7:18 Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.
7:19 He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
7:20 You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old.
See also
Micah 2:1-3 —
Woe to those who devise iniquity, and work out evil on their beds! ... thus says the Lord: “Behold, against this family [God’s people, see v. 4] I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks”
Micah 5:12-15 —
I will cut off sorceries from your hand... your carved images I will also cut off, and your sacred pillars from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands; ...Thus I will destroy your cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury on the nations that have not heard.
Observations
God has anger (consider the rest of Micah: His righteous anger at their spiritual “harlotry”)
God does not retain His anger forever
God delights in mercy
God’s promise to Israel (“us” is Israel, see v 7:15 “when you came out of the land of Egypt”)
God will have compassion on Israel
God will “subdue” their iniquities
Things God Does
and other interpretations
Although God had reason for wrath with Israel, and does with me too, He does not retain His anger forever
God delights in mercy
For the past sins: God has compassion. For the future, God “subdues” our iniquity — through sanctification God “leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3)
Application
When I miss the mark, remember and dwell on the character of God: how He delights in mercy
When I recall past sin, remember and dwell on the character of God: how He has compassion
When I find myself in a cycle of sin, call on God to subdue my iniquity, to lead me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.