Good Morning! 2010.07.15 - Psalm 66:18 - Loving the Iniquity in My Heart

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: (Psalm 66:18)

If I regard iniquity in my heart. "If I have seen iniquity in my heart and: loved it, took pleasure in it, willingly prolonged its presence." It is not simply that I have looked into my heart and—much to my surprise—have identified something that looks like iniquity. It's more than that. I have found iniquity there and I like what I see! As Barnes comments: "If I have cherished it in my soul; if I have gloated over past sins. If I am purposing to commit sin again; if I am not willing to abandon all sin, and to be holy".

If we are interested in getting God to hear us, we will have to confront ourselves with this great truth. God is not requiring us to be perfect and without sin, for no one is without sin. But, He is requiring us to abandon our holding on to an attitude of independent thinking apart from God. He is requiring that we abandon our holding on to things He cannot and will not tolerate. It is the human thing to be confronted with our treasured sin and hold on for dear life.

If you like to look at pictures of garbage, go to Google and type it in and you can bring up thousands of pictures of garbage. That's where I got the above picture. It is a symbol of our rebellious minds and rebellious hearts.

Long ago in another state, I was pastor of an active Baptist church. Someone told us that a widow was sick and the ladies of our church should go clean her house. That's usually a good thing to do, but our ladies encountered a problem. The woman who lived there had spent several years gathering things at yard sales and bringing them home to be stacked anywhere in the house. There was barely walking space in every room of the house. Used paper plates in the kitchen were piled high on the cabinets and kitchen table.

Not to be outdone, the ladies worked hard all day at filling black garbage bags and carrying them outside in a big pile to be hauled off. At last the job was done and the house looked orderly and clean. The next morning I drove by the house and caught a glimpse of the sick woman using the last of her energy going through the big pile of garbage in her back yard. It was almost more than she could bear that her treasures were going to be loaded on the garbage truck.

Many people are like that regarding their private sins. It doesn't matter that it offends God. They love their sins and they are not going to part with them. Therefore, God will not hear anything they say to Him. That's what the Bible says in our text for today.

The Lord will not hear me - That is, He will not regard and answer my prayer. The idea is, that in order that prayer may be heard, there must be a purpose to forsake all forms of sin. This is a great and most important principle in regard to prayer. The same principle is affirmed or implied in Psalm 18:41; Psalm 34:15; Proverbs 1:28; Proverbs 15:29; Proverbs 28:9; Isaiah 15:1-9; Jeremiah 11:11; Jeremiah 14:12; Zechariah 7:13; John 9:31. It is also especially stated in Isaiah 58:3-7. (Barnes) (I suggest that you click the Bible reference links above and read the Scriptures._