Proverbs 16:6

By mercy and truth; either,

1. By God's mercy or grace, and by his truth in performing his promises made to sinners in Christ. Or,

2. By men's mercy and truth, as those very words are jointly used, Proverbs 3:3, Proverbs 20:28, and elsewhere; and as, in the following clause, the fear of the Lord is a grace or disposition in men; by a merciful, and just, and faithful frame of heart and course of life; which are here opposed to sacrifices, as mercy is, Hosea 6:6, by which the hypocritical Jews expected to obtain the expiation of their sins. Iniquity is purged, not meritoriously, but instrumentally, as they qualify a man to offer up acceptable prayers to God for the pardon of his sins, and to receive and apply to himself that pardon which Christ by his blood hath purchased for all sincere believers, who are filled with mercy, and truth, and other graces. By the fear of the Lord; by a filial reverence or respect unto God, and by a holy fear of offending God, and by a dread of God's judgments; men depart from evil; they are kept from abusing pardoning mercy, and from returning to folly or wickedness. So he showeth that justification and sanctification are constant and inseparable companions.