By REV. LAWRENCE ALTHOUSE
The Bible Speaks 

July 19, 2015

I turned 85 years old on March 21, realizing once again the older I become, the more often I find myself asking, "Lord, what do You really want of me? What do You want me to be? What do You want me to do? How shall I worship You, serve You, please You?

I heard no heavenly voice answering, but it seemed God was saying to me: "Continue to walk with Me and I will answer your questions in My own way and in My own time." The sixth chapter of Micah seems to confirm both my questions and the answers I believe I received.

While Micah 5 presents jubilation over the promised "just deserts" and destruction of the enemies of Israel, Harold Bosley explains that Micah 6 "examines the reasons for Israel’s punishment, the meaning of ‘true religion’ and the ways in which Israel has forsaken God’s will."

He goes on to conclude that Micah 6 is a "supreme expression of ethical religion" in the Hebrew scriptures. So, Micah 6 is not just about how the Jewish people failed to please God, but, more importantly, how today we may deserve the same diagnosis.

Micah uses the analogy of a case brought before the court of the Lord. This is God’s case against His people (and us?): "Hear what the Lord says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth: for the Lord has controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel."

The "mountains" signify that this proceeding is situated in the highest, most sacred level: "Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has controversy with his people …" (6:2).

You may think, "That was then – this is now!" There are, of course, things in the Bible that are no longer relevant for us because times and conditions have changed. For example: Polygamy, common in patriarch times (Gen. 16:3, 29:18; 2 Sam.5:13-16; 1 Kings 11:1,3; 2 Chr. 11:21; Deut. 21:15-17). Later, however, particularly with the demise of nomadic life, monogamy became the standard. Polygamy was "then" and monogamy is "now."

But on many issues and situations we must also confess that which was "then" also is "now." "Thou shall not kill" is still a command of God, although the meaning and situations have been expanded.

Micah 6 is full of "then" and "now" moral issues. The defendants in this analogy are both Micah’s people of the eighth century B.C. and us in 2015 A.D. God says: "Oh my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you. Answer me?" (6:3).

Apparently, the people of Micah’s time could not answer this challenge because the crux of the matter is not what God has done or not done, but what His people have done and not done. Does that not also reflect our relationship with the Lord?

God challenges us as He did in Micah’s time. Complaints about how God runs this world, this cosmos? Then speak up!

God speaks of what He has done: brought them out of bondage in Egypt and sent them capable leaders – Moses, Miriam and Aaron – and saved them from the evil of Balaam. They should have realized these deeds were saving acts of God’s grace. It was not "this is how it worked out," but God behind the scenes, working it out.

The people to whom Micah was sent, and to whom he is still speaking – including you and me – respond with our agonizing and eternal plea: "WITH WHAT SHALL I COME BEFORE THE LORD, AND BOW MYSELF BEFORE GOD ON HIGH?" (6:6).

In Micah’s time it was assumed God’s reply would have something to do with the rituals and sacrifices: "Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?" (6:7).

But, no, the problem was not the way they worshipped. And, although many of us believe and act as if liturgical correctness is what the Lord wants from us, that is not what God wants. Today, some of us focus not on worship, but creeds, doctrines and theologies. I won’t say they are not important, but they are not what God wants most of all.

So, what is it? God answers His own question: "HE HAS SHOWED YOU, O MAN, WHAT IS GOOD; AND WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU BUT TO DO JUSTICE, AND TO LOVE KINDNESS, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD"! (6:8).

God doesn’t ignore the way we worship, nor does He discount the ways in which we shape our beliefs, but it should be obvious: That with which He is most concerned is our commitment to efforts establishing justice for those denied it, self-giving and even self-sacrificial kindness to those in need – and we can do this if we walk humbly and obediently with our Lord.

We do not know who wrote the song "Just A Closer Walk With Thee," but it is believed to have originated in the African-American Christian communities of the early 19th century. The words are simple, but spiritually powerful and practically anyone can sing the melody: