He Has Shown You
Our faith is not complicated
Even though our faith can be summed up in one sentence – “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16) – it is so deep as to be unsearchable. This means we can never fully understand all of what our faith in Jesus means. Of course, if we could totally understand it, then our faith would not be worth much.
However, we often feel overwhelmed by the enormous depth of our faith. So, it is good to look at verses which summarize what we are to do with our faith. Some of these verses are:
Luke 9:35
35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Deuteronomy 6:5
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Leviticus 19:18
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
These last two should be very familiar since Jesus restated them in answer to “which is the great commandment of the Law?” (see Matthew 22:34-40)
All of these are straightforward directions for us to follow. There is another which is sometimes overlooked.
The prophet Micah preached around the same time as Isaiah (circa 740-700 BC) and beautifully summarized the essence of all the above divine directives.
Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, 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.
Let’s take a look at these one at a time. But, before we do, notice this is another example of the Trinity. We have mentioned many times in our studies that the Bible has a tremendous amount of teachings and instances which are grouped in threes which is the numerical representation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Micah 6:8 with its proclamation of to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God, is one of the clearest examples of this.
The beginning of the verse, “He has shown you, O man” makes it clear Micah is not saying anything brand new. He is simply summarizing what God has shown His covenant people over and over. However, unlike the 10 Commandments which are mostly stated as things not to do (you shall not steal), Micah states his three points as things we are expected to do.
To Act Justly
God is saying, through Micah, for us to always remember to be just when we have the power of judgment over others. This power of judgment can be formal (a boss at work, a ruler of a country) or it can be informal (parent/children, more experienced/less experienced). The concept is not to take advantage of your position of authority for selfish gain.
Why is this important? One problem with modern Christianity is it often tries to make people out to be “good” and to always want good things for others. This has really never been the case in human history. People tend to be very bad to other people, especially when they have some sort of superiority over others.
There is a non-Biblical, but very true, saying by Lord Acton from 1887:
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This is why the Bible, particularly in Proverbs, talks about the need to for people to be just so many times. Here are just a few examples.
Proverbs 21:3
3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:15
15 It is a joy for the just to do justice,
But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
Proverbs 29:14
14 The king who judges the poor with truth,
His throne will be established forever.
To Love Mercy
Many Bible translations state the middle phrase of Micah 6:8 as “to love kindness” which is not the intent of verse. Kindness and mercy are different.
Kindness seeks to make others happy or happier. It implies you are going out of your way to benefit someone. It could be helping them with a problem or simply opening a door so they can go in before you.
Mercy, on the other hand, is an action that is kept from happening to another by a person or a group with power over them. For example, a soccer team is leading 8-0 with 3 minutes left to play and they have another chance to score. Rather than scoring, the shooter kicks the ball out of bounds. Another example is a landlord not collecting the entire amount of the rent from a single mother with 7 children who just lost her job.
We can see God’s mercy toward mankind in the Bible from the very beginning. When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, God provided animal skins for them to survive in the wilderness.
Genesis 3:21
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
Jesus was merciful to the woman caught in adultery. She was guilty and should have been punished (along with the man), but Jesus did not do that.
John 8:10-11
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
David showed mercy to King Saul when he had opportunity to easily kill him and claim the throne which was rightly his.
1 Samuel 24:4-7
4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’”
Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5 And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.
6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed.”
7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
Likewise, we are to show mercy whenever possible and prudent. Sometimes, justice without mercy is necessary, such as dealing with pedophiles and serial murderers, but we are to always have our heart soft to the Holy Spirit to do what is right.
This principle of having a soft heart leads us to the third part of Micah 6:8.
To Walk Humbly With Your God
Humility is the opposite of pridefulness. When we are full of pride, whether it is thinking we are good enough for God or we are so bad God cannot help us, we cannot walk with God. If we do not walk with God, we cannot be with Him in Eternity.
Genesis 5:21-24
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Our walk with the Lord can also be very short as long as it is done before you die.
Luke 24:39-43
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Christ’s reaction to the Thief on the Cross is also another example of divine mercy.
However, regardless of when you walk with the Lord, you cannot turn your heart back to what you were before. Otherwise, you do not receive the promises of Jesus.
John 6:57-58, 66-69
57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Two proverbs stand out when dealing with walking humbly with God.
Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
The way noted in this proverb is the walk a person takes in their life.
Proverbs 3:34 – also quoted in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5
34 Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
He gives grace to the humble.
If we humbly strive to walk with God, seeking to act justly and love mercy as He acts justly and mercifully, we will live a content life no matter what trials we go through. We will also be a powerful witness to those we talk to about Jesus and His love.