Micah 06: What Do You Give the King

Ever tried to buy a gift for someone who has everything? That’s the framing question we use to walk through Micah 6 and discover what God actually wants from us. Spoiler: it’s not rivers of oil or grand gestures. It’s a life shaped by three simple, demanding practices—act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

We start by setting the scene: Israel is squeezed by Assyria, leaders are corrupt, and everyday people have learned to live with dishonest scales and quiet lies. As we read Micah’s courtroom drama, God reminds His people of past rescue and asks why they’ve grown tired of Him. From there, we tackle the heart of Micah 6:8 and unpack how justice, mercy, and humility move from verse to street-level action.

Justice shows up in daily decisions—fair dealings, honest work, and refusing to benefit from someone else’s loss. Mercy goes beyond fairness—offering forgiveness, breaking cycles of payback, and choosing kindness when hurt feels loud. Humility becomes the posture that keeps both alive, turning faith from performance into companionship. We also face Micah’s warning: when a culture normalizes deception, life feels empty no matter how hard we hustle. The cure isn’t spectacle; it’s steady faithfulness with God and neighbor.

Across the conversation, you’ll hear practical steps, reflective questions, and a prayer to help you choose one focus for the week. If you’ve wondered how to honor God in a noisy world—or what gift He actually wants—this guide through Micah offers clarity and courage for real life. Listen, share with a friend, and tell us: Which practice are you leaning into first—justice, mercy, or humility? If this helped you, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it on.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown
Podcast.
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Let's get into breaking down theBible together.

SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
Well, hello everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
Today, Micah chapter six.
And today's title is What Do YouGet The King?
What Do You Get The King?
We're going to jump into thisbecause one of the things I
think is so interesting is whatdo you get someone who has
everything?
Like, have you ever ran intothat problem?

(00:43):
We're going to talk about thatin just a moment.
And especially when it comes towhat exactly can we give to God
that can really be a gift tohim?
And we'll get into that.
But if you want to, go get yourBibles out.
Get it open to Micah chaptersix.
It's going to take a second tofind it.
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(01:05):
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(01:27):
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But otherwise, you can getthose, okay?
All right.
Well, if you've been with us, weare walking through and almost

(01:48):
finished with the book of Micah.
And we've we've kind of said thecentral, the central idea of the
book of Micah is directionduring difficulty.
And we talked about how thenation of Israel is just, man,
they are they are in the processof slowly getting overrun by the
Assyrians.
It's not looking good.
And they're looking around forsomething.
And this southern prophet, thissmall town southern prophet, he

(02:11):
comes out and just startstelling everybody, listen,
here's the direction.
Here's where we need to go.
We got to run to God.
We got to run straight to him.
And what this reminds me of isthis reminds me of the idea.
Have you ever been trying to buya gift for someone who has
everything?
You know, I was, I was talkingabout this not long ago with a
friend of mine, and we were bothtalking about wanting to get a

(02:34):
gift for a mutual friend.
And it's not like this person islike wealthy or anything like
that.
It's just they don't want a lot.
You know, they're they're verycontent as a person.
And so we were trying to thinkthrough and like, what do you
give someone who already haseverything they want?
Because they don't wantanything.
They're they're like super justcontent in life.
Like, what do you get them?
And so we started talking about,you know, different things.
And finally we settled on, youknow, what we can do is we can

(02:57):
give this person an experience,or we can give this person our
undivided attention, you know,something like this, something
that's non-tangible, you know,that kind of thing.
And when you think about it,what can we give God?
Like He He created the heavensand the earth, he He has
everything in His hand.
He he can listen to the mostbeautiful music whenever he
wants to.
And just, I mean, he sitsoutside outside of time and

(03:19):
space.
Like, what do you give the Godwho wants anything?
You imagine if you went to Godright now and said, God, I just
want to bless you.
What can I give you today?
Well, it turns out God tells uswhat he wants from us when it
comes to how we relate to oneanother.
And so we're going to read thischapter today.
And if you've ever wondered whatGod wants, this is what he
wants.
Here we go.
Micah chapter 6, verse 1 saysthis.

(03:42):
Listen to what the Lord issaying.
Stand up and state your caseagainst me.
Let the mountains and hills becalled to witness your
complaints.
And now, O mountains, listen tothe Lord's complaint, his case
against his people.
He will bring charges againstIsrael.
O my people, what have I done toyou?
What have I done to make youtired of me?

(04:04):
Answer me.
For I brought you out of Egypt,and redeemed you from slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriamto help you.
Don't you remember, my people?
How King Balak of Moab tried tohave you cursed, and how Balaam,
son of Baor, blessed youinstead?
And remember your journey fromAcacia, the Acacia grove to

(04:25):
Gilgal?
When I, the Lord, did everythingI could to teach you about my
faithfulness?
What can we bring to the Lord?
Here's the question.
What can we bring to you for allyou've done?
What should we bring him?
Should we bring him burntofferings?
Should we bow before God mosthigh with offerings and yearly
calves?
Should we offer him thousands oframs and ten thousand rivers of
olive oil?

