="|Ps|72|9|0|0" passage="Ps 72:9">Ps. lxxii.
9</scripRef>. Nay, they shall <i>lick the dust</i> of the church's
feet, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.49.23" parsed="|Isa|49|23|0|0" passage="Isa 49:23">Isa. xlix. 23</scripRef>. Proud
oppressors shall now be made sensible how mean, how little, they
are, before the great God, and they shall with trembling and the
lowest submission <i>move out of the holes</i> into which they had
crept (<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.21" parsed="|Isa|2|21|0|0" passage="Isa 2:21">Isa. ii. 21</scripRef>),
<i>like worms of the earth</i> as they are, being ashamed and
afraid to <i>show their heads;</i> so low shall they be brought,
and such abjects shall they be, when they are abased. When God did
wonders for his church <i>many of the people of the land became
Jews,</i> because <i>the fear of the Jews,</i> and of their God,
<i>fell upon them,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p13.11" osisRef="Bible:Esth.8.17" parsed="|Esth|8|17|0|0" passage="Es 8:17">Esth. viii.
17</scripRef>. So it is promised here: <i>They shall be afraid of
the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee, O Israel!</i>
Forced submissions are often but feigned submissions; yet they
redound to the glory of God and the church, though not to the
benefit of the dissemblers themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p14" shownumber="no">III. The prophet's thankful acknowledgment
of God's mercy, in the name of the church, with a believing
dependence upon his promise, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.18-Mic.7.20" parsed="|Mic|7|18|7|20" passage="Mic 7:18-20"><i>v.</i> 18-20</scripRef>. We are here taught,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p15" shownumber="no">1. To give to God the glory of his
pardoning mercy, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.18" parsed="|Mic|7|18|0|0" passage="Mic 7:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. God having promised to bring back the captivity of
his people, the prophet, on that occasion, admires pardoning mercy,
as that which was at the bottom of it. As it was their sin that
brought them into bondage, so it was God's pardoning their sin that
brought them our of it; <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.85.1-Ps.85.2 Bible:Isa.33.24 Bible:Isa.38.17 Bible:Isa.60.1-Isa.60.2" parsed="|Ps|85|1|85|2;|Isa|33|24|0|0;|Isa|38|17|0|0;|Isa|60|1|60|2" passage="Ps 85:1,2,Isa 33:24,38:17,60:1,2">Ps. lxxxv. 1, 2, and Isa.
xxxiii. 24; xxxviii. 17; lx. 1, 2</scripRef>. The pardon of sin is
the foundation of all other covenant-mercies, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.8.12" parsed="|Heb|8|12|0|0" passage="Heb 8:12">Heb. viii. 12</scripRef>. This the prophet stands amazed
at, while the surrounding nations stood amazed only at those
deliverances which were but the fruits of this. Note, (1.) God's
people, who are the <i>remnant of his heritage,</i> stand charged
with many transgressions; being but a remnant, a very few, one
would hope they should all be very good, but they are not so; God's
children have their spots, and often offend their Father. (2.) The
gracious God is ready to pass by and pardon the iniquity and
transgression of his people, upon their repentance and return to
him. God's people are a pardoned people, and to this they owe their
all. When God pardons sin, he passes it by, does not punish it as
justly he might, nor deal with the sinner according to the desert
of it. (3.) Though God may for a time lay his own people under the
tokens of his displeasure, yet he will not <i>retain his anger for
ever,</i> but <i>though he cause grief he will have compassion;</i>
he is not implacable; yet against those that are not of the remnant
of his heritage, that are unpardoned, he will keep his anger for
ever. (4.) The reasons why God pardons sin, and keeps not his anger
for ever, are all taken from within himself; it is <i>because he
delights in mercy,</i> and the salvation of sinners is what he has
pleasure in, not their death and damnation. (5.) The glory of God
in forgiving sin is, as in other things, matchless, and without
compare. There is <i>no God like unto him</i> for this; no
magistrate, no common person, forgives as God does. In this his
thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours; in this he is <i>God,
and not man.</i> (6.) All those that have experienced pardoning
mercy cannot but admire that mercy; it is what we have reason to
stand amazed at, if we know what it is. Has God forgiven us our
transgressions? We may well say, <i>Who is a God like unto
thee?</i> Our holy wonder at pardoning mercy will be a good
evidence of our interest in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.viii-p16" shownumber="no">2. To take to ourselves the comfort of that
mercy and all the grace and truth that go along with it. God's
people here, as they look back with thankfulness upon God's
pardoning their sins, so they look forward with assurance upon what
he would yet further do for them. His mercy <i>endures for
ever,</i> and therefore as he has <i>shown mercy</i> so he will,
<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.19-Mic.7.20" parsed="|Mic|7|19|7|20" passage="Mic 7:19,20"><i>v.</i> 19, 20</scripRef>. (1.)
