He has told 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 your God?
(Micah 6:8 NIV)

Micah 6:8 is a familiar verse to many people. Maybe you’ve never heard it before, which is a wonderful thing, because today will be the first day you encounter this beautiful instruction from God. We hope it becomes very precious to you.

Because Micah 6:8 is a familiar verse, we may read past it quickly, rather than respecting its depth. I want to welcome you to think through this verse with me very carefully. We don’t need to be clever; we just want to look carefully at what’s already clear. Let’s take time to notice each word.

I hope that as you think through this verse three things happen. First, I pray that Micah 6:8 becomes precious to you. Second, I pray that you learn how to read the Bible thoughtfully. Third, I pray that you come to understand what God requires of you.

What Does God Want from Us?

There’s a question hidden in this verse. Do you see it?

“What does the Lord require of you?”

I think that’s a question we all ask at some point of our lives, whether we believe in the God of the Bible or not. Surely at some point you have asked yourself, “If there is a God, what would he want from me?”

A few verses prior to this verse, God lists what he does not want—you can read that if you have time (Micah 6:6, 7). God also tells us what he does want from us. He has answered our question! This may seem obvious but think of how kind it is that God has responded to us.

“He has told you, O man, what is good…”

God did not leave us wondering or fretting about how to please him. He showed us both what is truly good, and what pleases him.

What a gracious thing that we have been given this verse where the Lord tells us exactly what he wants from us! So, what does he want?

1. Act Justly

The first thing God wants from us is that we “act justly.”

I’m sure that just mentioning justice summons a whole wagon’s worth of thoughts. Let’s not let our ideas about justice distract us right now. Remember the context in which we find this charge to “act justly,” for that will help us understand what the text means here. The Lord just finished saying how “he has shown you what is good.” We might paraphrase that statement like this: You already know what you ought to do.

“Act justly” is another way of saying “do it!” Do what you know to be right, according to God’s Word. We have a Bible full of clear instructions about godly living. God has given us clear direction in his Word. Micah 6:8 reminds us that God has given us plenty of direction—we can’t pretend that he hasn’t. What we really need is the desire to do what God has already told us. We need to put that knowledge into action.

When God says he desires that we act justly, he means that he desires for us to be obedient to all that he has revealed. Whatever it is we know we ought to do—do it.

2. Love Mercy

When we try to act justly—to carry out what we know to be right, we will find that we fall woefully short of the standard God has set (Romans 7:18, 19).  

C. S. Lewis said, “No man knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good.”[1] Amen! The more we try to act justly, the more we will realize how unjust we are. And if we are honest, we will remember that our injustices don’t please God. In fact, they incur his punishment.

And so, as soon as we try to act justly, we will realize that we need mercy.

In our pride, we may hate the thought that we need forgiveness. But if we have a humble attitude, we will love mercy. We will look our own evils square in the face and say, “Yes, I am responsible!” But then we will remember, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6 NIV). Like the tax collector we read about in the Bible, we will run to God saying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13 NIV).

Mercy is a person—God himself. God has demonstrated his love towards us in an incredible act of mercy. While we were still sinners, Jesus died for us, absorbing the punishment we deserve for our sins on the cross (Romans 5:8). To all who come to him in faith for forgiveness, he promises not to treat them as their sins deserve (Psalm 103:10).

The more we aim to be good, the more we will see that we are not, and we will run to the Lord pleading for mercy. We will learn to love him for the way he handles us in our sin.

In the New Testament, we read of a powerful statement that Jesus said to a man who thought he was pretty good. Jesus says, “But whoever has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47 NIV).

When we have been well acquainted with Mercy so much that we love him, we will also love to show mercy to others. If we have found divine kindness when we are undeserving, we will be quick to extend kindness to those we deem undeserving.

If we think we are perfect, we will have no compassion for the sins of others. If we realize how woefully short of righteousness we fall, then we will understand our brothers’ and sisters’ weaknesses, and want to come to their aid. We will love mercy if we love Mercy.

The Lord desires that we act justly and that we love mercy, which means we delight in extending the same mercy we have received. But there is one more thing God desires of us.

3. Walk Humbly with Your God

There is a lot of important information in these next five words—walk humbly with your God.

First, we read that we are to walk. Walking is not sitting. Walking means you are moving and going somewhere. Walking means progress and activity.

But walking is also not running—it is not in haste; it is not exhausting. You can expend a lot of energy walking, depending on your terrain, but even on the hardest trails, to walk means going at a contented pace.

Second, we are to walk with our God. With means beside. It doesn’t say that we’re to walk near God, as if we can forge our own path so long as we stay within earshot, or as if it’s alright to run ahead of him sometimes.

It also doesn’t say that we walk after God, as though he has his back to us. We walk with him as his friends. If we are to walk with him, we must submit to his pace. But we also get to enjoy his companionship. He leads us if we walk with him, but we see that he leads like a brother at our side, not like a commander out in front.

Friendship is exactly what God is asking for here. It pleases him to be our God, not just a god, or the God. If you have received his mercy in Jesus, then you belong to him, and he to you. You have a relationship with him.

Walking, after all, is conversational. Often, the point of walking is about the conversation much more than it is about the destination. When God tells us to walk with him, he is inviting us to know him. In fact, the very first people enjoyed God’s company in this way before sin even entered the world—we were created to walk with God (Genesis 3:8).

Lastly, we are told to walk with God humbly. How do we do this? God intentionally inserted this adjective between “walk” and “with your God.” These statements together summarize what it means to walk humbly.

When we walk and we walk with God, our God, that is humility. Pride would have us run ahead or wander off. Doubt would have us lag behind or sit down in defiance. Humility enables us to agree to be led by God and is honest enough about our weakness to feel the need to stay very close to him. To walk with God is to have the humility to submit to him and to crown him as the companion we most desperately need.

What Does Micah 6:8 Mean?

So, what does God require of us?

That we be like him, by doing right. Act justly. That we demonstrate mercy like he does—especially as he has demonstrated it to us in Jesus Christ. Love mercy. And that we live with him, cherishing both his leadership and his presence as we let him direct our course. Walk humbly with your God.  

• God requires that we be like him, by doing right. Act justly.
• God requires that we demonstrate mercy like he does—especially as he has demonstrated it to us in Jesus Christ. Love mercy.
• God requires that we live with him, cherishing both his leadership and his presence as we let him direct our course. Walk humbly with your God. 

. . . 

Source 

[1] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperOne, 2001), 142.