If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Parallel translations
- WEB If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened.
- BSB If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- NKJV If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
- NASB If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;
- NLT If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If he had cherished sin in his heart, the Lord would not have listened. It warns that clinging to sin hinders prayer.
Overview
The psalmist states that had he harbored and loved sin, the Lord would not have heard his prayer. Unrepented, cherished sin is a barrier to fellowship with God. This underscores our need for the cleansing found in Christ, through whom we draw near with a sincere heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 9:31Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
- Prov 28:9He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
- Prov 15:29The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Isa 1:15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
- Jas 4:3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
- Job 27:8–9For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
- Prov 21:13Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
- Job 36:21Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 66:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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