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Selected Verse: Psalms 130:3 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ps 130:3 |
King James |
If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
shouldest mark--or, "take strict account" (Job 10:14; Job 14:16), implying a confession of the existence of sin.
who shall stand-- (Psa 1:6). Standing is opposed to the guilty sinking down in fear and self-condemnation (Mal 3:2; Rev 6:15-16). The question implies a negative, which is thus more strongly stated. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities - If thou shouldst observe, note, attend to, regard all the evil that I have done. The Hebrew word means properly to keep, to watch, to guard. The word, as used here, refers to that kind of vigilance or watchfulness which one is expected to manifest who is on guard; who keeps watch in a city or camp by night. The idea is, If God should thus look with a scrutinizing eye; if he should try to see all that he could see; if he should suffer nothing to escape his observation; if he should deal with us exactly as we are; if he should overlook nothing, forgive nothing, we could have no hope.
Who shall stand? - Who shall stand upright? Who could stand before thee? Who could hope to be acquitted? This implies
(1) that the petitioner was conscious of guilt, or knew that he was a sinner;
(2) that he felt there was a depth of depravity in his heart which God could see, but which he did not - as every man must be certain that there is in his own soul;
(3) that God had the power of bringing that to light if he chose to do it, so that the guilty man would be entirely overwhelmed;
(4) that he who urged the prayer rested his only hope on the fact that God would not mark iniquity; would not develop what was in him; would not judge him by what he saw in his heart; but would deal with him otherwise, and show him mercy and compassion.
Every man must feel that if God should "mark iniquity" as it is - if he should judge us as we are - we could have no hope. It is only on the ground that we may be forgiven, that we eau hope to come before him. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Mark - Observe them accurately and punish them as they deserve. Stand - At thy tribunal. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| If thou - shouldest mark iniquities - If thou shouldst set down every deviation in thought, word, and deed from thy holy law; and if thou shouldst call us into judgment for all our infidelities, both of heart and life; O Lord, who could stand? Who could stand such a trial, and who could stand acquitted in the judgment? This is a most solemn saying; and if we had not the doctrine that is in the next verse, who could be saved? |
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.