Psalms 69:27

27. Add iniquity unto… iniquity That is, “Let it all stand against them in thy book; one sin after another, as committed, not being blotted out, but only swelling the fearful reckoning.” Perowne. Hold them accountable for every act, omitting nothing. See Jeremiah 18:23; Ecclesiastes 12:14. The terribleness of such a condition can be realized only by comparing such passages as Job 9:3, Psalms 130:3; Psalms 143:2.

Let them not come into thy righteousness That is, as wicked men let them not avail themselves of the benefits or immunities of righteousness, as if they were righteous persons. The case is now supposed to have gone to judgment, and the offenders stand by their works alone. This corresponds with the first member of the verse. As they have despised mercy and stand upon justice, so add up their sins without omitting one, and withhold the benefits of law which would accrue to a righteous man. However harsh this may seem, it is simply the course of justice. An irregular and inexact accountability, with an undiscriminating award of justice, belong only to the worst of human governments. But such expressions as these always assume the case to be one of obstinate and contemptuous impenitence, like Matthew 23:33-36. Only upon the contingency of their remaining in this state do the maledictions, or rather, the forewarning predictions, apply, for they are to be construed as warnings to arrest their course. See on Psalms 109:6. A righteous God could not treat them otherwise. With such as despise both justice and mercy, human obligation and divine authority, the law must take its course. Penalty, in such a case, is the last resource of government for the protection of the innocent, the support of law, and the vindication of the character of God. The whole current of the imprecatory psalms carries along with it this view, and is herein coincident with the whole scheme both of moral government and redemption, whether under the Old Testament or New. God has no law, either in respect to its precept or penalty, concerning which it is not proper for us to pray that it may be applied or enforced according to his mind and published purpose. See Matthew 6:15; Matthew 7:2; Matthew 18:35; James 2:13; Revelation 6:10