"What Doth The Lord Require of Thee?"

For most people, the nature of prayer is of such that it inevitably includes a "shopping list" of requests for God to tend to. We are acutely aware of His ability to meet our every need, and though we are taught that the elements of prayer are Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (ACTS), the last element is usually the dominant theme. We all know what it is that we require from the Lord, but very few seem to know what He requires of us.

It is not unusual for Christians to misunderstand the nature of God and what He requires. We engage in various activities "working for the Lord", and if we're not careful, we risk believing that our service is good enough. Yet as satisfying as it is to be engaged in the things of God, despite the things we offer as "proof" of His working in our lives, and despite our tithes and offerings, these are not at the core of the heart of God's expectations of His people. In Micah 6 we read of God's response to another of Israel's efforts to be reconciled to Him. As a people they asked, "Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (vv.6-7, KJV). Here we see they were prepared to do just about anything, but none of what they thought reflected the mind of God for in the next verse we read, "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?" (v.8).

As noble as the people's request seemed, they knew what was required for God has told already told them what was good (Deut. 10:12-13). As it was with them, so it is with us; God is not looking for things. Albert Barnes stated, "God seeketh not thine, but thee; not thy substance, but thy spirit; not ram or goat, but thy heart.” : “Thou askest, what thou shouldest offer for thee? Other thyself. For what else doth the Lord seek of thee, but thee? Because, of all earthly creatures, He hath made nothing better than thee, He seeketh thyself from thyself, because thou hadst lost thyself.”

Matthew Henry wrote, "We must, in the whole course of our conversation, conform ourselves to the will of God, keep up our communion with God, and study to approve ourselves to him in our integrity; and this we must do humbly (submitting our understandings to the truths of God and our will to his precepts and providences); we must humble ourselves to walk with God (so the margin reads it); every thought within us must be brought down, to be brought into obedience to God, if we would walk comfortably with him. This is that which God requires, and without which the most costly services are vain [offerings]."

The next time you approach the throne of grace with your list, it is worth considering how you are doing with His list: to do justly (give to all their due), and to love mercy (do what mercy, kindness, benevolence, and charity require), and to walk humbly with thy God (acknowledge thy iniquity, and submit to be saved by his free mercy).