Give us a spirit to discern, and courage to execute, true judgment, that all our sentences may be approved by thee, our Lord and Judge. Amen.
Deut. xxiv. 17. "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless."
Isaiah i. 23. "Every one loveth gifts: they judge not the fatherless; that is, they are poor, and cannot bribe them."
Exod. xxiii. 2, 3. "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause, to decline after many, to wrest judgment: neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause."
Deut. xix. 15. "Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour."
The judgment of the multitude is no rule of justice. "Then cried they all. Not this man, but Barabbas."
John xix. 12. "If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend;—when Pilate heard that saying," then he resolved to sacrifice his conscience, rather than lose his prince's favour.
2 Chron. xix. 6. "And he said to the judges, take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment."
Prov. xvii. 13. "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination unto the Lord."
John xix. 11. "Except it were given thee from above." Although the magistrate's authority is from God, yet he is answerable to God for the due execution of it.
Prov. xxi. 3. "To do justice and judgment is more acceptable unto the Lord than sacrifice."
Isaiah i. 11. "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats."
Hosea vi. 6. "For I desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God, more than burnt-offerings."
Micah vi. 7, 8. "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my
