Micah 6
What He Actually Requires
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
Micah 6:8 is a verse everyone knows. But the chapter that surrounds it has so much to unpack.
God opens with a courtroom scene. He calls the mountains and the hills as witnesses. And then He asks Israel: what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? I brought you out of Egypt. I sent Moses and Aaron and Miriam. I redeemed you. What did I do wrong?
The people respond with religious escalation. What should we bring? Burnt offerings? Thousands of rams? Ten thousand rivers of oil? Should we offer our firstborn?
And God says: I’ve already told you. You’ve known this. It’s not complicated. Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly with your God.
Three things. Three postures that describe a way of living in relationship with God and with people.
Act justly: do right by people, especially those who have no power to compel you to.
Love mercy: not just practice it, love it. Find it beautiful. Want it.
Walk humbly: not ahead of God. Not beside God as an equal. With. Behind. Dependent.
The people were offering escalating religious performance to avoid the simpler, harder thing God had been asking for all along.
