Chapter 6
What Does the Lord Require?
God's requirements: justice, mercy, and humble walking
"With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?"
Micah 6:6
Chapter Overview
Micah chapter 6, "What Does the Lord Require?," stands at the heart of the divine word breaking into human history with urgent clarity. God's requirements: justice, mercy, and humble walking. Here the reader encounters not merely ancient history or religious instruction, but the living word of a God who speaks with purpose — weaving themes of requirements and justice into a narrative that addresses both its original audience and every generation since.
With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 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? The prophetic voice speaks with urgency into its specific historical moment, yet transcends that moment to address the condition of every human heart. The word of God through the prophet is always both particular and universal.
The theme of requirements is not incidental here — it is the load-bearing pillar of the chapter's argument or story. Alongside it, justice operates as a clarifying lens, sharpening the reader's understanding of what God is accomplishing and why it matters beyond the immediate circumstances.
Looking across the wider biblical landscape, Micah 6 does not stand alone. The interplay between requirements and humility appears at critical junctures throughout Scripture — moments when God reshapes his people's self-understanding and renews his covenant claims on their lives. This chapter is precisely such a moment: a turning point where the reader is invited to see with fresh eyes what it means to be formed and held by God.
Chapter Outline
The Prophetic Call: Requirements
vv. 1–7This section of Micah 6 focuses on requirements — opening the reader to a fresh encounter with this truth.
The Divine Indictment: Justice
vv. 8–14This section of Micah 6 focuses on justice — pressing the implications into concrete human experience.
The Warning of Judgment: Kindness
vv. 15–21This section of Micah 6 focuses on kindness — revealing the divine perspective behind the human events.
The Promise of Restoration: Humility
vv. 22–30This section of Micah 6 focuses on humility — showing how this theme reshapes the community of faith.
Key Verses
"With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?"
Micah 6:6
"Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?"
Micah 6:8
"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 6:9
Prophetic Word
With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 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?
Study Notes
Requirements in Micah 6: God's requirements: justice, mercy, and humble walking (see Micah 6:6). This theme does not merely describe events — it is the theological lens through which the author invites us to interpret everything that happens here. To understand requirements in its biblical context is to understand something essential about the God who orchestrates both history and human hearts.
Justice in Micah 6: God's requirements: justice, mercy, and humble walking (see Micah 6:8). This theme does not merely describe events — it is the theological lens through which the author invites us to interpret everything that happens here. To understand justice in its biblical context is to understand something essential about the God who orchestrates both history and human hearts.
Kindness in Micah 6: God's requirements: justice, mercy, and humble walking (see Micah 6:9). This theme does not merely describe events — it is the theological lens through which the author invites us to interpret everything that happens here. To understand kindness in its biblical context is to understand something essential about the God who orchestrates both history and human hearts.
Humility in Micah 6: God's requirements: justice, mercy, and humble walking. This theme does not merely describe events — it is the theological lens through which the author invites us to interpret everything that happens here. To understand humility in its biblical context is to understand something essential about the God who orchestrates both history and human hearts.
Life Application
In the light of requirements in Micah 6: ask how you are actively engaging with this theme in your own life — not as a distant theological concept, but as a living reality that shapes your decisions, relationships, and worship today.
In the light of justice in Micah 6: ask how you are actively engaging with this theme in your own life — not as a distant theological concept, but as a living reality that shapes your decisions, relationships, and worship today.
In the light of kindness in Micah 6: ask how you are actively engaging with this theme in your own life — not as a distant theological concept, but as a living reality that shapes your decisions, relationships, and worship today.
Reflection Questions
What specific aspect of "What Does the Lord Require?" in Micah 6 challenges or confirms your current understanding of God?
How does the theme of requirements in this chapter connect to your own experience of faith — where have you seen or struggled with this theme in your own life?
In what ways do requirements and justice work together in this passage, and what does that relationship reveal about God's purposes?
If the original audience of Micah heard this chapter in their historical context, what would have been their most immediate reaction — and what can that response teach us about how we should receive these words today?
Cross-References
Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly
Seek justice, correct oppression
Justice, mercy and faithfulness matter most
Value others above yourselves