Matthew 18:23

A certain king] i.e. God. Which would take account] RV 'would make a reckoning with his servants.' 'We are the servants with whom He takes account. This account, as is plain, is not the final reckoning, but rather such as that of Luke 16:2. To this He brings us by the preaching of the law—by the setting of our sins before our face—by awakening and alarming our conscience that was asleep before—by bringing us into adversities—by casting us into sore sicknesses, into perils of death. Thus David was summoned before God by the word of Nathan the prophet; thus the Ninevites by the preaching of Jonah; thus the Jews by John the Baptist' (Trench).