I love Christian songs that incorporate biblical scripture within the lyrics. I’m sure you’ve seen this quite often in worship songs and hymns that you sing in church. But there are several contemporary artists who’ve done this as well. One of my favorite Steven Curtis Chapman songs is, “The Walk”. In it, he recites part of Micah chapter 6, verse 8 which says:
“He has showed 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.”
This comes after the Lord chastises his people through the prophet Micah for worshipping other gods. He lets the Israelites know what is required of them and he breaks it down into three seemingly simple things. As with so much of the Bible, I believe that these required mandates are for us as well. First he says that we are to act justly. Our God is a just God, and if we are to reflect his nature, we need to be just as well. We should want, and pray, for justice. As God hates to see the guilty go free and the innocent condemned, we should too. We also need to love mercy. If we don’t show mercy to others, mercy may not be shown to us. It is difficult to do, but God modeled this for us when he sent his son to die for our sins. Finally, we are to walk humbly with our God. God loves a broken and contrite heart. He loves a humble spirit. Not only does he love it, he notices it and rewards it. I encourage you to pursue these godly attributes. We should all aspire to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
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Try to imagine what it must look like to live a life in line with the requirements God put upon the Israelites in Micah, chapter 6; to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. What would that actually look like? You may know someone who is walking these principles out in their life. You may even be that person. But if you aren’t, I encourage you to think on what it might look like in your life. Would you have to change anything in your life to act justly in all of your interactions and your philosophy concerning judgment? Do you love mercy? Do you love it even when you’ve been wronged and are the one called to be merciful? And do you walk humbly with God? Do you know your place in relation to him? These are certainly attributes that are good and holy. Every believer should pursue them. And in Micah, God requires this of his people. Let us make every effort to let them mold us more into the character of Jesus.