LIGHT OF HOPE AND HELP (10)

"Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; WHEN I FALL, I WILL ARISE; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a LIGHT to me” – Micah 7:8

There is no impossible situation or irreversible downfall before the LIGHT of HOPE and HELP: "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; WHEN I FALL, I WILL ARISE; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a LIGHT to me” (Mic. 7:8). Prophet Micah’s Words of Hope to Israel affirmed that God was not done with His people. Even though they had fallen, courtesy of sin, He still had a purpose for them! Verse 8 is reassuring: “Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my LIGHT” (NIV). Israel’s enemies including Assyria and Babylon, were rejoicing over their decline and fall. But unknown to them, the fall was God’s loving discipline. For centuries, He had warned Israel against ignoring and rejecting Him, or scoffing at His law. God was judging them for their sin.

It’s usual for Satan and his agents also, to laugh at our “misfortune,” wishing that we remain in the dust! Importantly, when if we have sinned, it’s crucial to acknowledge and repent; hence Micah’s use of the language of the court of law: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light...” (v.9a). The gloating of the enemies amounted to naught: “Then she who is my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will see her; now she will be trampled down like mud in the streets” (V.10). Satan’s gloating over us will amount to naught!

God also pronounced judgement on the nations that gloated and took advantage of His people when they were captives (Eze.25-26). Proverbs 24: 16-18 warns us: “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.” Despite all that happened to Israel, Prophet Micah was confident that God would not only forgive Israel but be a LIGHT to them. God’s Light of Hope and Help is our guarantee His judgement – His loving discipline – doesn’t mean that He is done with us!

Hope is the expectation of God’s good coming to us no matter how gross the darkness. Even during troubles and trials, the darkest hour is right before the sun rises. We’ve been born again to a Living Hope (1Pet.1: 3-5). However deep the valley or dark the alley, by the Light of Hope and Help, we will ARISE from whatever low we might have fallen down to!