Justice & Mercy

I recently heard the song "Courageous" by Casting Crowns.  There was a part in it that really stuck out to me.  They sing "Seek Justice, Love mercy, walk Humbly with your God."  I knew this was from Micah 6:8...I have loved this verse for awhile.  Steven Curtis Chapman has a song based on this verse as well called "The Walk" (I believe..actually I did double check) Anyway, when I heard this song the other day, it really made me think about ALOT!  Mostly, I'm sure because of recent circumstances in my life.  So the more I think about it, I got to thinking how contradictory these words sound.  How can you "seek justice" and "love mercy" at the same time.  It seems so opposite!  So I went back & looked it up in The Word, and then I went to dictionary.com to find some definitions of the words!

So here it is Micah 6:8

⁸The LORD God has told us

   what is right

   and what he demands:

   "See that justice is done,

   let mercy be your first concern,

   and humbly obey your God."

And for the words defined....(there were several listed for each..but I picked the one that made most sense to me)

jus·tice n.

the administering of deserved punishment or reward.

mer·cy 

n.

compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward anoffender, an enemy, or other person in one's power;compassion, pity, or benevolence

So...how do we administer deserved punishment, but be compassionate or kindly show forbearance toward an offender....anybody else's head spinning??  It's like a big circle...I could talk this around for hours...but, I don't wanna keep you that long.  

Anyway, the first thing I think about is the fact that I wonder how many of us really understand "justice & mercy."  For instance, we all want "justice" when we feel like we "know" someone has done wrong...take for instance the Casey Anthony trial...I didn't follow it enough to come to a conclusion on my own, but I gathered by the reaction via the news & social media that "most" people were convinced that she killed her little girl.  So "we" wanted justice.  On the flip side of that we all want "mercy" when we have done wrong.  Same story, I'm pretty sure (guilty or not) the Casey was wanting mercy.  

For me, this presents an inner struggle of what I want vs. what I know I deserve!  I know that when I do wrong to God & others, I WANT mercy, but I know that I really need justice.  The beauty that I have come to realize is that the two can only coexist.  When it comes to the plan that God designed, they are not separated!  God is just & will always be, but he sent his Son to take our place & provide mercy for us!  Romans 5:6-8 paints a great picture of this!

"Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him." (The Message)

It's so AMAZING to be on the receiving end of mercy, but lately, I have experienced how great it is to be the mercy giver.  A few weeks ago, my Aunt told me I was showing mercy, I didn't quite understand what she meant.  But the more I think & ponder on these verses from Micah, the more I think I understand & the more I want to be the mercy giver in all situations of life! A huge lesson I have learned is that the more mercy I show, the more mercy I realize that I need in my own life.  I am so grateful that Jesus continues to work on me & my downfalls. 


This brings me to the last phrase of the verse "walk humbly with your God." Maybe the most important part.  Knowing that I can neither seek justice or show mercy without walking alongside of God is the point.  It's all about Him & not about me.  Again, so thankful that His Truths are revealed to me each day, through trials & through joys! 


I mentioned a couple songs at the beginning of this post, but I'm only posting the second, because I found this super sweet live version & SCC just totally plays his guitar!!!