When I Fall, I Will Arise

Micah 7:7-9

Therefore I will look to the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.
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.
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;
I will see His righteousness.


Every one of us is faced by the darkness of the world around us, and even unfortunately sometimes in ourselves. The sins of the world are all too often replicated in ourselves. It is so easy to conform to the evilness of the world. Listen to the same music, speak the same ungodly language, drink the same amount of alcohol… the list goes on. Micah faced this in his time. We face it today. So how do we react? 

Micah reacted with confident remorse. So should we. Remorse for our sin, yet confidence because of our Saviour. This is summed up by verse 9:

I will bear the indignation of the LORD,
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case
And executes justice for me.

The sins of Israel in Micah’s time are so similar to those of the world. There was oppression and robbery (Micah 2:1-2), there was dishonesty in business (6:11-12), there was unjust ruling and dishonest judges (3:1-2), and there was fighting and divisions in families (7:6).

We don’t necessarily see these in the church today, but we are certainly not rid of the sins of the world. So we too should heed the words of Micah to the people of Israel. The question is not only what Israel should have done, but what we should do today.

Micah first deals with what we should do when we are faced with the temptation to sin as the world does. Verse 7:

Therefore I will look to the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.

The only remedy to prevent us from being led away from righteousness is to look to the LORD. We must fix our eyes on Him, and truly believe that He is our deliverer. To prevent ourselves from being drawn in to the wickedness of those around us, we must look to the righteousness of the One above us. This is what God commands us to do in Isaiah 45:22:

“Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.”

So when we’re tempted by the world—one of our three spiritual enemies—we must turn to God and look to Him. Turn to Him in prayer. Turn to Him in your reading. Finally, turn to Him in obedience and righteousness.

However we don’t always succeed in stopping temptations when they come. We so regularly fall, and give in to these enticements that we face. Micah addresses this next, and tells Israel and us that there is still hope:

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 (verse 8)

Yes, when we inevitably fall. We face judgement from God. We face taunting from Satan. There is darkness. There is brokenness. But we can arise! God pulls us up and sets us on our feet again. He shines His light on His faithful in the midst of the darkness of sin. He is our salvation. Indeed, he chastens us, but even in wrath He does not violate His grace, or break the promises which He has given to us, His people.

So when you look around you at the sin of the world, and you’re tempted to give in to it, look to God. And if you fall, do not despair. Repent and come to God in confidence. Look to His righteousness. Look to His forgiveness, rise and stand!

Psalm 27:12-14:

Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living. 

Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!