Our focus this week was on Psalm 40:6-8, in which David gives voice to God’s priorities - namely, that our godly response to God’s gift of “ears to hear” is more precious to God than God-ordained sacrifices. Samuel’s words to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22 convey the same truth - that “heeding God’s voice is better than the fat of rams.” Micah 6:6-8 poses questions related to such priorities (“Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams?”) and answers those questions with the well-known list of three overriding principles - to act justly, to love tenderly (or to love kindness), and to walk humbly with one’s God.

We looked at Isaiah’s prophesy regarding God’s intentions related to the discipline of fasting (Isaiah 58:6-9). God’s goal is not so much that we deprive ourselves as that we return to the priorities of justice, kindness (mercy), and humility - and that we express these values in the ways we treat others, that we relieve burdens, where we can relieve burdens, that we feed and clothe and otherwise help those who are in need, rather than pointing fingers at them.

We pondered the accusations leveled against Jesus’ disciples when they were hungry on a Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8). Jesus responded to the Pharisees by invoking the prophetic words of Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Revisiting the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), we marveled that the account begins with many people listening to Jesus (with ears to hear), while the Pharisees (not using ears to hear) busied themselves with the purported task of enforcing God’s law (with the intent of trapping Jesus).

We discussed how to hear God’s will, and we agreed that we can’t always hear well and that even when we DO hear well, our actions may or may not be well received by others. We spoke of examining our motives (is our goal to be enforcers of God’s will or examples of God’s love?) and of trying to be aware of God’s intentions (in the midst of situations we see as good and in the midst of situations we see as bad). And we found solace in the promise of Jeremiah 31:31-34, that God’s desires will be written upon yielding hearts of flesh (in THIS life!), rather than upon unyielding tablets of stone.