Micah 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion on us; he will subdue our iniquities… The gist of the two verses is in the sentence, "And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." However unlike to each other we may be, we all have need of pardon. In human pardon there is nothing remarkable save this, that it is often remarkably slow in coming, and as remarkably ungracious when it does come; and that when it is born it is remarkably short. lived. Our pardons, like ourselves, are full of imperfections. What a painful operation it is to be forgiven! A man seldom forgives without first humiliating. When God forgives He does it in a style worthy of Himself. There is a dignity about His forgiveness; it is a positive luxury to be forgiven by Him. God only is perfect in the art of pardoning. In the text God's pardon is described by four words — I. PARDON. "Pardoneth iniquity." While in everything God is incomparable, He is most unrivalled in the "matter of forgiving. The glory of God is His ability and willingness to forgive. The word "pardoneth" in the Hebrew means "to lift up and carry away." Do not run away with the idea that pardoning is only a matter of uttering a word. God cannot forgive at the expense of His own righteousness. He is a God that lifteth up the iniquity. The Soil lifted the sin up on His shoulders, and He walked away with it. II. PASSETH BY. "And passeth by the transgression." Transgression here means "rebellion." "Passeth by," — that is, as if He did not see it. God deals with sin as if He did not see it. He has seen it once. He saw it on Christ. He does not see it on me, because He saw it on Him. III. SUBDUE. The R.V. has, "He will trample under foot our iniquities." When God forgives the guilt of a sinner's sins He breaks their power. Have you ever tried to trample on your own iniquities? When God forgives the guilt He says: "I will do more — I will put My foot down on the neck of your iniquities." IV. CAST INTO SEA. God provides that His act of grace shall never be repealed. He will never take back the pardon He has once bestowed. "Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." That is how God puts away the sins of His people. When God pardons a man's sins He takes the sins, and drops them into the deepest place He can find, and there they lie, forever forgiven, forever forgotten. Micah may have had the drowning of the Egyptian host in his mind when he penned this passage. When God pardons, the tablets of His memory, if I may so put it, are wiped, and there is no remembrance forever made of this sin. When God buries our sin He takes it right out into the mid-ocean of Divine pardon and Divine forgetfulness, and it is forever forgotten. (Archibald G. Brown.) Parallel Verses KJV: He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. |
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