What Does the Lord Require?

My sermon for today is going to be part one of a three-part series covering the chapter in Micah 6, but specifically verse 8. Micah 6 and verse 8, which is generally known to us as a memory scripture. Essentially, today, what I want to do is cover the background and the lead-up to that scripture, as well as the first element of that scripture. As I said, this will be a three-part message. So what I'd like to do is begin by reading to you a portion out of my introduction to the book of Micah, which is in the front of my Thomas Nelson, New King James Bible, because I think it does a good job in terms of laying some of the background and the footwork of what was going on in the nation of Israel and Judah leading up to Micah's instructions. So I just want to read you a little bit from this introduction.

What we see so many times through God's scripture is His instruction and sometimes His rebuke for disobedience, but He always points to hope as well in terms of, return to Me and restore this right and proper relationship. And there's a restoration. So Micah walks through this process as you would read that book. A common theme throughout the book of Micah, as well as many of the other prophets, is that God hates sin.

And it's a warning call to come out of those things. God hates dishonesty and violence. Specifically addressed in a number of these books is God's desire for people to turn away from the oppression of others. Specifically the powerful or the wealthy who would perhaps oppress the poor, the defenseless, the widows, the orphans. God doesn't take those things lightly. And the encouragement, again, and the admonition is to turn from those things. And also God hates false prophets, false teachers, those that would come in and misguide and misdirect and spiritually abuse his people.

So this is all part of the theme throughout the book of Micah, and again leading up to the point of Micah 6 and verse 8. So what I want to do is basically lay a little groundwork once again. I want to begin in chapter 2 of the book of Micah. And let's just notice a few of the details of what it is that God is resisting in terms of the behavior of the people and then what it is he offers as the solution.

So Micah chapter 2 to begin with and verse 1, it says, It says, And these are people that have the ability to actually go out and practice these things and, you know, affect a way of doing things that slights others, hurts others. Because if you're in power or you have authority over people, your actions have an impact on those whom you serve. So again, it says, This is taking place in the nation of God's called out people. Verse 2, it says, This is a defilement of what God had actually set up and established among the nations that when they came into the promised land, that land would be divided up among tribes and families and passed down in terms of inheritance from parents to children to grandchildren.

And he says, in this corruption, they're going in and even destroying the inheritance and the social fabric that God intended to be so amongst his people. Verse 3, So God says, there is going to be consequences to these things. This was a time of self-inflicted darkness because of the decisions that the people were making. But God says, this isn't going to be able to exist forever. I will take action. Now, going over one chapter now to Micah chapter 3 and verse 1.

It says, As the leaders, as those that should have been setting the example for the people and structuring the nation in such a way that it lived in obedience to God, God says, shouldn't you have known these things? What is just? What is true? More importantly, shouldn't you have been practicing them and leading my people in those ways? Verse 2, it says, Here God is not just going to stand by idly as these things take place. What we're going to notice as we walk through the message today is that righteous judgment is a part of God's nature, part of His character.

He exercises that judgment not out of a pleasure to punish people, but out of a desire to see people repent, to turn from sin and to change, to live according to the perfect way that He is lined out that we should live. Again, here we have the powerful who are the influential, and they're going about rending and abusing those under their authority.

Verse 4 says, And so virtually, no one is clean in this. You know, the leaders are treating the people in an evil manner, but it says when the people themselves cry out to God for deliverance, He won't hear their prayers either, because you see, their ways are detestable as well.

And so you see this theme that exists when Micah came on the scene, this theme that we have throughout this chapter as we're walking up to specific instruction from God. There's injustice that is rampant among God's people. Now, carrying on in verse 5, still in Micah 3, Thus says the Lord, concerning the prophets, who make my people stray, who chant peace, He says while they chew their teeth, but who prepare war against them, who puts nothing in their mouths.

He says, Therefore you shall have night without vision, and shall have darkness without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. Now, God said you're acting and behaving in such a detestable manner that I can't be a part of even intervening in a way that you desire. God has withdrawn Himself from their midst, at least in terms of what it is that He would have them to do, because they are resistant to those things. The message throughout Micah is you cannot live in sin, and yet still think you can play with God on the other side, and that He is there to uphold you and defend you.

