If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Psalm 66 ends with one man standing up to tell others what God did for him in a time of trial. Verse 18 is the hinge of that testimony. Before he can say that God heard him, he says what would have stopped God from hearing.
His Own Testimony
The line is the speaker's account of his own conduct during the trial. One writer sets it in the closing section, where testimony turns into praise.
Hamilton SmithNot only is the godly man at last set free to worship before God, but he can bear witness before men of what God has done for his soul. In his trial he had cried to God and praised God. He had not looked on iniquity in his heart with pleasure, or let it pass unjudged. God had heard and answered his prayer, and turned his prayer into praise.
Sin Kept, Not Sin Committed
An older translation reads "if I regard iniquity in my heart." The picture is of sin welcomed and kept, not sin fallen into and confessed. One writer describes what that keeping does to the man who prays and to God's ear.
Hamilton SmithPrayer must be offered on the altar of a pure heart. Sin lived in makes the heart hard and God's ear deaf. Sin stops the mouth of prayer; it does to the man what the thief does to the traveller, putting a gag in his mouth so he cannot speak. "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." It is foolish to pray against sin, and then to sin against prayer.
Praying With a Reservation
The verse exposes a quiet dishonesty: asking God to take away the guilt of a sin we mean to keep. One writer says the heart cheats us most at this very point.
Hamilton SmithTake care that you do not pray with a reservation. Be sure you renounce what you want God to remit… If you do not want the filth of sin washed away, you pray in vain for relief from its guilt. If we love the work of sin, we must take the wages. A false heart could be willing to have his sin covered. But the sincere man wants his heart cleansed… Our hearts cheat us most in our prayers, and most of all in the requests aimed against our own sinful desires.
Idols in the Heart
"Iniquity" here need not mean gross wrongdoing. One writer applies the verse to anything that takes Christ's place. A divided heart, he says, makes sincere prayer impossible.
J T MawsonWhatever challenges the supremacy of Christ in our lives is an idol. It is iniquity, and "if I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." We cannot pray with sincerity if the eye is not single, or if the heart is divided.
Forms Kept Up While the Heart Is Wrong
A person can keep praying as though nothing were wrong. One writer sets this verse against priests who did exactly that.
Edward Dennett"If I had cherished iniquity in my heart," says the psalmist, "the Lord would not have listened." But these priests were completely indifferent and unfeeling. Even so, they did not hesitate to appear before God as if all were well… A drift away from God often shows itself like this: the outward forms of religion continue, sometimes with even more zeal. As life decays, attention turns to rites and ceremonies.
The Way Back
The verse closes a door, but the door is not locked. One writer pairs it with God's promise to forgive and cleanse those who confess.
The Bible TreasuryGod requires everyone who draws near to Him to judge the evil in himself. It is the same with prayer as with worship: neither is possible where there is defilement… But how blessed that God has provided for all the needs of His people in a defiling world. So He has ordained that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When there is so simple a way of release, why should anyone walk with a burdened conscience?
Summary
- Cherished — the sin in view is not sin fallen into. It is sin looked on with pleasure and left unjudged, and it may be no more than whatever takes Christ's place.
- Deafened — sin lived in hardens the heart and closes God's ear. It is foolish to pray against sin and then to sin against prayer.
- Reserved — a false heart wants its sin covered, a sincere heart wants it cleansed. God will not lift the guilt of a sin we refuse to give up.
- Disguised — outward religious forms often increase as inward life decays. So a man can pray on as if all were well, while heaven stays silent.
- Heard — confession restores what sin blocked. The psalmist can testify that God listened, and turn his prayer into praise.