Rejoice Not Over Me – Micah 7:8-10

Christ encourages us to rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).  But our temptation is to rejoice when our enemies weep.  Israel’s enemies are rejoicing as they think God has abandoned His people to their enemies.

8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.  9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me.  He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.  10 Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”  My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.  (Micah 7:8-10)

A former president tweeted, in 2018, that Russia is laughing their a**es off because of our focus on their meddling in our elections.  And perhaps they are.  Micah, too, is concerned that Israel’s enemies might be rejoicing over Yahweh’s judgment on her for her transgressions.  He adjures them not to do so because Israel’s fall is only a prelude to her resurrection, and that at the hands of Yahweh.

Though Micah knows that what his people are experiencing is the indignation of God, he also believes that God will remain true to His covenant with Israel, bring her into the light again, and vindicate her against her enemies.  In that day the exultant enemies will be ashamed of their tauntings.  But until then, Israel will be trampled in the streets.

America has no such covenant with God.  There is no promise from Him that our nation will be restored should it be once destroyed.  We tend to see ourselves as impervious to such destruction.  So did Israel.  Even though we may think our enemies are laughing at our plight, we don’t really believe that they will ever be victorious over us.  We think we’re too smart, too powerful, and too good to sustain such a fate.

But when our eyes look upon her, our nation, what do they see?  Though there is still much to commend as our people continue to be generous to those in need and desirous of delivering those in bondage, we are like the church in Laodicea, not realizing how in need we are spiritually and how in bondage we are.  But too few are even questioning, “Where is Yahweh your God?”