Day 156: Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With God

Today we read 2 Kings 17, Micah 5-7, and Psalm 140. Like the story from Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden of Eden for their moral defection, and later in Genesis where Jacob's sons and their descendants are sent into exile in Egypt, in this story, the Northern Kingdom of Israel is exiled for their unfaithfulness. We also know the Southern Kingdom of Judah will also be exiled for their unfaithfulness. Yet, in all those stories, there is a glimmer of hope, God-given promises of rescue and redemption. Some of the promises were fulfilled, like God delivering them from Egypt and making the tribes of Jacob into the nation of Israel, and some God-given promises are yet to be fulfilled in the story, hint - the foreshadowing of a high priest, messianic, King, Jesus who will crush the adversary and deliver His people. We end the book of Micah and listen carefully to the prophet's message from the Lord. God's not only slow to anger but He delights in mercy and His people will again experience His compassion.

Although we don’t deserve it and it is not based on our merit, He will hurl our sin into the depths of the sea. God must judge and pull out the evil, but God is described as delighting in the covenant of love and compassion. He is a healer, redeemer, restorer. We read what the Lord wants from Israel, from us, in our response to Him in Micah 6 and 7, to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. This is goodness. The prophet Micah also models a posture of living through hard seasons, to watch in hope for the Lord, to wait for God our Savior and to have faith that God will hear us, hear our prayers.

 

Credits

Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.