What Does The Lord Require?

Pastor Charles Ricks, Jr.

As a result of the global pandemic and social unrest, many people are hurting and there are
many questions. I do not personally claim to have the answers, but what I ​do​ know is where we
can go to for ​ALL​ the answers, and that is to the ​ONLY WISE GOD.

James 1:5​ encourages that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God. In ​Romans 11:33​, the ​Apostle
Paul​ declared, “​Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out​!

In the Old Testament, ​Job​ also has something to say about ​Wisdom​ in ​Job 28​. In ​verse 20​ he
asks the question, “​From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of
understanding?​ In ​verse 23​, he answers, “​God understands its way, And He knows its place​.”
And Job also resolves in ​verses 27-28​, “​Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it,
indeed, He searched it out. And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.​ ’”

In this critical time when the world is asking questions and looking for answers, it’s not enough
to trust what ​we​ know, but we must ​seek out​ and ​trust​ in the ​Wisdom of God​. It is so
comforting to know that we have a Father who is not only capable, but He is willing to guide us,
His Children​.

Our world appears to be more divided than ever before. We are divided on what is right and
what is wrong. We are divided on what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. Everybody
has an opinion and everyone has a voice that is demanding to be heard. However, we each
must start with speaking the words​ ​that God desires​.​ That is what will be lasting and what will
make a difference.

When we ask ourselves, “​What Does the Lord Require​?,” it forces us to begin searching exactly
what that is. We find an answer in ​Micah 6:8, “​He has shown you, O mortal, 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.​ ”

To give a ​“nutshell context”​ of what was happening in Micah’s day that caused him to speak
out in such a way, the bottom line is ​God was not ​pleased​ with the ​behavior​ of His people. ​He
raised up the Prophet Micah and he was speaking out to the people as they had failed to live up
to the standard of righteousness and holy living as they had been taught through Mosaic law.

Those who were in authority were abusing their power with the ​oppression of the poor​, there
was ​social injustice​; and the people were in ​total moral decline​. It is important to note that we
cannot separate our responsibility to do Kingdom work from how we live our everyday lives.
The two are very much connected because there is a direct connection between our faith and
social concerns. God has always been concerned about the poor and disenfranchised.

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 What Does The Lord Require?
Pastor Charles Ricks, Jr.

In the Old Testament, when God was giving Moses instructions with regard to sacrifices and
offerings, God took into account the poor in ​Leviticus 5:7​, “​Anyone who cannot afford a lamb
is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord as a penalty for their sin—one for a sin
offering and the other for a burnt offering.​ ”

In ​Luke 4:18​ when Jesus was preaching in the Synagogue he said,​ “​The Spirit of the Lord is upon
Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal
the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To
set at liberty those who are oppressed;​ ”

As we are committed to Jesus Christ, that commitment must be reflected in how we treat one
another. So, “​What Does the Lord Require​? Micah answers this question with three virtues:
To Act Justly, To Love Mercy​; ​To Walk Humbly With Your God.

I. To Act Justly
“Justly,”​ is a derivative of the word ​“justice.”​ When thinking of ​“justice”​ being served
on someone, the initial thought is that ​“they are getting what they deserve.”

The word Micah uses for justice is the Hebrew word “​Mish-pawt​,” which means
“​properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a
sentence or formal decree.” ​However, it goes deeper than that. To “​Act Justly​” extends
beyond punitive justice. Throughout the Bible “​Mishpat​” is connected with
Righteousness​, ​or ​To do what is right.​ It means that we take care those who cannot
take care of themselves. It means that we look out for the widows and orphans. It
means that we have a responsibility to come to the aid of those who are vulnerable in
our society. ​We treat all people with ​dignity​ and ​respect​, because it is the ​right​ thing
to do.

True ​justice​ and ​righteousness​ connect the heart to the hand. In other words a ​good
heart​ produces ​good fruit​, and likewise the ​evil heart​ produces ​evil fruit​. There is no
Cross Pollination​ of these hearts​.

II. To Love Mercy

The word that Micah uses for mercy is the Hebrew word “​Chesed​,” which means
”kindness, unfailing love, or faithfulness.”

Chesed points us to the faithful love that God has poured out on all mankind. His love
for us was so great that He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin and restore our
relationship with Him. As a result, man’s first response is to mirror God’s faithfulness
vertically, which means, UPWARD TO GOD​. ​Jesus gave us the ​“Greatest
Commandment”​ in ​Matthew 22:37-38​ when he said, ​“37 ​ ​ You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ​38​ This is the first
and great commandment.”​ ​This is simply putting God ​FIRST ​in your life, above
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 What Does The Lord Require?
Pastor Charles Ricks, Jr.

everything and everyone. Loving Him with all of our might. Being faithful, loyal and
obedient to ​ALL​ ​of His Commandments​. This is the same requirement God spoke to
​ ​ “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require
Israel in ​Deuteronomy 10:12, 12
of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Secondly, man should mirror God’s faithfulness​ ​horizontally, which means, OUTWARD
TO MAN​. ​Jesus said in ​Matthew 22:39, 39 ​ ​ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’​ ​Our love for each other should flow out of the love that Jesus has
demonstrated toward us, which was ​selfless, sacrificial​ and ​unconditional.​ Even though
in Christ we have differing ​perspectives, values, gifts, passions a​ nd ​personalities,​ we are
called to be unified in Him.

III. The final ​virtue​ shared by Micah that the Lord requires, is to ​“Walk Humbly With Your
God.” ​The word Micah uses for ​humbly​ is the Hebrew word ​“Tsana,” ​which means,
lowly, modest, or meek.” ​This should be the position of our heart’s attitude toward
God; however, we are living in a time where ​pride​ and ​arrogance​ rules the day. I Peter
​
​ All
5:5-6 instructs​, 5” of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another,
because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 6​ ​ Humble
yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

Out of the posture of humbleness toward God is birthed the attitude of humility toward
one another. It is this lowly attitude that the Lord loves and blesses. The more we walk
in humbleness toward God the easier it becomes for us to walk in humility toward one
another.

Illustration​: In weightlifting, when you want to strengthen your legs, there is no greater
exercise to do than squats. But the key to doing squats is that you have to bend, and you have
to go low. You put the weights on your shoulders, and you go down and up. In order to build
your hamstrings…down and up. In order to build your legs…down and up. In order to build
your glutes…down and up. To strengthen those muscles that you desire to build, you’ve got to
go low. The problem is going low causes us pain. Going low sometimes causes us discomfort.
But you’ve got to remember that you’re never going to get the desired result, if you’re not
willing to bend and go low.

To Act Justly​ and to do what is right, is remembering that real justice and righteousness
connect what’s in the heart to what is demonstrated by actions.

To Love Mercy​ is being glad for the opportunity to do good because of ​Upward Love for God
which causes an extension of that love ​Outward to Man.

And finally, ​Walking Humbly with Our God,​ meaning to bend and stay low. It is only when we
stay low, that God can build us up.
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