Scripture References:
all st. = Micah 6:6-8
Early in 1949 Albert F. Bayly (b. Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, England, 1901; d. Chichester, England, 1984) wrote a hymn text based on Micah 6:6-8 as one of a series of seventeen hymns he was writing on the Old Testament prophets. His objective was to present the prophets "in the light of the climax and fulfillment of the Old Testament revelation in the coming of Christ." "What Does the Lord Require" asks questions and states commands as if Micah were a modern-day prophet. The refrain line "Do justly. . ." subtly shifts from the imperative voice in stanzas 1 through 4 to a corporate confession in stanza 5. The text was first published in Bayly's Rejoice, 0 People (1951) and is included in the Psalter Hymnal with minor alterations.
Bayly studied briefly at the Royal Dockyard School at Portsmouth to prepare himself for the shipbuilding industry. However, in 1925 he began studying for the ministry at Mansfield College, Oxford. He became a Congregationalist minister and served seven churches. Bayly wrote missionary pageants and numerous hymns, many of which used more contemporary language and concepts than had been customary in previous hymn writing. Because of the publication of his collection Again I Say Rejoice (1967), Bayly is often acknowledged as the pioneer of the revival of British hymn writing in the 1960s and 70s. His hymns were published in four collections: Rejoice, 0 People (1951), Again I Say Rejoice (1967), Rejoice Always (1971), and Rejoice in God (1978).
Liturgical Use:
As part of the service of confession in conjunction with sermons from Micah, Amos, Isaiah 1, or similar passages; as a hymn for social justice, especially for civic festivals or national-holiday celebrations; times of penitence and renewal such as Advent and Lent.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988
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