Micah 7:8

8 1Rejoice not over me, O 2my enemy; 3when I fall, I shall rise; 4when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.

Micah 7:8 Meaning and Commentary

Micah 7:8

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy
These are the words of the prophet in the name of the church, continued in an apostrophe or address to his and their enemy; by whom may be meant, literally, the Chaldeans or Edomites, or both, who rejoiced at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the calamities the people of the Jews were brought into at it; see ( Psalms 137:7 Psalms 137:8 ) ( Obadiah 1:12 ) ; spiritually, Satan the great enemy of mankind, and especially of the church and people of God, to whom it is a pleasure to draw them into any sin or snare, and to do them any hurt and mischief; and also the Inert of the world, who hate and persecute the saints; and watch for their haltings, and rejoice at their falls into sin, and at any calamity and affliction that may attend them, though there is no just reason for it; since this will not always be the case of the saints, they will be in a better situation, and in more comfortable circumstances; and it will be the turn of their enemies to be afflicted, punished, and tormented: when I fall, I shall arise;
or, "though I fall" F26, or "have fallen"; into outward afflictions and distresses, which come not by chance, but by divine appointment; or into the temptations of Satan, and by them, which sometimes is suffered for wise and purposes; or into sin, which even a good man, a truly righteous man, is frequently left unto; but then he does not fall from real goodness, from true grace, nor from his justifying righteousness, which is everlasting, and connected with eternal life: he may fall from a lively exercise of grace, from steadfastness in the faith, and a profession of it; but not from the principle of grace, nor a state of grace; or from the love and favour of God: he may fall, but not totally or finally, or so as to perish everlastingly; nor is he utterly cast down, the Lord upholds him, and raises him up again; he rises, as the church here believes she should, out of his present state and condition, into a more comfortable one; not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord, under a sense of sin, by the exercise of true repentance for it, and by faith in Christ, and in a view of pardoning grace and mercy; see ( Psalms 37:24 ) ( Proverbs 24:16 ) ; when I sit in darkness;
or "though" F1. The Targum is,

``as it were in darkness;''
not in a state of unregeneracy, which is a state of total darkness, but in affliction and distress; for, as light often signifies prosperity, so darkness adversity, any afflictive dispensation of Providence; and especially when this attended with desertion, or the hidings of God's face; it is to be, not without any light of grace in the heart, or without the light of the word, or means of grace; but to be without the light of God's countenance; which is very uncomfortable, and makes dark providences darker still; see ( Isaiah 50:10 ) ; yet, notwithstanding all this, the Lord [shall be] a light unto me;
by delivering out of affliction; by lifting up the light of his countenance; by causing Christ the sun of righteousness to arise; by sending his Spirit to illuminate, refresh, and comfort; by his word, which is a lamp to the feet, a light to the path, a light shining in a dark place; see ( Psalms 27:1 ) ( 112:4 ) . This passage is applied by the Jews F2 to the days of the Messiah.
FOOTNOTES:

F26 (ytlpn yk) "quamvis cecidi", Drusius, Burkius.
F1 (bva yk) "quamvis sedero", Drusius; "quamvis sedeam", Burkius.
F2 Debarim Rabba, parash. 11. fol. 245. 3.

Micah 7:8 In-Context

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.

Cross References 4

  • 1. [Jeremiah 50:11; Lamentations 4:21]
  • 2. ver. 10
  • 3. Psalms 37:24
  • 4. Psalms 112:4
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.