If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
Parallel translations
- WEB If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened.
- KJV If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
- BSB If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- 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 9:31We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.
- Prov 28:9He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
- Prov 15:29Yahweh is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Isa 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
- Jas 4:3You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
- Job 27:8–9For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Prov 21:13Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
- Job 36:21Take heed, don’t regard iniquity; for you have chosen this 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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