Micah 6:8

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? HE (YAHWEH) HATH SHOWED THEE - long ago, so that thou needest not ask the question, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?" etc., as if thou hadst never heard (Micah 6:6: cf. Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 30:11-5). O MAN - Hebrew, 'Adam:' the universal race of man, Jew and Gentile alike. WHAT IS GOOD - the 'good things to come' under Messiah, of which 'the law had the shadow.' The Mosaic sacrifices were but suggestive foreshadowings of His better sacrifice ...

He then says that God had shown by his Law what is good; and then he adds what it is,_to do justice, to love mercy, _or kindness, _and to be humbled before God. _It is evident that, in the two first particulars, he refers to the second table of the Law; that is _to do justice, and to love mercy _(169) Nor is it a matter of wonder that the Prophet begins with the duties of love; for though in order the worship of God precedes these duties, and ought rightly to be so regarded, yet justice, which is to be exercised towards men, is the real evidence of true religion. The Prophet, therefore, mentions justice and mercy, not that God casts aside that which is principal — the worship of his name; but he shows, by evidences or effects, what true religion is. Hypocrites place all holiness in external rites; but God requires what is very different; for his worship is spiritual. But as hypocrites ca...

6-8 These verses seem to contain the substance of Balak's consultation with Balaam how to obtain the favour of Israel's God. Deep conviction of guilt and wrath will put men upon careful inquiries after peace and pardon, and then there begins to be some ground for hope of them. In order to God's being pleased with us, our care must be for an interest in the atonement of Christ, and that the sin by which we displease him may be taken away. What will be a satisfaction to God's justice? In whose name must we come, as we have nothing to plead as our own? In what righteousness shall we appear before him? The proposals betray ignorance, though they show zeal. They offer that which is very rich and costly. Those who are fully convinced of sin, and of their misery and danger by reason of it, would give all the world, if they had it, for peace and pardon. Yet they do not offer aright. The sacrifi...

Verse 8. _HE HATH SHOWED THEE, O MAN, WHAT_ IS _GOOD_] All the modes of expiation which ye have proposed are, in the sight of God, unavailable; they cannot do away the _evil_, nor purify from the _guilt_ of sin. He himself has shown thee what is _good_; that which is _profitable_ to _thee_, and _pleasing_ to himself. And what is _that_? Answer, Thou art - I. _To do justly_; to give to all their due. 1. To _God_ his due; thy _heart_, thy _body, soul_, and _spirit_; thy _wisdom, understanding, judgment_. "To love him with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and thy neighbour as thyself." This is God's _due_ and _right_ from every man. 2. Thou art to give thy _neighbour_ his due; to do to him as thou wouldst that he should do to thee, never working ill to him. 3. Thou art to give to _thyself_ thy du

HE HATH SHEWED THEE - Micah does not tell them now, as for the first time; which would have excused them. He says, “He hath shewed thee;” He, about whose mind and will and pleasure they were pretending to enquire, the Lord their God. He had shewn it to them. The law was full of it. He shewed it to them, when He said, “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him and to serve the Lord, thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command thee this day for thy good?” Deuteronomy 10:12. They had asked, “with what outward thing shall I come before the Lord;” the prophet tells them, “what thing is good,” the inward man of the heart, righteousness, love, humility. A

EXPOSITION VERSE 6:1-7:20 Part III. In this address, which is later than the preceding parts, the prophet sets forth the way of salvation: PUNISHMENT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN; REPENTANCE IS THE ONLY GROUND FOR HOPE OF PARTICIPATING IN THE COVENANT MERCIES. MICAH 6:1 1. _God_'_s controversy with his people for their ingratitude._ MICAH 6:1 HEAR YE NOW. The whol

HE HATH SHOWED ME, O MAN, WHAT [IS] GOOD,.... This is not the answer of the prophet to the body of the people, or to any and every one of the people of Israel; but of Balaam to Balak, a single man, that consulted with him, and put questions to him; particularly what he should do to please the Lord, and what righteousness he required of him, that would be acceptable to him; and though he was a king, he was but a man, and he would have him know it that he was no more, and as such addresses him; and especially when he is informing him of his duty to God; which lay not in such things as he had proposed, but in doing that which was good, and avoiding that which was evil, in a moral sense: and this the Lord had shown him by the light of nature; which is no other than the work of the law of God written in the hearts of the Heathens, by which they are directed to do the good commanded in the law...

Micah 6:1. _Hear ye now what the LORD saith;_ And yet some doubt the infallible inspiration of Scripture. I would commence every reading of the Scripture with such a word of admonition as this: «Hear ye now what the Lord saith.» That is what the prophet said; but God spake by the prophet: «Hear ye now what the Lord saith.» Micah 6:1. _Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice._ As men were hardened, and turned away their ears, the prophet was bidden to speak to the mountains, those mountains which had been disfigured with the shrines of idols, with altars on every high hill, or, perhaps, those higher hills that were never cultivated, and that remained untouched by the defiling hand of men. God makes an appeal to these ancient things....

THE THIRD PROPHETIC DISCOURSE (6-7) CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The words of Jehovah to His people (Micah 6:1) _ 2. Israel's answer (Micah 6:6) 3. The moral demands of Jehovah (Micah 6:8) 4. The Lord must judge them (Micah 6:9) Micah 6:1. This chapter is cast in the form of a controversy. The utterance has been called by some the most important in the prophetic literature. It is hardly this, nor is, as critics claim, the eighth verse a definition of religion, “the greatest saying in the Old Testament.” The beginning is sublime, “Hear ye now what

POPULAR_ V._ PROPHETIC RELIGION. The classical summary of prophetic religion in Micah 6:8 is introduced by the figure frequently employed (Hosea 4:1; Hosea 12:2; Isaiah 3:13; Isaiah 43:26; Jeremiah 25:31) of a legal controversy between Yahweh and His people. Possibly this figure did not originally precede Micah 6:6, as the terms of the address O man! are broader than we should expect if Israel had been add