There are accountability to the things that we do. So again, there would be those that would not have the visions, the prophets, and the revelations in that way. Verse 7, He says, Again, what it is that God desired His people to do, they were not doing, and as part of His judgment, God was not going to walk with them in the way that they desired, not while they were in that sin, unrepentant and unchanged.

Verse 9, Verse 12, There would come a day when God's judgment would be upon those who would turn from Him in such a manner that would defy His ways, judgment upon the leaders who would abuse the people under their authority, and judgment on the people who would turn their backs upon God as well. God was wanting something more from His people. Now Micah chapter 4 and 5 are essentially millennial prophecies, primarily, and it's not like they're out of place being inset here, because those prophecies portray a time where judgment and justice will prevail over the earth, where God's ways will be lived and adhered to, and there will be prosperity and blessing from those things.

In chapter 6, now we come to the heart and core of what it is that God really wants to see among His people, both in that day and amongst His people yet even today. Let's go to Micah chapter 6 and pick it up in verse 6. Micah chapter 6, verse 6, with this background we've now laid, it says, What is it I can bring to God that would appease His anger, that would turn Him away from His judgment against our sins?

Is it sacrifice? Verse 7, What is it that God truly wants from His people in the face of sin? Was it more sacrifice and more sacrifice? Blood upon blood upon blood. What is it that God truly wanted? What is it that truly pleases Him? What does God desire?

Verse 8 gives the real answer to what God, in fact, was looking for. It says, The answer to Israel's sin problem was not simply more and more sacrifice, more blood, more painful sacrifices before God. The answer was much deeper than those things. The answer was deeper than any ceremonial observance that they could perform. To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God are actions. But it's not just a matter of walking through rote actions, they are actions that stem from the heart. Israel's problem was a heart issue, and was a character issue.

They were carrying on in a certain way on one hand, seeking God's favor on the other hand, and not seeing the discrepancy between the two. Without a true desire to change their ways, brethren, sacrifice wasn't what God wanted to see. It was more blood, more flesh, more things being brought before the altar, but the change of heart is truly what God desired. Proverbs 21, verse 3 says, To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

So what it is that God ultimately wants to see, again, comes back to the heart. Righteousness, justice. And if it's in your heart, your actions will follow through as well. But again, without a heart for the right actions before God, Israel's conformity to the sacrificial law was really nothing more than hypocrisy. Live one way as a manner, of course, yet bring sacrifice before God in order to keep him satisfied while you continue to live in an abhorrent manner. So this sacrificial system, apart from a heart to serve God, was really nothing more in a person's life than hypocrisy. Without a true desire to change their ways, the sacrifices before God was simply a waste of blood.

A waste of animals. Sacrifices were important, but what was necessary with the sacrifice. And that's what God was looking for. He was looking for the sacrifice for the sin, but he was looking for the heart of repentance, the desire to change. And those two needed to be coupled together, the sacrifice and the heart, to be acceptable before God. It's a lot like baptism today. When you and I are baptized, we come under the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And so the point is, when we come to baptism, a sincere heart of repentance is what God is looking for. And God who knows the heart knows whether or not we've internalized those things. So you come up to baptism not having repentance of your sins, not having a repentful heart, but maybe looking at it as something that would gain God's favor for maybe an out in the hard times.

You know what's going to happen? Basically what happens is you just get wet. You go under the water, you come back up, you've gotten wet. Because God who knows the heart knows that there's not repentance behind somebody's desire to come under that sacrifice. God desires repentance coupled with sacrifice. And from that extends the forgiveness. Then God sees the heart, He knows the heart, and He wants us to show by our actions that our repentance is sincere.

Isaiah, who is a contemporary with Micah, backs up the same point in his book. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 10. Again, what God wants is a heart that's desirous to serve Him. The sacrifices and the sacrifice of Christ in our life covers our shortcomings, but it's not an out to do whatever it is that we please. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 10. It says, Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.

