He _hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good_.--From Balak's inquiry we should be ready to conclude that he was ignorant of God and religion --that he supposed that God preferred sacrifice to justice and mercy --that sacrifice would supply their place and render them of no account. Balaam tells him that he had been better instructed; though we know not where, or how. _He hath shewed thee, what is good_; and he appeals to Balak whether this was not the case--_What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy_, &c. To _do justly_--There is no true religion where justice is not received as a foundation principle. "I the Lord love judgment; I hate robbery for burnt offerings; and I will direct their work in truth." * Fraudulent people may pretend to religion; may make many and long prayer, but their religion is of no avail; their sacrifices are an abomination. + Witness the scribes and pharisees, who received the greater damnation. * Isaiah l xi. 8. + Isaiah i. 10. &c. The next characteristic trait here given of the good man, is the love of mercy. _What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy_? There is something particularly to be observed in the language here used--_love mercy_.--It may not be in every one's power to shew mercy; but every man may, and every good man does _love mercy_. To "feed the hungry and clothe the naked," are acts of mercy, but not in the power of all men. Some are, themselves wholly dependent on the mercy of others for their own support. Justice often restrains and sets bounds to the exercise of mercy. The judge may be grieved for the malefactor, and wish that he could shew mercy to him, but find himself obliged to condemn him and suffer justice to take its course. The debts which a person hath contracted may require all his goods, or all his necessities do not require. In such cases he is under obligation to shut the hand of charity, even against the proper objects of it. We have no right to defraud some, that we may shew mercy to others. Justice is a prior duty. We are tied up to the discharge of it--are bound to _do justly_; whereas it is only required that we _love mercy_. The love of mercy will dispose us to shew mercy, where we have ability to do it without violating justice. Yea, it will cause us to do it with pleasure, rendering us like God, who "delights in mercy." Acts of mercy may proceed from other principles beside the love of mercy, but these do not answer to the divine requirement. In the view of him who sees the heart they are not characteristic of renovation, or a heart right with God. The third particular here mentioned as constituting the finishing part of the good man's character, is humility--_that he walks humbly with, his God_--that he is sensible of his imperfection, and of his need of mercy from God. This always makes a part of the good man's character.