10/26

Micah 7:18-19

¹⁸Who 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. ¹⁹He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Micah knew the nature of God. His gloomy message of impending judgment was mixed with a message of future hope. It was expectant hope based on the character of God. God takes no delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23). He made a way to pardon their iniquity. It would come hundreds of years later on the cross, but God is not bound by time. If in their exile they would just repent and give their hearts to Him, He would pass over their transgressions, pardon their sins, and cast those sins into the depths of the sea.

He was sending calamity to turn their hearts back to Him, which would save them from their own destruction. That was an expression of His steadfast love. Paul wrote in the New Testament that the more he loved, the less He was loved (2 Corinthians 12:15). His loving actions for the church upset those who wanted to have their own way for their own advancement. His loving discipline was not always well received. Many Israelites were probably angry with God because of His discipline. If we could only see that it is out of the steadfast love in which He delights that He exercises that discipline. He is more concerned about our eternal good than our temporal happiness.

For those who have received the gift of salvation through the cross of Jesus, the fact that all our sins are cast into the depths of the sea is joy unspeakable. No deep sea sub will ever be able to bring them back to the surface. Jesus has had compassion on us and has tread our iniquities underfoot. Condemnation is gone forever, and the steadfast love of the LORD is our daily delight (Romans 8:1).

Consider: Since it was God's delight in His steadfast love to remove your sins from you, should you bring them up again?