The Sacrifices God Desires are Actions of Love

For the Lord desires mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart; These, O God, You will not reject.

(Psalms 4:3-5 NKJV) But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him. {4} Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah {5} Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD.

(Psalms 27:4-8 NKJV) One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. {5} For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. {6} And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. {7} Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. {8} When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

(Psalms 51:10-17 NKJV) Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. {11} Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. {12} Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. {13} Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. {14} Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. {15} O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. {16} For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. {17} The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart; These, O God, You will not despise.

(Psalms 54:4-7 NKJV) Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life. {5} He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth. {6} I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. {7} For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

(Psalms 107:19-22 NKJV) Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. {20} He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. {21} Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! {22} Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.

(Psalms 116:17-18 NKJV) I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD. {18} I will pay my vows to the LORD Now in the presence of all His people,

(Proverbs 15:8 NKJV) The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

(Proverbs 21:3 NKJV) To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

(Isaiah 56:4-7 NKJV) For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, {5} Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off. {6} “Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants; Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant; {7} Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

(Ezekiel 44:30 NKJV) “The best of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.

(Hosea 6:6 NKJV) For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

(Hosea 14:2 NKJV) Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.

(Jonah 2:7-9 NKJV) “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. {8} “Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. {9} But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.”

(Matthew 9:11-13 NKJV) And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” {12} When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. {13} “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

(Mark 12:29-33 NKJV) Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. {30} ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. {31} “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” {32} So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. {33} “And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

(Romans 12:1-2 NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. {2} And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Ephesians 5:1-2 NKJV) Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. {2} And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

(Hebrews 13:15-16 NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. {16} But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

(1 Peter 2:1-5 NKJV) Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, {2} as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, {3} if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. {4} Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, {5} you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.