THE LORD SPOKE (December 22)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Micah 6-7

He has shown you, O man, what it good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

Why should we “act justly and love mercy”? Of course, one answer, perhaps the first, is “because God says so”. But God is never arbitrary or capricious in what He says. He never throws out commandments just “because I said so”. He doesn’t treat us with a “shape-up-or-ship-out” commander’s bark. Instead, He entreats us with “submit to my Spirit” and a reminder of the Creator’s mark upon us. He made us in His own image and tells us to follow His way, to think His thoughts, to be like Him. He is just and merciful. That’s good reason for us to be.

Micah’s message is a case in point. First of all, he reminds us that God has shown us the good way. At every turn, he acts justly and loves mercy. That’s the message of all the prophets. Though we, like Israel, have sinned, God has always dealt mercifully with us. He longs for us to return to Him and He’s the God of the second chance (e.g. Jonah). He comes out to meet us when we return (e.g. the Prodigal Son).

Look at the close of Micah’s prophecy. “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged to our fathers in days long ago.” (7:18-20). So, how can we not “walk humbly with our God” (6:8)?

Great God of wonders! All Thy ways
Are matchless, Godlike and divine;
But the fair glories of Thy grace
More Godlike and unrivaled shine,
More Godlike and unrivaled shine.

Who is a pardoning God like Thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
Or who has grace so rich and free?

In wonder lost, with trembling joy,
We take the pardon of our God:
Pardon for crimes of deepest dye,
A pardon bought with Jesus’ blood,
A pardon bought with Jesus’ blood.

Who is a pardoning God like Thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
Or who has grace so rich and free?


Proverbs 22

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it. (Prov. 22:6)

Don’t take comfort from this verse unless you interpret and apply it correctly. It does not say that every man will come back to his senses if you be sure to take him to Sunday School when he’s little.

Somehow we have gotten the mistaken notion that it’s normal for a child to get out and stretch his wings and sew a few wild oats at some point. But if we’ve been good in his basic training, he’ll eventually come back to his senses, return to the nest, and be a decent person after all.

You can’t get that from Proverbs 22:6. Hebrew grammar is necessary to understand it properly. One of the ways to indicate a possessive in Hebrew is to attach a pronominal suffix to the noun being so defined. That’s how it is here. “Way” is a noun with a first person, masculine, singular, pronominal suffix attached to it. Quite literally it should read “train a child in that child’s way”. In other words, you need to know your child well so that instruction can be properly matched to him and his needs. You need to understand “his way” - his personality, his capacity, his learning style, his needs.

No two children are the same. There’s often a major difference between a first-born and the last baby of the family. Boys are different from girls. Some children are naturally artistic and some are not. You need to understand each child so that your instruction can be properly fitted to his way. Then, you can take comfort in the promise of this verse. If you have properly understood and nurtured that child, it’s not likely that he will stray far from the path.