Introduction: There must have been a pretty severe outcry against God for Him to institute a Court and call all of nature (the mountains and the hills) to be the jury!
1 Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel. – It seems as the occasion quieted the people and they say nothing! We are presumptuous if we think that we can ‘fox’ God!
3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me! – God goes to heart of the matter!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.” – God reminds them of 5 things that He has done for His people! 1. Delivered them from Egypt. 2. Delivered them from slavery. 3. Provided them with excellent leaders. 4. Delivered them from their enemies Balak by using Balaam and a talking donkey! 5. He was with them from the beginning of the journey to the end point of their wilderness journey. No doubt God could have gone over the years after that but the people in their anguish cry out!
6 “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?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” – People are a bit like a pendulum swinging from one extreme to the opposite! And from their anti-God outcry at the beginning they go to extremes of personal subjection that God had never requested or suggested! They started with a reasonable sacrifice but then they went to extremes (thousands and ten thousands) and then to what was obnoxious, certainly to God, and hopefully to themselves – baby burning!
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?
Comment: Remember yesterday’s reading was about the Messiah coming! God had already called the Israelis ‘His people’ and He, in sending the Messiah, had planned to deal with restoring people’s personal relationship with Himself – and that happened at the Easter Event, which involved the Cross but led into the triumphant Resurrection! So sacrifice wasn’t the issue! What was needed was clearly spelled out “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” This is one of my favourite verses of all scripture!
Psalm 51: 17 – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Prayer: Thank You that in Jesus we are Your people, may our living be to Your pleasure, just, kind and loving, and humble, O Lord.
As I read it! 