Daily Devotional | His People Will Rise

No one likes a sore loser, but even worse is a sore winner, who not only celebrates victory but also mocks the loser. In these few verses, Micah speaks in the voice of Zion (that is, Jerusalem) warning her enemies not to gloat because of the punishment God had delivered. While they refused to follow Micah’s calls to repentance, God’s people now recognized that His punishment was just. And, like Micah, they put their trust in the Lord and were waiting expectantly for His deliverance. They knew that God’s anger would not last forever (see Ex. 34:6–7).

God’s people were so convinced that God would restore them that they could state confidently, “I will rise” (Mic. 7:8). The NIV and other English translations treat this as a future-tense verb. However, in Hebrew, this is actually a past-tense verb, what scholars call a “prophetic perfect.” In Hebrew, it would read more like “I have risen.” Zion’s rising was still in the future when Micah wrote this book. But, from the speaker’s point of view, it was like it had already happened. God’s people were not just engaging in wishful thinking or putting a positive spin on a bad situation. Based on God’s faithfulness in their past, they were utterly convinced that the then-future restoration would happen.

Based on the faithfulness of their God in the past, they knew He would not be angry forever. How much more should we, on this side of the Cross, express our trust and hope in the God who died to save us? We know the character of the God we serve, and so we know that His discipline is meant to restore us to a right relationship with Him. We know, “Though I have fallen, I will rise.”

>> It is significant that “I will rise” is actually written in the past tense. That means it is a sure thing. Make this your focus phrase today, and believe that God will be faithful, just as He promised!

Pray with Us

“Though I have fallen, I will rise” (Mic. 7:8). Because we sinned against You, we bore Your wrath, until You pled our case and upheld our cause. You have brought us out into the light; we see Your righteousness.

BY Dr. Russell L. Meek

Russell Meek teaches Old Testament and Hebrew at Moody Theological Seminary. He writes a regular column on understanding and applying the Old Testament at Fathom Magazine, and his books include Ecclesiastes and the Search for Meaning in an Upside-Down World and the co-authored Book-by-Book Guide to Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary. Russ, his wife, and their three sons live in northern Idaho.