John Calvin Commentary Micah 7:9

"I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, [and] I shall behold his righteousness." — Micah 7:9 (ASV)

Here the Church of God motivates and encourages herself to exercise patience, and does so especially by two arguments. She first sets her sins before herself, and thus humbles herself before God, whom she acknowledges to be a just Judge; and, in the second place, she embraces the hope of the forgiveness of her sins, and from this arises confidence regarding her deliverance. By these two supports the Church sustains herself, so that she does not fail in her troubles, and gathers strength, as I have already said, to endure patiently.

First, then, he says, The wrath of Jehovah will I bear, for sinned have I against him. This passage shows that when anyone is seriously touched with the conviction of God’s judgment, he is at the same time prepared to exercise patience; for it is inevitable that a sinner, conscious of evil, and knowing that he suffers justly, will humbly and thankfully submit to the will of God.

Hence, when men perversely clamor against God, or murmur, it is certain that they have not yet been made aware of their sins. I acknowledge indeed that many feel guilty who yet struggle against God, and fiercely resist his hand as much as they can, and also blaspheme his name when he chastises them: but they are not touched until now with the true feeling of penitence, to the point of abhorring themselves.

Judas indeed admitted that he had sinned, and freely made such confession (Matthew 27:3). Cain tried to cover his sin, but the Lord drew from him an unwilling confession (Genesis 4:13). They did not yet repent; rather, they did not cease to contend with God, for Cain complained that his punishment was too heavy to bear; Judas despaired.

And the same thing happens to all the reprobate. They seemed, then, to have been sufficiently convinced to acknowledge their guilt and, as it were, to assent to the justice of God’s judgment; but they did not really know their sins to the point of abhorring themselves, as I have said, on account of their sins.

For true penitence is always connected with the submission of which the Prophet now speaks. Whoever then is really conscious of his sins, at the same time makes himself obedient to God, and submits himself entirely to his will. Thus repentance always of itself leads to the bearing of the cross, so that he who sets himself before God’s tribunal allows himself at the same time to be chastised, and bears punishment with a submissive mind. Just as the ox that is tamed always takes the yoke without any resistance, so also is he who is really touched with the sense of his sins prepared to bear any punishment which God may be pleased to inflict on him. This then is the first thing which we ought to learn from these words of the Prophet, The wrath of Jehovah will I bear, for sinned have I against him.

We also learn from this passage that all who do not patiently bear his scourges contend with God; for though they do not openly accuse God and say that they are just, they do not yet ascribe to him his due glory by confessing that he is a righteous judge. How so? Because these two things are united together and joined by an indissoluble knot: to be aware of sin, and to submit patiently to the will of the Judge when he inflicts punishment.

Now follows the other argument: Until he decides my cause, and vindicates my right; he will bring me forth into the light, I shall see his righteousness. Here the Church leans on another support; for though the Lord should most heavily afflict her, she would still not cast aside the hope of deliverance. For she knew, as we have already seen, that she was chastised for her good; and indeed, no one could even for a moment continue patient in a state of misery unless he entertained the hope of being delivered and promised to himself a happy escape.

These two things, then, ought not to be, and cannot be, separated: the acknowledgment of our sins, which will humble us before God, and the knowledge of his goodness, and a firm assurance regarding our salvation. For God has testified that he will be ever propitious to us, however much he may punish us for our sins, and that he will remember mercy, as Habakkuk says, in the midst of his wrath (Habakkuk 3:2). It would not, then, be sufficient for us to feel our evils, unless the consolation, which proceeds from the promises of grace, were added.

The Prophet shows further that the Church was innocent in relation to its enemies, though justly suffering punishment. And this ought to be carefully observed, for whenever we have to do with the wicked, we think that we bear no blame. But these two things ought to be considered: that the wicked trouble us without reason, and thus our cause in relation to them is just, and yet that we are justly afflicted by God; for we shall always find many reasons why the Lord should chastise us.

These two things, then, ought both to be considered by us, as the Prophet seems to intimate here: for at the beginning of the verse he says, The wrath of God will I bear, for sinned have I against him; and now he adds, The Lord will yet vindicate my right, literally, “will debate my dispute,” that is, plead my cause.

Since the Church is guilty before God, rather, does not wait for the sentence of the judge, but anticipates it, and freely confesses herself to be worthy of such punishment, what does this mean—that the Lord will decide her quarrel, that he will undertake her cause? These two things seem to conflict with each other, but they agree well together when viewed from their different perspectives.

The Church had confessed that she had sinned against God; she now turns her eyes to another direction, for she knew that she was unjustly oppressed by enemies; she knew that they were led by cruelty alone to do wrong. This then is the reason why the Church entertained hope and expected that God would become the defender of her innocence, that is, against the wicked; and yet she humbly acknowledged that she had sinned against God.

Whenever, then, our enemies do us harm, let us lay hold on this truth: that God will become our defender, for he is always the patron of justice and equity. It cannot, then, be that God will abandon us to the violence of the wicked. He will then at length plead our pleading, or undertake our cause, and be its advocate.

But, in the meantime, let us remember our sins, so that, being truly humbled before God, we may not hope for the salvation which he promises to us, except through gratuitous pardon. Why then are the faithful encouraged to take comfort in their afflictions? Because God has promised to be their Father; he has received them under his protection; he has testified that his help shall never be lacking to them.

But from where does this confidence come? Is it because they are worthy? Is it because they have deserved something of this kind? By no means: rather, they acknowledge themselves to be guilty when they humbly prostrate themselves before God, and when they willingly condemn themselves before his tribunal, so that they may anticipate his judgment. We now see how well the Prophet connects together these two things, which might otherwise seem contradictory.

Now follow the words, He will bring me to the light, I shall see his righteousness! The Church still confirms herself in the hope of deliverance: and thus it is also clear how God is light to the faithful in obscure darkness, because they see that an escape from their evils is prepared for them; but they see it at a distance, for they extend their hope beyond the boundaries of this life.

As then the truth of God diffuses itself through heaven and earth, so the faithful extend their hope far and wide. Thus it is that they can see light far off, which seems to be very remote from them. And having this confidence, the Prophet says, The Lord will bring me into the light. They have, in the meantime, as I have already said, some light; they enjoy a taste of God’s goodness in the midst of their evils: but the Prophet now refers to that coming forth which we ought to look for even in the worst circumstances.

He then adds, I shall see his righteousness. By God’s righteousness is to be understood, as it has been elsewhere stated, his favor towards the faithful; not that God returns for their works the salvation which he bestows, as the ungodly foolishly imagine, for they seize upon the word righteousness and think that whatever favors God freely grants us are due to our merits.

How so? For God in this way shows his own righteousness. But far different is the reason for this way of speaking. God, in order to show how dear and precious our salvation is to him, does indeed say that he intends to give evidence of his justice in delivering us; but there is a reference in this word righteousness to something else, for God has promised that our salvation shall be the object of his care, therefore he appears just whenever he delivers us from our troubles.

Then the righteousness of God is not to be referred to the merits of works, but, on the contrary, to the promise by which he has bound himself to us; and so also in the same sense God is often said to be faithful. In a word, the righteousness and faithfulness of God mean the same thing. When the Prophet says now in the person of the Church, I shall see his righteousness, he means that though God concealed his favor for a time, and withdrew his hand, so that no hope of aid remained, it could not be otherwise, since he is just, than that he would help us: I shall see then his righteousness, that is, God will at length really show that he is righteous.