[Video] Psalm 65:18

If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. (Psalm 65:18 DR)

Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:1—Judge not, that you may not be judged—are perhaps rightfully seen as some of the most misunderstood and even weaponized words of all of Scripture in the current world and cultural context. Even those who would otherwise have no knowledge whatsoever of Sacred Scripture are seemingly able to quote this passage from memory—well, at least the first two words—generally as a means of forestalling criticism of certain sins or lifestyles.

Sin, after all, makes us so boring and banal, that not only do we jettison the glories of western civilization for the satiation of the very appetites we have in common with the beasts, but we cannot even come up with arguments in favor of it that rise above the level of bumper stickers. We live perhaps in the stupidest time in all of human history, which—to be fair—is saying something, given the proclivity of our race for stupidity.

However, given the breadth of commentary on this passage by the Church Fathers, it was also seen as at least potentially confusing in their times, and there are a number of excellent explanations provided throughout this era and throughout the rest of Christian history. St. Augustine provides a sample of one approach:

And inasmuch as when such things are either provided against the time to come, or reserved, if there is no cause wherefore thou should expend them, it is uncertain with what intention it is done, since it may be done with a single heart, and also with a double one, He has seasonably added in this passage: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” In this passage, I am of opinion that we are taught nothing else, but that in the case of those actions respecting which it is doubtful with what intention they are done, we are to put the better construction on them. For when it is written, “By their fruits you shall know them,” the statement has reference to things which manifestly cannot be done with a good intention; such as debaucheries, or blasphemies, or thefts, or drunkenness, and all such things, of which we are permitted to judge according to the apostle’s statement: “For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within?” But concerning the kind of food, because every kind of human food can be taken indiscriminately with a good intention and a single heart, without the vice of concupiscence, the same apostle forbids that they who ate flesh and drank wine be judged by those who abstained from such kinds of sustenance: “Let not him that eats,” says he, “despise him that eats not; and let not him which eats not, judge him that eats.” There also he says: “Who are you that judges another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.” For in reference to such matters as can be done with a good and single and noble intention, although they may also be done with an intention the reverse of good, those parties wished, howbeit they were [mere] men, to pronounce judgment upon the secrets of the heart, of which God alone is Judge. (St. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, Book II, Chapter 18, 59.)

In other words, some actions such as theft, adultery, etc., cannot be done with a good intention, and thus the action itself manifests the evil intention. In such a case the judgment of the action as objectively evil also indicates the presence of an evil will. This would correspond to the fruits by which they are known.

Other actions, on the other hand, are not manifestly good or evil and thus can be done with either a good or an evil will. St. Augustine adduces the example from Scripture about the eating of certain foods that were contrary to the superseded dietary laws of the Old Covenant, which St. Paul discusses in Romans 14. St. Paul concludes that—whether the eating of certain foods or not or the celebrating of certain days or not—each can be done with a right conscience and thus are not liable to judgement on the part of other Christians:

He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord. And he that eateth, eateth to the Lord: for he giveth thanks to God. And he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth thanks to God. (Romans 14:6 DR)

St. Augustine thus summarizes:

Let us judge, therefore, with respect to those which are manifest; but respecting those which are concealed, let us leave the judgment to God: for they also cannot be hid, whether they be good or evil, when the time shall come for them to be manifested. (St. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, Book II, Chapter 18, 60.)

As we come to this passage in Psalm 65, the Psalmist continues his line of thought from the previous verse. There he spoke of how he “cried to the Lord with my mouth and I extolled Him with my tongue.” This effusion of praise is the culmination of the sacrifices and burnt offerings which he had brought unto the Lord, forming, as it were, a complete whole. For he will not offer up unto God empty words but backs up those words with action through the offering of holocausts; that is, of giving up something to the Lord as this offering of praise.

From an external and human perspective one might judge the Psalmist to be offering in vain. After all, he spent several passage speaking of how God had laid afflictions upon him, bringing him into a net, setting men over his head, making him to pass through fire and water. From a purely human perspective, such things might be the indication of God’s displeasure, for when evils afflict others we are as wont to attribute this to their sins as we are to attribute blessings and prosperity to God’s favor.

But as the Psalmist has demonstrated, these afflictions and such are the means of God proving and testing him, the means of the purification of his will and heart before the Lord. As St. Paul makes clear, God disciplines those He loves, and thus afflictions are not in and of themselves a measure of a man’s heart.