Pulling these terms in of Sodom and Gomorrah is just a parallel to them of the nature of how they were living before God. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord. I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats.

He says, When you come to appear before me, who has required this from your hand, to trample my courts. Bring no more futile sacrifices. Incense is an abomination to me. The new moons and the Sabbath and the calling of assemblies. I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. You know, God has established that His people would assemble on the Sabbath. Keep His holy days, do these things. Have these sacrifices before Him. But if this is just mixed with sin and is not clean and pure as God desired it, He says, I don't even want to see it.

He calls it your sacrifices, your new moons, your Sabbath, because now they're being observed in the way that Israel thought that they could do and get away with, not according to God's standard. Verse 14, He says, your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates.

They are a trouble to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. So again, the sacrifices God wanted Israel to make were intended to be done with a repentant heart, not just some ceremony and a desire and attempt to appease God and get His blessing while they continue to behave in the same manner.

Verse 16, God says, wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Rebuke the oppressor. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow. These are actions of justice that God desired to see and that He established in His nation. And as we'll see later, it's an element of God's character and the way that God functions and intends us to do so as well. Verse 18, Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. So again, God's saying, if you come with repentance, if you turn from your ways and live, do these right and proper things. I will be with you. The sacrifices, the holy days, the new moons, the Sabbaths, all these things mixed in with what it is that Israel continued to do without repentance was nothing more than an abomination to God. Again, Micah 6, verse 8 says, He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

And so this is a requirement. I want to highlight that word requirement. This is what God requires of you. It's not a suggestion or a recommendation or a, you know, it might be a good idea if you try and do these things. This is a requirement of God to have a heart and a character that leads to right actions in the eyes of God. A heart that is just, one that loves mercy, not just loves to receive it, but loves to extend it, and one that is humble in how this person walks before God.

That is what God requires, and what he respects from his people, and everything else stems from these three points because these three points are a matter of the heart. What is it that God can work with? It's not, you brought an animal as a sacrifice, therefore I guess I can work with you.

No, it's the heart of repentance, and humility, and justice, the heart that loves mercy. That's what God can work with to mold into the character that he's seeking. But, brethren, that's where it needs to start. Again, the sacrifice is important. In fact, it is essential, okay? So I'm not looking to diminish that. The sacrifice is essential, but it must be coupled with the heart and the desire to serve God in the right actions to back it up. These three points here in Micah chapter 6 verse 8 are going to be the basis of what we'll cover here over the next three sermons. For today and the remainder of the message, I'd like to focus on the first one, which was to do justly.

To do justly. What does it mean, essentially, to do justly? Well, probably in the most simple form, to do justly is to do the right thing on all occasions. It's essentially what it boils down to. Do the right thing in all circumstances, on all occasions. It's living with an understanding of what's right and what is wrong, and always choosing the right thing to do, even when it's difficult, even when it's not the popular thing or the expedient thing.

In the world, we swim upstream, in many ways, against a very unjust world. So being just in that atmosphere isn't always going to be easy. It's not always going to be accepted and popular. But again, it is a requirement of God from His people. Doing justly takes seriously the responsibility to provide equity, especially at the protection of the vulnerable, the defenseless. Again, as we'll see, God looks on those people. He takes it personally to see that they're cared for. He charges His people to look out for the widow, the fatherless, the defenseless, and to care for them.

God takes those things very seriously. God expects His people to behave justly in our dealings and actions both in the Church and in the world. So we're talking about in our marriages, in our families, in homes, in the workplace, at school, whatever the situation may be, justice, and working in a just way is what God requires of us.

Let's go to Proverbs 11.

Proverbs 11, I'm going to look at a few aspects as to how justice and being just comes into our lives. Proverbs 11 and verse 1, this is just one example. Proverbs 11, I, and it says, This honest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just wait is His delight. You know, just wait is essentially, obviously you're weighing something out to sell it, but this again comes back to a matter of the heart. It's dealing justly and honorably and equity with people, being good to your word and delivering what it is that you've guaranteed.