(04:46):
Should we sacrifice ourfirstborn children to pay for
our sins?
Okay, hyphen, or not hyphen, um,uh like whatever.
I'm trying to think of thephrase.
But parenthesis, no.
God is not want our firstbornchildren.
No, no, no.
He says it right here.
Verse 8, no, no, O people, theLord has told you what is good
and what he requires of you.

(05:07):
So, in other words, forChristmas, if or whenever, for
God's birthday, if you want togive him what he really wants,
here it is to do what is right,to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with your God.
Like we could pause right thereto do what is right, love mercy,
and to walk humbly with yourGod.

(05:31):
We'll finish that in just amoment.
Let's keep going.
Fear the Lord if you are wise.
His voice calls to everyone inJerusalem.
The armies of destruction arecoming.
The Lord is sending them.
What shall I say about the homesof the wicked filled with
treasures gained by cheating?
What about the disgustingpractice of measuring out grain
with dishonest measures?

(05:51):
How can I tolerate you merchantswho use dishonest scales and
weights?
The rich among you have becomewealthy through extortion and
violence.
Your citizens are used to lying,that they're so used to lying
that their tongues are no longertelling the truth.
Therefore I will wound you.
I will bring you to ruin withall your sins.

(06:11):
You will eat, but never haveenough.
Your hunger pains and emptinesswill remain, and though you try
to save your money, it will cometo nothing in the end.
You will save a little, but Iwill give it to those who
conquer you.
I will plant crops but notharvest them.
You will plant crops but notharvest them.
You will press your olives, butit will not get enough oil to
anoint yourselves.

(06:32):
You will trample the grapes, buthave no juice to make your wine.
You keep only the laws of evilKing Omri.
You follow only the example ofwicked King Ahab.
Therefore, I will make you anexample, bringing you to
complete ruin.
And you will be treated withcontempt and mocked by all who
see you.

(06:52):
So basically, because you got mesomething I didn't want, I'm
gonna keep the receipt and I'mgonna take it back.
Because what is he what did hesay?
Let's go back to it.
If you're watching this onYouTube, we're gonna show it one
more time.
He says, What do you what do youwant?
What does God want?
He says, I want you to do what'sright.
I want you to do what what I'vewhat I've actually asked you to
do.
Do what do what is right.
I want you to love mercy, and Iwant you to do it with me.

(07:15):
I want you to walk humbly withme.
If you think about it all theway back in the book of Genesis,
Genesis 3, the Bible said thatGod created Adam and Eve put
them in the garden, and then hewould walk with them in the cool
of the day.
All God has ever wanted issincere love given in

(07:37):
relationship.
That is why you see, I mean,there are so many different ways
you could sum up the Bible.
One of the ways you could sum itup is a love story that there
was that God wanted us, wedenied him, and then it is the
process of him coming going on arescue mission to win back that
lost love.
And the whole time he isconstantly trying to get us back

(08:00):
to a loving relationship withhim.
But here's the thing there isthat sin nature inside of us
that that doesn't want God, thatreaches out for the rebellion,
reaches out for all the thingsthat we shouldn't have.
But you know what I love aboutGod is he constantly reaches
back to us over and over andover again.

(08:21):
And so, if we were to say itlike this, what does God want
for Christmas?
What does God want for hisbirthday?
Whatever it is, you know what hewants?
He says, You know what, all Iwant, I want you to do what is
right.
Do do what is right.
I want you to love mercy, lovedoing good to others, and I want
you to do it with me.
Can I tell you?
That's one of the greatestthings we could aspire to.

(08:43):
So here's my question for youtoday Which one of those do you
need to work on?
You need to work on just lovingjustice?
Do you need to work on justmaybe showing mercy to somebody?
And then how about this?
Are you trying to do lifeindependently of God?
Like you've got God over here inthis compartment, over here in
this box, when really what hewants is he wants to do

(09:03):
relationship with us.
Which one of those do you needto work on?
Here's the thing whatever it is,God already knows, and he's
already drawing you to himself.
Let's pray together right now.
God, thank you so much fortoday.
Thank you, God, that you see usand you know us, and Lord, you
know which one that we need towork on.
God, I pray for everyone whoneeds to work on that justice
piece.
You know, I'd have no idea why,but you do.

(09:25):
And so I pray for your mercy togo ahead of them, before them,
behind them, to do it only youcan do.
I pray, Lord, for maybe thosewho need to to kind of take a
step forward in loving mercy.
Maybe it's difficult for them tolove mercy because they feel
like they've experiencedinjustice.
Help them to realize, Lord, thatall that they need is found in
you.
You are the one who works outultimate justice and mercy.

(09:47):
And then, Lord, maybe for someof us who we love you, but we
struggle to know how to do lifewith you.
But we can't see you with ourphysical eyes so many times, and
so we don't we don't know whento move forward, we don't know
when to step backward.
And it's just a confusingprocess.
Give us the wisdom to take allthe steps forward we need to
take.

(10:07):
And we celebrate you in advancebecause your word says the fear
of the Lord will make us wise,and we celebrate you in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Amen.
Well, just like we got throughreading, Micah 6, verse 8 says,
What does the Lord want?
To act justly, to love mercy,and to walk humbly with your
God.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for thefinale, Micah chapter seven.