Micah 7:18 (ASV)

Passage

Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.

Nearby Context

Micah 7:16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf.

Micah 7:17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.

Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.

Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Micah 7:20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, [and] the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "like", "thee", "pardoneth", "iniquity", "passeth", "over", and "transgression". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "like", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "They shall lick the dust like a..." into verse 19's "He will again have compassion upon us...", so "light" and "like" belong inside that flow. In Micah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "light" and "like" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.