When verses in Scripture have similar language, the Old Testament is quoted in the New, or different writers speak of the same account, Holy Writ is defining itself for us. As brethren of old used to say time and again, “The best commentary on Scripture, is Scripture.” While we can broaden our study with writings of men, the best way to understand the Bible is to read the Bible and compare it with itself. While our duty is plainly laid out in many places in the written word of God, the Lord graciously gives extra information and definition by further defining it when comparing parallel passages. Such is the case when we consider Deuteronomy 10:12-13 with Micah 6:8. Both places start with the same language of what the Lord requires of us. The remaining phrases do not contain the exact same language but instead of seeing this as a contradiction – which the Bible critic will quickly try to do – we can look at them with thankfulness that God sees fit to help us even more in our walk.
Do Justly/Fear the Lord thy God and to Walk in all His ways: While Micah simply says part of our duty is to do justly, the scoffer might say, “Well what exactly does that mean? What is justness and how am I supposed to do it?” Doing justly or rightly is defined by the Bible as fearing our God and walking in all His ways. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of knowledge, a fountain of life, and many other things. If it is the beginning of many things, we need to understand that to do right in our lives, we must begin at the correct place. The correct starting line is a healthy and reverent respect for God, who He is, and our place in comparison to Him. When we think too highly of ourselves or too little of Him, we basically sully the path going forward as we have not started properly. But, when we realize that without Him we are nothing and less than nothing and that He is everything, we can begin to do rightly according to His standard and not ours. Following from the correct starting point, doing justly requires us to walk in all His ways. Many times, we like to pick and choose what we will do and won’t do based on what is either preferable (enjoyable) and/or easier for us. Justice requires full performance even in the things that are hard. However, if that were the end of the commanded statements, we could easily become Pharisaical if we thought we had accomplished the standard of that which is just.
Love Mercy/Love Him: If someone is striving to do that which is right by fearing God and walking in all His ways, that performance must be accompanied by the right attitude and mindset. The problem with the Pharisees in Jesus’ day was that they perceived they had fulfilled the command of doing justly, but they scorned and scoffed all those that they believed did not measure up. The mindset of doing justly must love mercy at the same time. The compassion at the heart of mercy will prevent someone striving to do that which is right from being arrogant and prideful at the same time. This compassion and mercy has the mindset of, “but for the grace of God, there go I.” When loving mercy, we are – in effect – loving Him. The Bible defines God through these parallel passages as mercy itself. Just as John declared that “God is love” (I John 4:9) so these passages declare that He is mercy. When we love Him as we should, we are then strengthened in how to perform what we are attempting to do. He had to show compassion on us for that to even be possible. Therefore, when showing mercy to our brethren, we are loving Him by loving them. James tells us that we cannot truly love God whom we have not seen and hate our brother who we have seen. By the same token, by loving our brother who we have seen, we can love God whom we have not seen.
Walk Humbly with Thy God/Serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul: By knowing the path to pursue and the mindset in pursuing it, we have both the motivation and the direction, but what about the quantity? In other words, we have been given the quality of the duty, but how much of it should there be? To walk humbly with our God, we must do it with all that we have. Paul encourages us to do what we do heartily as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:23) To do something heartily or energetically, we must put forth all that we have in the engagement of it. A humble walk is not someone with their head down like they cannot look upon anything. Humility is not making sure everyone knows how unprideful we are by not accepting anything we have done as good. These things draw more attention to the person rather than the intended object. When people see us, they should see good works and things worth identifying as righteous, but those things when done properly should direct someone to the source of all goodness which is He Himself. (Matthew 5:17) When all of our innermost being is set in motion to fearing Him, loving Him, striving to fulfill all His commands, and by extension showing compassion to one another while we walk together in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake, we will find humility on manifest display as disciples faithfully stand shoulder to shoulder and shield to shield while marching into the battle of life rejoicing in the Captain of our salvation.
Many times people get misguided ideas of what good duty is, but the Lord here gives so much information to help His children in the struggles of life. Our direction, motivation, and duration is laid out in rich tones. Sometimes my children tell me, “But daddy, I didn’t know…” and sometimes that explanation is valid as I failed to tell them something I should have. However, our Father has faithfully told us time and time again how and what we should do for Him. My problem is that I’m not as good at listening as He is in telling. However, I’m glad that part of my duty also highlights who and what He is. By being mercy itself, I can have strong consolation that even in my failures and miserable efforts, He encourages and strengthens daily to strive again. With the continual renewing of our inward man, new mercies every morning, and a faithfulness that doesn’t fail, we can get up from a failure to try again, knowing that He is still for us. May our best days be in front of us so that the sweetest and richest walking with Him are in the days to come rather than the days gone by. He is there beloved; may we walk in such a way that we will find Him in sweet accords of fellowship.
In Hope,
Bro Philip