Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

66:16-20 Let Me Tell You How God Has Heard My Prayer. The reason for this thanksgiving is that God has attended to the voice of my prayer (v. 19). The OT insists that each member of the people must own the covenant for himself; thus each one would have some report of what God has done for his soul (and not just for the people as a whole). The wording here is quite general, allowing the song to be used in a wide variety of situations. The one requirement is that the worshiper has not cherished (lit., "looked forward to," "aimed for") iniquity in his heart (v. 18). The term "iniquity" here (Hb. ’awen) refers to what is vile and abhorrent to God. To "cherish iniquity" is to aim at it; in context it refers to praying for God's help in order to be able to commit some form of sin--a practice the truly pious reject. Therefore it would be a misinterpretation to read this as implying that absolute sinlessness is a condition for answered prayer; rather, it reminds the faithful to pray for God's help in order to give him thanks and to serve him better (cf. James 4:3).