Proverbs 21:3

To do Justice and Judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Ceremonial and moral duties

This text is a complete and independent sentence. Confirm the proposition deduced from the text--

I. From other places of Scripture. We find God rejecting and abhorring sacrifices if they were not accompanied with a real repentance and inward sincerity of mind, and the outward works of mercy and justice (Proverbs 21:27; Micah 6:6; Isaiah 1:11).

II. From the different nature of these two duties, and the different grounds from whence ariseth our obligation to them. Sacrifice was grounded upon a positive precept and institution, but justice has its foundation in the nature of God. If we consult merely natural light, we shall discover no necessary foundations in that for sacrifices. As the notion of God includes in it all possible and conceivable perfection, we discern justice to be one of His most essential attributes.

III. From the different ends of these two duties. Sacrifice was not enjoined for its own sake, but justice always was, and is, and ever will be. Sacrifices were ordained to be types of Christ, who was to be offered up in the fulness of time upon the Cross. Sacrifices were enjoined to be as a guard and security for other duties, to be as a hedge and a fence for the moral precepts, and especially to defend the Jews against idolatry. Evidently the goodness of this duty of sacrifice was not natural and intrinsical, but relative and external. But justice was, and is, and ever will be, enjoined for its own sake. It has a natural goodness and beauty in it which, at all times, and in all ages, recommends it to the practice of mankind. Justice is a duty that ariseth from the moral frame and constitution of our souls, and we must offer violence to ourselves, if we be not just to others.

IV. From the different effects of these two duties. The effect of sacrifices was the expiation of legal guilt. For deeper guilt no sacrifices were appointed. It is otherwise in the distribution of justice. An impartial execution of that in magistrates and judges does not only put a stop to the growth and increase of sin, but it also appeaseth the wrath and disarms the severity of God. (William Stainforth, M. A.)