He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8
The winds of war were again blowing across Europe in 1938. Songwriter Irving Berlin, a Russian émigré, had experienced war. The Russian Revolution had impacted his extended family, and he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the First World War. Yearning for a world where peace ruled, he dusted off lyrics to a song written two decades earlier and composed “God Bless America.” Singer Kate Smith sang it on Armistice Day, November 11, 1938, on her radio program, and it became a beloved anthem for Americans.
With wars presently being fought in Ukraine and Israel, American military outposts being attacked in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, and military defenses being used to protect shipping in the Red Sea from the attacks of the Houthis, Americans again yearn for peace.
The words of today’s verse from Micah are part of a courtroom-type setting where God is confronting His people for rebelling and breaking their covenant with Him.
After reminding them of His care for them, He once again mercifully instructs them on how they may restore the relationship. He asks, “What does the Lord require?” The answer then, as now, is to “do justice, love mercy, and walk in humility with God,” all of which are founded in attitudes of the heart. One of the evidences of a right relationship with Him is internal peace, regardless if the world is warring.
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