Book of Micah (December 21st-28th, 2025)

Grace of our Loving Lord Jesus Christ to you. Due to other pressing work, I have not been able to upload daily meditations for the past week. So, here I am uploading a meditation for the entire book of Micah. (Remember, even if I am unable to upload a meditation, the daily reading is posted with a link.) Let the Word of God richly dwell in the midst of us!

Book of Micah

Summary: the covenant God who refuses shallow religion

Micah (whose name means "Who is like Yahweh?") speaks into a time of outward religiosity and inward decay. Temple worship continued. Sacrifices were offered. Confidence was high. Yet injustice, idolatry, and spiritual complacency were prevalent. The covenant relationship with God was depleted, and yet the Jews didn't seem to notice their true spiritual condition. The Lord, therefore, brings a covenant lawsuit against His people.

Micah’s burden is not merely to condemn sin, but to reawaken, to renew, and to refresh the people of God. God speaks through Micah to move them from external religious conformity to a life of covenantal love. If the people were to repent and listen to the Word of God, they could move from presumptive arrogance to repentant joy. If they were to seek the Lord earnestly, they could move from despair to hope rooted in God’s gracious promise of a coming King.

Who is God

God is both righteous and merciful. God is the covenant Lord who judges sin truthfully and yet restores His people faithfully and mercifully.

“For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.” (1:3–4).

God is not passive toward injustice. He sees exploitation, false worship, and spiritual pride, and He acts.

God also reveals His heart most clearly at the end of the book:

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. (7:18)

This is the tension Micah holds together. God’s holiness never relaxes, and God’s mercy never retreats. Judgment is real, but it is never God’s last word.

What is our guilt?

Micah exposes a people who confuse religious activity with covenant faithfulness.

They ask sincere-sounding questions:

“With what shall I come before the LORD?” (6:6)

But their hearts want a substitute—sacrifice instead of surrender, ritual instead of repentance.

Micah unmasks three core sins:

• Injustice toward others – Land is seized, the poor are crushed, leaders profit from power (2:1–2; 3:1–3).

• Corruption of leadership – Prophets speak for profit, priests teach for pay (3:11).

• Presumption before God – “Is not the LORD in the midst of us?” they say, while ignoring His Word (3:11).

The heart of the problem is not ignorance but misdirected love. They love security more than righteousness, prosperity more than faithfulness, and religion more than God Himself.

How does grace shine?

Grace breaks in through promise—specifically, the promise of a Messianic King.

In the darkest moment of judgment comes one of the brightest promises in Scripture.

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (5:2).

God’s answer to human corruption is not merely reform, but redemption. A Shepherd-King will come. He will rule in the strength of the LORD (5:4). He will be peace (5:5).

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We confess how easily we substitute religious activity for loving obedience.

Search our hearts where injustice hides behind religion,

where pride disguises itself as confidence,

and where comfort dulls our reverence for you.

Restore us by your grace.

Teach us to love justice because you are just,

to love mercy because you have shown us mercy,

and to walk humbly because our hope rests not in ourselves but in your promised King.

Form us into a people who love you

with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength,

until the Shepherd from Bethlehem reigns fully and finally over all.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Key verses

Micah 1:3–4 – God’s holiness and authority

Micah 3:11–12 – False confidence exposed

Micah 5:2 – Promise of the coming King

Micah 6:8 – The shape of covenant faithfulness

Micah 7:18–20 – God’s delight in steadfast love