This testing and proving, however, has so refined the Psalmist’s heart that he is able to bring sacrifices before the Lord with a clear conscience and thus extol the name of the Lord with his tongue. He now comes to the reason for his confidence before the Lord:

If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. (Psalm 65:18 DR)

This can be a frightening passage if we are able to be honest with ourselves, and we are often quick to judge others by means of its import. After all, we want this to be true for those of an evil will, that God will not hear their prayers, that God will frustrate their plans and machinations. But when it comes to ourselves, we definitely do not want it to be true, for we want God to understand our weakness and duplicity, to look the other way when we intentionally defy His law, to bless us even when we are not thankful for His grace nor desirous of His friendship. We are thus able on the one hand to hold everyone else to such a standard, yet dramatically lower it for ourselves.

It is, after all, everyone else who is a terrible driver.

St. Augustine looks this passage directly in the face—so to speak—and exhorts his hearers to take heed:

“If I have beheld iniquity in my heart, may not the Lord hearken.” Consider now, brethren, how easily, how daily men blushing for fear of men do censure iniquities; “He has done ill, He has done basely, a villain the fellow is:” this perchance for man’s sake he says. See whether thou beholdest no iniquity in thy heart, whether perchance that which thou censure in another, thou are meditating to do, and therefore against him dost exclaim, not because he has done it, but because he has been found out. Return to thyself, within be to thyself a judge. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 65, 22.)

Because we cannot see into the hearts of other men, we cannot always know their motives or intentions for things. This—as St. Augustine notes—applies not only to many types of actions, but even to actions not committed. That is, simply because someone does not commit a certain sin in the external world does not mean he does not harbor such desires in his heart. This is not something we can know about others and therefore should not judge them one way or the other, but it is something we can and must judge in ourselves, to see whether we hold sinful desires in the depths of our hearts, even if we do not outwardly engage in them.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the prodigal son had the courage, as it were, to act on the lack of charity in his soul and sinful desires found within. The older brother—as it later revealed—had the same resentments and desires as his younger brother, yet for whatever reason did not outwardly leave his father, even though in his heart he was already far away. In the parable, the prodigal—who by all outward appearances was the worse of the brothers—is the one who finds redemption and reconciliation through his penance and the grace of his father, while the older brother remains in the hell of his resentment and bitterness and wicked desires. The younger brother returns to himself and in penance is given a pure heart which no longer beholds iniquity and is thus heard by his father, whereas the older brother is not heard precisely because he chooses to continue to behold iniquity in his heart.

We are quick to judge others about things of which we are admittedly uncertain, and often the more trivial a thing, the quicker we are to do so. But the Psalmist reminds us that God does not hear those who choose to behold inequity in their hearts. This is not because God will not hear the cry of the sinner who desires mercy, but rather because to choose to look at iniquity in one’s heart is to cut oneself off from grace, to effectively tell God that we do not want Him to hear us, precisely because we do not want to hear Him:

To look at iniquity in the heart means to love it in secret, or to indulge in secret concupiscence, as we find in the Gospel, “Whosoever shall look upon a woman to lust after her.” For very many, both by their words and their acts, seem to have a thorough horror of sin, reprove and chastise sinners, and yet, in their hearts, where nobody can be a witness, they cherish sinful desires, and would gratify them if they could with impunity. Such hypocrites are not heard by God; he hears those only who hate iniquity in their heart, and, if they should chance to sin, confess it, and seek the physician who can heal them… (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 65, 18.)

We find it exceedingly easy to deceive ourselves, to rationalize every sin, to justify every decision, to blur every line, even if for someone else we might be quick to judge the exact same thing without hesitation or ambiguity. With the Psalmist we must be honest with ourselves, avoiding sin not only in our outward actions but especially in the recesses of our souls, where every evil desire is birthed and every temptation nursed until it comes to term in sin:

Behold in thy hid chamber, in the very inmost recess of the heart, where thou and He that sees are alone, there let iniquity be displeasing to thee, in order that thou mayest be pleasing to God. Do not regard it, that is, do not love it, but rather despise it, that is, contemn it, and turn away from it. Whatever pleasing thing it has promised to allure thee to sin; whatever grievous thing it has threatened, to drive thee on to evil doing; all is nought, all passes away: it is worthy to be despised, in order that it may be trampled upon; not to be eyed lest it be accepted. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 65, 22.)

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In this animation I found an abstract image and applied several instances of LoopFlow to it to create the flowing movement in certain portions, to kind of get at the various motives and intentions that crowd into the heart. I then added an adjustment layer with Pixel Sorting Studio to kind of mess everything up, such as I sometimes feel is the way in which we constantly battle our intentions and motivations within. I then added in some color correction and camera shake and such to finalize this.

Enjoy.

View a higher quality version of this gif here: