Monday, August 9

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

Today let’s dive into these three concepts mentioned in Micah 6.8: justice, mercy, and humility.

What comes to mind when you think of justice? Certain Illinois’ governors? Oil spills? O.J.? The Hebrew usage here could be literally translated as “to pass judgement”. Does that mean this verse is saying the opposite of what we talked about on Sunday (or Saturday night)? Does this verse give us the right to be judgmental? As always, let’s look at this verse in context.

The next concept mentioned in the verse is “mercy”. In fact, the verse says that we are to “love mercy.” The Hebrew could be translated as “love lovingkindness.” Remember, the word mercy means not giving someone what they deserve. So, what does judgment look like in light of mercy?

And finally, the verse says that we are to “walk humbly with your God.” All throughout Scripture when it is said of someone that they walked with GOD, it means they had an intimate relationship with GOD. Enoch walked with GOD, Noah walked with GOD, Jotham walked with GOD, and over and over again when describing people who are obedient to GOD, it says that they walked in GOD’s ways, or according to GOD’s law. In order to walk with GOD, or to walk in GOD’s ways, it requires humility. It requires that we humble ourselves before GOD. Does humbling one’s self before GOD fit with being judgmental? Does being judgmental of others fit with being merciful?

Remember, passing judgement on someone else is essentially putting yourself in the place of GOD, and in the end it’s about controlling people. I think it’s more likely that the passing of judgement mentioned in this verse has more to do with passing judgement on what is moral or immoral in our own lives, rather than passing judgement on people.

Who have you been passing judgment on rather than extending mercy to? What sort of judgment do you need to pass on your own life?

Ken Lippold