John Calvin Commentary Micah 7:19

"He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." — Micah 7:19 (ASV)

The Prophet now prescribes to the faithful a form of glorying, so that they may boldly declare that God will be pacified towards them. Since God loves mercy, he will return, he will have mercy on us. We ought to observe the context here, for it would benefit us little to understand, I do not know what, concerning God’s mercy, and to preach in general the free remission of sins, unless we come to the application—that is, unless each of the faithful believes that God, for His own sake, is merciful as soon as he is called upon.

This conclusion, then, must be kept in mind: “God forgives the remnant of His heritage because He is by nature inclined to show mercy; He will therefore be merciful to us, for we are of the number of His people.” Unless we grasp this conclusion, “He will therefore show mercy to us,” whatever we have heard or said concerning God's goodness will vanish.

This, then, is the true logic of religion: when we are persuaded that God is reconcilable and easily pacified because He is by nature inclined to mercy, and also when we apply this doctrine to ourselves, or for our own particular benefit: “As God is by nature merciful, I shall therefore know and find Him to be so.”

Until we are thus persuaded, let us recognize that we have made little progress in the school of God. And so it appears very clear from this passage that the Papacy is a horrible abyss, for no one under that system can have a firm footing, so as to be fully persuaded that God will be merciful to him; for all they have are mere conjectures.

But we see that the Prophet reasons very differently: God loves mercy; He will therefore have mercy on us. Then he adds, He will return; and this is said so that the temporary wrath or severity of God should not disquiet us. Though God may not then immediately shine on us with His favor, but, on the contrary, may treat us sharply and roughly, yet the Prophet teaches us that we are to entertain good hope. How so? He will return, or, as he said shortly before, He will not retain His wrath perpetually, for He is angry with His Church for only a moment, and He soon remembers mercy.

The Prophet now specifies what sort of mercy God shows to the faithful: For he will tread down our iniquities. He had said before that He passes by the wickedness of His elect people. He will then tread down our iniquities; and he will cast into the depth of the sea all their sins; that is, our sins shall not come into remembrance before Him.

Therefore we learn what I have said before: that God cannot be worshipped sincerely and from the heart until this conviction is fixed and deeply rooted in our hearts—that God is merciful, not in general, but toward us, because we have once been adopted by Him and are His heritage.

And then, if the greater part were to fall away, we should not fail in our faith, for God preserves the remnant in a wonderful manner.

And lastly, let us know that whenever we flee to God for mercy, pardon is always ready for us—not so that we may indulge in sin, or take liberty to commit it, but so that we may confess our faults and that our guilt may appear before our eyes. Let us know that the door is open to us, for God, of His own good will, presents Himself to us as one ready to be reconciled.

It is also said, He will cast our sins into the depth of the sea. From this we learn that there is a full remission of sins, not a partial one as the Papists imagine; for God, they say, remits the sin but retains the punishment. How frivolous this is, the matter itself clearly proves. The language of the Prophet, however, does imply this: that our sins are remitted when the records of them are blotted out before God. For I will quickly review this verse, so that I may finish this Prophet today.