He will renew his favours to us: <i>He will turn again; he will
have compassion;</i> that is, he will again have compassion upon us
as formerly he had; his compassions shall be <i>new every
morning;</i> he seemed to be departing from us in anger, but he
will turn again and pity us. He will turn us to himself, and then
will <i>turn to us, and have mercy upon us.</i> (2.) He will renew
us, to prepare and qualify us for his favour: <i>He will subdue our
iniquities;</i> when he takes away the guilt of sin, that it may
not damn us, he will break the power of sin, that it may not have
dominion over us, that we may not fear sin, nor be led captive by
it. Sin is an enemy that fights against us, a tyrant that oppresses
us; nothing less than almighty grace can subdue it, so great is its
power in fallen man and so long has it kept possession. But, if God
forgive the sin that has been committed by us, he will subdue the
sin that dwells in us, and in that there is none like him in
forgiving; and all those whose sins are pardoned earnestly desire
and hope; to have their corruptions mortified and their iniquities
subdued, and please themselves with the hopes of it. If we be left
to ourselves, our iniquities will be too hard for us; but God's
grace, we trust, shall be sufficient for us to subdue them, so that
they shall not rule us, and then they shall not ruin us. (3.) He
will confirm this good work, and effectually provide that his act
of grace shall never be repealed: <i>Thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depth of the sea,</i> as when he brought them out of Egypt
(to which he has an eye in the promises here, <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.15" parsed="|Mic|7|15|0|0" passage="Mic 7:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>) he subdued Pharaoh and the
Egyptians, and cast them into the depth of the sea. It intimates
that when God forgives sin he <i>remembers it no more,</i> and
takes care that it shall never be remembered more against the
sinner. <scripRef id="Mic.viii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.22" parsed="|Ezek|18|22|0|0" passage="Eze 18:22">Ezek. xviii. 22</scripRef>,
<i>His transgressions shall not be mentioned unto him;</i> they are
<i>blotted out as a cloud</i> which never appears more. He casts
them into the sea, not near the shore-side, where they may appear
again next low water, but into <i>the depth of the sea,</i> never
to rise again. <i>All their sins</i> shall be cast there without
exception, for when God forgives sin he forgives all. (4.) He will
perfect that which concerns us, and with this good work will do all
that for us which our case requires and which he has promised
(<scripRef id="Mic.viii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.7.20" parsed="|Mic|7|20|0|0" passage="Mic 7:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>Then
wilt thou perform thy truth to Jacob and thy mercy to Abraham.</i>
It is in pursuance of the covenant that our sins are pardoned and
our lusts mortified; from that spring all these streams flow, and
with these he shall <i>freely give us all things.</i> The promise
is said to be <i>mercy to Abraham,</i> because, as made to him
first, it was mere mercy, preventing mercy, considering what state
it found him in. But it was <i>truth to Jacob,</i> because the
faithfulness of God was engaged to make good to him and his seed,
as heirs to Abraham, all that was graciously promised to Abraham.
See here, [1.] With what solemnity the covenant of grace is
ratified to us; it was not only spoken, written, and sealed, but
which is the highest confirmation, it was <i>sworn to our
fathers;</i> nor is it a modern project, but is confirmed by
antiquity too; it was sworn <i>from the days of old;</i> it is an
ancient charter. [2.] With what satisfaction it may be applied and
relied upon by us; we may say with the highest assurance, <i>Thou
wilt perform the truth and mercy;</i> not one iota or tittle of it
shall fall to the ground. Faithful is he that has promised, who
also will do it.</p>
</div></div2>