What Does God Want of Me?
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Introduction
Last week we looked at this Divine Courtroom scene in With God as the Judge and Micah as the Attorney and Israel as on trial before God.
What we are reading this morning is Israels response to the charges and claims of God.
What does God Desire of me? How should i approach God? What should my worship look like? How Should i live before God?
Micah Responds to these questions and gives us an answer to the question: What does god want of me?
Micah 6:8 is the heart of the message of Micah, the prophets, and the whole of scripture.
6 With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?
7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Remember these are the people who are wicked before the Lord, they are the wicked prophets, priests, and kings...
Here is their question: What shall we come to God with? What does God want from Us?
Micah’s Answer: GOD HAS ALREADY TOLD YOU WHAT IS GOOD! DO JUSTICE, LOVE MERCY, AND WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.
I. Does God Want My Offerings?
I. Does God Want My Offerings?
Their Mentality was to bribe God
God cannot be bribed!
These rulers took bribes
11 Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, “Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.”
How do we please God? How can we bribe him to get him off of our backs?
GOD DOES NOT TAKE BRIBES OR BARGAINS
What are they offering?
Burnt offerings and year old calves
Thousands of Rams
Then thousand rivers of oil
Their own firstborn child
God does not need your stuff.
God does not need your money.
God does not need your good works.
He only delights in these things when they are done from a right spirit.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
They gave God their tithe, time, and talents, but forsook justice, mercy, and faithfulness to God.
Your religion will not save you.
A. W. Tozer - “I do not think I exaggerate when I say that some of us put our offering in the plate with a kind of triumphant bounce as much as to say, “There—now God will feel better!” … I am obliged to tell you that God does not need anything you have. He does not need a dime of your money. It is your own spiritual welfare at stake in such matters as these.… You have the right to keep what you have all to yourself—but it will rust and decay, and ultimately ruin you.”
They gave their tithes, they gave their offerings, they offered even MORE than that, the ten thousand rams, the ten thousand rivers of oil, and they even offered what God forbids, child sacrifice.
What is the one thing they did not offer? … Themselves.
II. What God wants is…Me.
II. What God wants is…Me.
Israel at this time did not understand that the authentic way to come before God is through TOTAL consecration to Him.
God requires Obedience to Him rather than sacrifice.
22 Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
God did not want all of their stuff, he wanted them! He wanted their heart. God Wants You. He wants your heart he wants your life.
He wants what Romans 12:1 says
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
God wants YOU, not what you can DO he wants you to present yourself, not your stuff, not your actions, He wants you.
God DOES NOT need your STUFF.
His Desire is that your inward faith will be expressed in your daily walk by...
1. Doing Justice
1. Doing Justice
This is to practice Justice in our day to day lives.
This not merely thinking about justice, but ACTING it out in your own life.
The Most Expensive and elaborate worship cannot compensate for a lack of Justice to your fellow man,
2. Loving Mercy
2. Loving Mercy
You are to love Mercy
I don’t always love mercy giving
However you are to remember what God has done for you in Jesus Christ.
3. Walking Humbly
3. Walking Humbly
“humbly” in the Hebrew is not humble, the word actually means something along the lines of Carefulness or with caution
Your walk should be with Carefulness not carelessness, you are walking before the Holy God.
That seems pretty straightforward…
John Newton (1725 - 1807) claimed that this text was the most misunderstood text in the entire bible.
Why could this be? There are only 3 points to follow
Alistar Begg gives three reasons why this is misunderstood:
It is Attempted without the Gospel
Because of our temptation to live this out by our own means, APART from the gospel.
If we approach this passage apart from the Gospel, then it becomes another set of offerings like the offerings mentioned above.
They become moral achievements that we are able to use for our own stature.
When we treat the Christian religion this way we miss the whole point of the cross and the meaning of grace.
The cross tells us we are not able to live a life pleasing to God apart from Grace. Grace tells us that because of the Cross we are able by grace to walk according to his commandments.
We cant do it on our own, praise be to God Christ has accomplished this on our behalf.
It is Proclaimed in place of the Gospel
This can become the preaching behind the pulpit, but this is not the gospel.
This is the results of the gospel.
Preachers who preach morality as the gospel lead their people down a path of inevitable defeat.
Morality will only get you so far. You cannot be perfectly moral on your own.
It is only Possible by the Gospel
You cannot do it without HIM.
The gospel message is: You are unable to have peace with God. You are unable to approach God. You are unable to have a life pleasing to God. BUT by the Good news of the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ you can have peace with God. Through Christ you may approach the throne of Grace. Through Christ you may have a life pleasing to God.