Micah 7: Deep Grace

​Key Verse
19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
 
Meditation
God’s story of redemption is going to a place of deep grace. Sin, suffering, and struggles are not the end of the story- God is working everything for His glory.
 
Today’s reading includes beautiful gospel imagery. Specifically, the steadfast love of the Lord forgives the penalty of sin and removes the stain of sin by “casting our sins into the depths of the sea.” This covenant promise comes to fruition in Jesus Christ. But before Micah’s climactic oracle of salvation, the prophet exposes Judah’s dark reality in his final oracle of doom (vv. 1-6). Because of Judah’s rebellion, their social fabric was unraveling. There was no fruit of justice, mercy, or humility. Yet Micah was full of hope, looking to the Lord and waiting for Him to act (v. 7). 
 
Standing in hope, Micah’s oracle of salvation foresees fulfillment (vv. 7-20).  Light will overcome darkness. Enemies will be defeated in ways paralleling Israel’s exodus from Egypt. God’s people will be vindicated. God Himself would shepherd His people to salvation, extending His steadfast love by pardoning and removing sin, showing compassion, and fulfilling His covenant promises. 
 
Jesus is the Light who overcame darkness. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leads us to salvation, defeating the greatest enemy of death and taking our sins to a deeper place than the depth of the sea. Through the work of Jesus our sins are pardoned and removed as God fulfills His covenant promises. 
 
God’s grace is deep! And our sin is not the end of the story.


Today’s Reading
​Woe is me! For I have become
    as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
    as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
    no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
2 The godly has perished from the earth,
    and there is no one upright among mankind;
they all lie in wait for blood,
    and each hunts the other with a net.
3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
    the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
    thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,
    the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
    now their confusion is at hand.
5 Put no trust in a neighbor;
    have no confidence in a friend;
guard the doors of your mouth
    from her who lies in your arms;
6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
    the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
    a man's enemies are the men of his own house.

7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.

8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
    when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.

9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
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 upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    like the mire of the streets.
11 A day for the building of your walls!
    In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12 In that day they will come to you,
    from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
    from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 But the earth will be desolate
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their deeds.
 
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
    the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
    in the midst of a garden land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
    as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
    I will show them marvelous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
    their ears shall be deaf;
17 they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
    like the crawling things of the earth;
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
    they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
    and they shall be in fear of you.

God's Steadfast Love and Compassion
18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
    he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
    into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to in today’s reading, either from the doom oracle, (vv. 1-6) Micah’s hope (v. 7) or the oracle of salvation (vv. 8-20)? 
 
-Where do you struggle to hope with Micah, looking to the Lord and waiting for Him to act? 
 
- Read through vv. 18-20 again. Which of the promises of salvation can you embrace by faith today? Be specific in what it looks like for you to believe and receive these promises fulfilled in Jesus.
 
Key Verse
19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.