Articles
What the Lord Wants of Me
Late in the history of the Israelite nation [at least the northern kingdom’s portion], God spoke to His people through the prophets and warned them time and time again of their need to repent but, as we may know, they refused time and time again. They had chosen their path and it was not the one that followed God’s ways; they chased after false gods and worldly lusts, sometimes combining the two pursuits as some foolish concept that this would bring them favor and blessings. Though they rejected God and His ways and though they had really not expressed any desire to return, God was longsuffering and continued to seek their repentance and return, willing to forgive if they would just turn back to Him.
Micah spoke to the people about God’s desire for their return and asked what God had done to cause them to turn away; as he did so, he reminded them of what God had done for them in bringing them out of Egyptian captivity and the victories over any nation that opposed them as they moved toward Canaan (Mic. 6:3-5). Because Micah is having to write this, it seems that they had conveniently forgotten all the good God had done for them, and were chasing after utter foolishness.
But as God pleads for their return, Micah asks, seemingly rhetorically, what he could offer to God that would please Him and show sincerity and true repentance. He writes, “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Mic. 6:6, 7). But this was not rhetorical; it was a question that should have been answered with all seriousness, for they were in such a state they needed to show genuine penitence and a desire to appease God’s anger! Would a great amount of sacrifices be enough?
No. What God wanted was more than just an outward display. He did not want grand and abundant offerings. He did not want them to give what they valued most as an offering for their transgressions. No, God wanted something more than that but, at the same time, something simple. Micah asks, as an answer to what God really wanted from them, “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?” (Mic. 6:8). No, God did not want abundant sacrifices, and He did not ask them to give up their firstborn. God simply wanted them to humble themselves and return to following Him, and be the people they were supposed to be — just and merciful.
It seems the problems of the Israelites are the problems of men today, too. Today, God’s people still forget to “do justly,…love mercy, and…walk humbly with…God.” The problems of man are not peculiar to any one nation, place, or time, it seems. And because all of God’s people are human beings, those problems of mankind are problems of God’s people, too. We still ‘forget’ to do the things we know we should be doing. For a few minutes, let us be reminded of the need for humility, as disciples of Jesus Christ.
God being God — the Creator of all things and the source of our life and breath (Job 12:10) and He who has shown great grace and mercy that we might have opportunity for salvation from our sins — He is most certainly deserving of being exalted over and above any man and, at the same time, demands our humble submission and reverence. God always knows this, but man often dismisses it, refuses to acknowledge it, or even chafes at the very idea. But when a man understands his true condition and the fact he has sinned against the true and living God, he may seek to do something or offer something to God as an appeasement for His righteous anger. As with Micah, it may be that one recognizes the magnitude of the sins committed and thinks God would demand sacrifices of equal magnitude but, as with Micah, God wants more from me than just sacrifices. He certainly wants more than just outward offerings of praise and honor, for that is sometimes just a cover for an insincere heart. No, what God wants from me is my heart.
Consider that the psalmist once wrote of the truth that the Lord “is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psa. 34:18). God wants me to genuinely have “sorrow for and detestation of [my] sin with a true purpose of amendment” [Random House Unabridged Dictionary]; He desires that I be contrite. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted” (2 Cor. 7:10). The worldly sorrow — that which is merely being sorry we got caught — is useless and, essentially, meaningless.
The psalmist also points us to a truth Micah would later reveal to God’s people, just put in different terms: “You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart — these, O God, You will not despise” (Psa. 51:16, 17). God will Himself acknowledge this when He spoke through Isaiah, saying, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa. 57:15). He will add, again, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:2). There is really no question that God seeks from me a humble heart and contrite spirit.
So, now I must take an honest look at myself to see if that is indeed the case. This will be best determined in the same scenario as we began this study: With a recognition or revelation of personal sin. How do I react and respond when sin has been discovered by my own investigation, or pointed out by my brother? Do I respond in humility, acknowledging my failure, or do I seek to make excuses or shift the blame to others? Am I genuinely contrite, seeking to make amends, or do I protest and get angry at the one who has revealed my sin?
King Saul, when confronted by Samuel, actually had the temerity to claim he had obeyed the Lord and, when that didn’t work, shifted the blame to the people (1 Sam. 15:13-21). King David, when confronted by Nathan, simply replied, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:13). One man [Saul] was arrogant and one man [David] was humble and contrite. Which one am I more like? More importantly, how would God look on my heart when that moment comes?
It really doesn’t matter if it is a sin against God or against my brother; how I respond to the revelation of my sin tells God what kind of heart I have. I believe we are well familiar with the truth as God stated it; “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). If it is His grace and forgiveness I seek, then I must have the humility to acknowledge the reality of my sin and the contrition that demonstrates true repentance and godly sorrow.
This world is full of arrogant, boastful men, and there are far too many even within the number of God’s people. May I not be among them, because what God wants of me is humility and a contrite heart. May I ever strive to have such. — Steven Harper