If you've made an agreement, brethren, live up to it. You know, deliver on what it is that you've promised. Don't just maybe skim a little off the top, off of each delivery, and think nobody will notice and this will bring back some more returns on the end. Whatever you've guaranteed, deliver it as a just wait, something which is a delight before God. It's interesting, this last week we've had dump truck loads of gravel rolling into our property. We're looking at getting the home that we're having brought in and delivered. We're looking to get that footprint set up, get the road and the access built in there.

And so the last couple days I had 16 dump truck loads of gravel come in, and I'm watching these trucks pass by, go back and forth, and each truck, I'm assured, has a load of 10 yards of gravel per delivery. So I see them come in, I see that dump it, I see them leave, you know, it really only takes a few seconds, and I'm very much trusting in the fact that there's not 9.5 yards on there, there's 10.

Because over the course of 15, 20, 25 loads coming in, you shave a half a yard off of there, that's a pretty good margin of profit at the end of the day. So again, a just weight, it says, is God's delight, and it needs to be ours as well. We want to get the full value of what it is that we pay for, and we want to deliver justly the full value of what it is that we've guaranteed to others as well.

This is a part of God's nature, His character. God doesn't mess around in what He's promised and what He delivers. It is the full measure of what He's guaranteed through His Word, and as His people, the same must apply to us as well. Leviticus 19 carries on with the same thread of thought. Leviticus 19, verse 35, these are some of God's instructions to Israel as they came out of Egypt, as they're now going to establish themselves as a nation. And God says, this is how you're going to live.

You're going to conduct yourselves before Me. Leviticus 19, verse 35, it says, You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, an honest hymn. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe all my statutes and my judgments, and perform them. I am the Lord. And so God brought Israel out of Egypt to be a holy nation, His special people.

He gave them instructions on how they would live and establish themselves as a nation. And the point wasn't to be just like all the other nations around. It was to be a model nation. It was to be a people who set an example for the world of how God would have them function with the hope and the desire then that others would see and see the blessing of God and desire to model themselves the same.

But again, the point is God brought them out, gave them these guides in which they should live, and as a result they were to deal with one another in their own nation according to these standards. But you know what? They were also to deal with the nations around them according to these things as well. They were to be a people who were fair, who were just and honorable, and all of their dealings.

It's interesting, Darla and I were talking recently. She's helping a friend who's looking for a horse to buy and who contacted Darla because that's Darla's business and raised and bred and sold many horses over the years. And she says, you know, it's interesting when somebody advertises a horse for sale, the number of times, and she says it's the majority of the time over the years that she's gone out and looked at the advertised horse, it'll be advertised at a certain size. You know, this horse is 14'3", 15 hands tall, whatever it might be.

And in this country, bigger is better, flashier. And so the horse is advertised at a certain height, and you go out and look at it, and more often than not, she says, it doesn't live up to what the advertisement said.

You know, maybe they've padded that a little bit. Maybe instead of being 14'3", it's 13'1". And you've grown out the hooves just as far as you can grow them and still be acceptable. You've slapped on a pair of shoes. You've gained an inch or something on there, and then it may be as a little shy of the high mark that was advertised. Again, the point is, when you go to see something, you expect to see what it is that you've been promised. You expect a just representation. And God says, as my people, you're to be honest in those ways.

You're to show forth what is just. Where did the term buyer beware come from? You know, I didn't do a Google search to figure it out exactly, but my common sense tells me that buyer beware means look out because the other person may be trying to take advantage.

You know, wouldn't it be great if buyer beware wasn't even a part of the vocabulary? And you think, as God desired it for his people, buyer beware would never have been an issue. Are you selling a used car? Do you tell the person who's buying that car the good and the bad? You're not trying to kill the sale, but do you give them the honest assessment?

Maybe the car overheats on a hill in 80-degree weather, but it's okay. It's January. You can sell the car now. It won't be a problem for three or four months. God said you are to be just in all that you do, in your words, in your actions, but rather than those things stem from the heart and core of who you are, in your character, and that ultimately is what God is looking for. This command here of just measures and weights, it's more than just weighing out grain and vegetables and other things, because God's people are to be true to the weights and measures of their heart.

In other words, what it is that's in our heart is where this process of either deceit or justice starts. Our hands follow our heart. Our mouth, our words, our actions, those things follow our heart. We're to be true and pure in the just weights and measures of our heart, first and foremost, and then that true justice will follow. To do good or do evil begins in the thoughts and intents of the heart. Proverbs 11, verse 3, it says, The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. The integrity of the upright will guide them. When you walk in integrity and you do the things that are right and good, it's something that comes forth naturally because it's from your heart.

You don't have to stop and assess, all right, what is the right thing to do here? Do I turn right? Do I turn left? It's not something that you have to figure out necessarily intellectually, because if that is your character, integrity of heart, the right and proper and just thing is what you will just simply do automatically. An element to building that kind of character comes from studying God's Word, seeing His nature and His mind delivered to us through these words. Again, Micah 6, verse 8 began by saying, God has shown you, O man, what is good?

He's shown it. He's revealed it. It's laid out for us. You don't have to go searching to try to discover it on your own. Go to God's Word. It is the good in the pure mind of God. And He's shown you what is good, and how are you to live, and how are you to apply those things. If it's in our heart to do justly, we simply have to go to God's Word, find these principles which are revealed, live them, and justice will follow.

As I mentioned previously, God views behaving justly to include the production of the vulnerable as well as the innocent. Let's go to Zechariah 7.

Zechariah 7.

Pick it up here in verse 9. Zechariah 7 and verse 9.

What is true justice? He says, Show mercy and compassion, everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.

So many times, in terms of practicing true justice, it's shown forth through mercy and compassion.

Defending the widow, caring for the fatherless, seeking out those who are down and helping them, those are acts of mercy and compassion. And in that expression, then, justice and true justice is shown forth. Mercy and compassion are at the heart and core of just actions of God as well. When you walk through the scripture and you see what God has performed justly, so many times it comes back to mercy and compassion. The same is true in our lives today as well. There are so many scriptures that describe God as the defender of the widow and the orphan.

He's the helper of the helpless. He's the father to the fatherless. And he expects us to show the same level of just compassion and our service to others as well. And so, as we exercise justice and being just, we understand it is doing so according to the things that God cares about as well. Biblical justice involves caring about the things which God cares about. I'll just quote it for you, James 1, verse 27. It says, It says, And so, justly caring for the vulnerable, for those who are in a position of not having a husband or a father or someone to defend the house and care in that way, if we look out and care for them, it's an expression of our religious conviction in the nature of God in us. And again, brethren, it is just.

Additionally, just people walk in the ways of the Lord continually.

Just people walk in the ways of God continually. Ezekiel chapter 18. Ezekiel 18 here, Ezekiel contrasts the actions of a just man with an unjust man.

God's word, God's way, of course, is the basis of these things. Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 4, It says, Of course, that's an equation to take it up to Romans 6, 23. It wages the sin as death. Again, the soul who sins shall die as apart from sacrifice, apart from the blood of Jesus Christ and repentance and forgiveness. Verse 5, it says, He has robbed no one by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing. If he has not exacted usury nor taken any increase, but has withdrawn his hand from iniquity and executed true judgment between man and man, if he has walked in my statutes and kept my judgments faithfully, it says, He is just. This is what a just person looks like. Someone who fears God, lives according to his way, treats his neighbors well. Not only does he not abuse people, he goes out of his way to assist and help and strengthen. He says, He is just. He shall surely live, says the Lord God.

On the contrast, verse 10, says, If he begets a son who is a robber, or a shedder of blood who does any of these things, and does none of these duties, none of these things which God requires, but has eaten on the mountains, or defiled his neighbor's wife, if he has oppressed the poor and the needy, robbed by violence, not restored the pledge, lifted up his eyes to idols, or committed abomination, if he has exacted usury or taken increase, shall he then live? He shall not live. If he has done any of these abominations, he shall surely die. His blood shall be upon him. Again, the danger here, brethren, and the difference is between the just man and the unjust, one who serves God, living his way, according to the statutes and the commandments, and the one who does not. Again, it comes back to the heart, not just actions of the hands, those that are a result of what is in the heart. God is looking on the heart. So the question for you and I today is, do we have the heart in us to do justly at all times? Again, that's doing right, even when it's not popular, even when you're swimming upstream against the current of society. You have the heart to do justly at all times. It is what God requires, and it is what his people are to perform. You see, Christians, such as you and I are, represent a kingdom of justice. The kingdom of God is a just kingdom. It's coming to this earth, and as citizens of the kingdom of God today, we represent that kingdom. It's a just kingdom. It's a true kingdom in which righteousness will reign. And yet it starts here, by our example, in our life today. You and I are citizens of a just kingdom. We must represent that justice each and every day. Proverbs 21, verse 15 says, it is a joy for the just to do justice. I like that scripture. Again, Proverbs 21, 15, it is a joy for the just to do justice. You know, it actually feels good to do the right thing, doesn't it?

Even when it's not the popular thing. You know, sometimes you might be ridiculed, you might be condemned, lose your job, whatever it might be for doing the right and just thing. But if you know in your heart you've done the right thing in service to God, that feels good. I have had people tell me before, you know what, it felt good to lose my job. Not because I wanted to lose my job, but because I got fired over keeping the Sabbath. And they said it felt good in terms of standing up for God, even at the threat of oppression and the loss of something valuable. It wasn't because you went and did something dumb or illegal or something that, you know, your boss caught you cheating on and you were fired. That feels pretty bad. But to lose your job over a just cause, which is God's command, sometimes that feels pretty good. And the Scripture simply says it is a joy for the just to do justice. Another element to this equation is that God Himself is just, and we are to emulate Him. There's a couple more passages. Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 17. Looking over my notes this morning, and I noticed that this is a sermon completely in the Old Testament. So, you know, if you're looking to turn to the New Testament, we'll probably have to wait till next week. But the point is, you know what? God's principles of value and character and what it is He would desire us to live by haven't changed today. Some people like to just sort of close the book on the Old Testament. There's really not much there for Christians today. No, this is the basis and the foundation for what God is even doing yet today in our lives. So, just as an interesting side note, here's a sermon completely in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 17. Again, God is just, and we emulate Him. Verse 17. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, the awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. He says, therefore, love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. And so, justice is a part of who and what God is. It's His nature. And when God acts on a matter, brethren, we can be assured that God's actions are just. That there's not some hidden agenda or motive. But again, we come back to God acts out of, towards us, out of His love, His compassion and mercy. Sending His Son as a sacrifice for us was love and compassion and mercy.

And these are the things of God that we must emulate in our lives as well. Isaiah chapter 30. Final verse for today. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 18.

Isaiah 30 verse 18.

It says, therefore, the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you, for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him. And so the fact that God is just means that He's qualified to judge what is right and what is wrong. And He's going to administer justice and according to His righteous standards. And as the Scripture tells us, there is coming a day in which God will judge the world.

So what kind of God do we want to judge the world? Well, it is a true and a just and a loving and a merciful God. That is who we want judging both us and the world.

God's form of judgment and justice is not like this world. God can't be bribed. His justice can't be perverted. His perspective on the facts can't be all jumbled up. God knows and He knows the heart. So we can trust at all times in His judgment. God is also merciful.

Those are attributes that we're to be developing in our lives today as well. Fair, impartial, not a respecter of persons. These are all things that we find throughout the Scripture of God. It is what we are to be developing today. Only God is perfectly just. We've been called from an unjust world. We're making our way towards being a just person as we attempt to come into the conformity of the stature of the fullness of Christ. But only God is perfectly just. And yet He has shown us what is good and what it is that He requires of us. And so to the best of our ability, brethren, let us seek after doing justly in all aspects of our lives. Even when it's simple, even when it's difficult. To do justly is the first element of Micah 6, verse 8. We've looked at that today. And yet there is also to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. And those things go hand in hand as well with a heart that is just. And we will discuss those things, brethren, in sermons yet to come. Yet for today, let's continue to look into God's Word. Let's see His justice, His just nature. And let you and I put that to practice in our life. And let us walk justly as well.