What is Good?

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.

Micah 6:8

The Lord’s case against His people comes to a head in Micah 6. In His own words, He has not “burdened” them (6:3). Rather He has “redeemed” them from slavery and sent able leaders in Moses, Aaron, and Miriam (6:4). And so Micah proceeds to clarify that worship of the exalted God is really not a matter of burnt offerings or sacrifice of a firstborn (6:6-7) as was the pagan custom. 

And this should be no surprise to them: He's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what GOD is looking for in men and women (6:8, MSG). In fact, as the Message translation continues, it's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously—take God seriously. 

The key seems to be to take God seriously instead of yourself. Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, May 18) says: “There is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God.” If your focus is on you, you tend to relegate others to second place and forget to care—to be fair and just to your neighbor, and to be compassionate and loyal in your love. 

In a Christianity Today article by Russell Moore (May/June 2022, p.38) he quotes Jewish philosopher Leon Kass as he writes of the “Hebraic awe” Moses must have experienced when standing at the burning bush: a desire to simultaneously “approach and stand back, to hide (his) face but hold (his) ground” so that he “both (felt) small and less small, afraid and then able to transcend fear.” I want to have that sense of “worshipful awe” for the Almighty, to take God seriously—to walk humbly with my God.

And hence to care deeply for my neighbor as myself. It’s pretty basic. Jesus said it: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’…and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39). It all begins with that “worshipful awe”, ends with doing what is right (act justly) and being kind (love mercy). 

That’s what the LORD requires of you, of me. That is what is good! 

Nancy P

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV 1973,1978,1984, unless otherwise noted.