The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 8. Wicked. Still unconverted. Sirach 34:23. When they repent, and offer sacrifice with sincerity, they will obtain mercy. The Donatists abused this text, to prove that baptism conferred by wicked ministers was unavailing. But Saint Augustine shewed them, that Christ was the principal agent, and conferred grace, even though the minister might draw down judgments on his own head. Con. Parm. ii. 6.—Even pagans confessed, that sacrifices, without virtue, could afford no benefit. “God was more pleased with the prayers of the Lacedemonians, than with all the sacrifices of the Greeks,” say the idolatrous priests in Plato, Alcib. ii. Seneca de Ben. i. 5.