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Psalm 66:18
If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened.
16Come and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he has done for my soul.
17I cried to him with my mouth. He was extolled with my tongue.
18If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened.
19But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer.
20Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor his loving kindness from me.
Notice
The words “cherished sin in my heart” draw attention to what a person treasures within, even while their mouth speaks to God in prayer.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What distinction do you see between cherishing sin and wanting to be free of it?
Write on thisWhat, if anything, are you reluctant to bring before God when you pray?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
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.Both connect God's hearing of prayer with the moral stance of the person who prays.
Proverbs 28:9He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.Both warn that prayer can be rejected when a person cherishes sin or refuses to hear God's law.
Proverbs 15:29The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.Both describe sin as a barrier to being heard by God in prayer.
Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.Both treat the worshiper's stance toward wickedness as relevant to God's reception of prayer.
John 4:24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”Both concern worship before God; John names spirit and truth, while the psalm warns against cherishing sin.
Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely …Both address sin within: the psalm names cherishing it in the heart, and Isaiah urges the unrighteous to forsake their thoughts.
Isaiah 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.Both speak of God refusing to hear prayer in connection with sin; Isaiah names hands full of blood.
James 4:3You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.Both connect frustrated prayer with inward wrongdoing: cherished sin in the psalm and wrong motives in James.
Proverbs 21:13Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.Both warn of cries going unheard: the psalm names cherished sin, while Proverbs names ignoring the cry of the poor.
Job 27:8–9For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?The shared thread is limited to sin before God; Job's question concerns the godless person's hope at death.
Job 36:21Take heed, don’t regard iniquity; for you have chosen this rather than affliction.Both address a person's attachment to sin, using cherishing in the psalm and regarding or choosing iniquity in Job.
Jeremiah 11:14“Therefore don’t pray for this people. Don’t lift up cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble.Both speak of God refusing to hear prayer; Jeremiah describes that refusal toward a people crying out in trouble.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. wanting a steady prayer habit.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The warning about cherishing sin stands within a testimony of answered prayer. The speaker goes on to bless God, who has heard him and kept his loving kindness toward him.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 66:18. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).