Matthew Henry on Micah 7:14–end
Here is, I. The prophet's prayer to God to take care of his own people, and of their cause and interest, Mic 7:14. When God is about to deliver his people he stirs up their friends to pray for them, and pours out a spirit of grace and supplication, Zac 12:10. And when we see God coming towards us in ways of mercy, we must go forth to meet him by prayer. It is a prophetic prayer, which amounts to a promise of the good prayed for; what God directed his prophet to ask no doubt he designed to give. Now, 1. The people of Israel are here called the flock of God's heritage, for they are the sheep of his hand, the sheep of his pasture, his little flock in the world; and they are his heritage, his po…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Micah 7:17
lick the dust--in abject prostration as suppliants (Psa 72:9; compare Isa 49:23; Isa 65:25).
move out of their holes--As reptiles from their holes, they shall come forth from their hiding-places, or fortresses (Psa 18:45), to give themselves up to the conquerors. More literally, "they shall tremble from," that is, tremblingly come forth from their coverts.
like worms--reptiles or crawlers (Deu 32:24).
they shall be afraid of the Lord--or, they shall in fear turn with haste to the Lord. Thus the antithesis is brought out. They shall tremble forth from their holes: they shall in trepidation turn to the Lord for salvation (compare Note, see on Hos 3:5, and Jer 33:9).
fear because of the…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on Micah 7:16
The nations shall see and be confounded - Whether the words in these verses (Mic 7:15-17) be applied to the return from the Babylonish captivity, or to the prosperity of the Jews under the Maccabees, they may be understood as ultimately applicable to the final restoration of this people, and their lasting prosperity under the Gospel.
John Gill on Micah 7:17
They shall lick the dust like a serpent,.... Whose food is the dust of the earth, according to the curse pronounced on it, Genesis 3:14; and which is either its, natural food it chooses to live on, as some serpents however are said (o) to do; or, going upon its belly, it cannot but take in a good deal of the dust of the earth along with its food; and hereby is signified the low, mean, abject, and cursed estate and condition of the seed of the serpent, wicked and ungodly men, the enemies of Christ and his people; who wilt be forced to yield subjection to him and his church, and will pretend the most profound respect for them, and the highest veneration of them. The allusion seems to be to the…
