“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases...
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
We praise the Lord God for lots of things, and rightly so! He has done so many wonderful things. He created the world, and He gives us food to eat. He provided for His people Israel by leading them out of slavery in Egypt. The Psalm even recalls Moses’ confession of who God is, “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
Psalm 103 includes many of these blessings, but it focuses especially on God’s gift of forgiveness. How great this gift is, that it is almost impossible to describe! “As high as the heavens are above the earth.” David would have thought the heavens to be miles above, the mountains holding it up. Yet for us today it has even greater effect - the heavens go well beyond a few miles, well into the millions and billions of miles! “As far as the east is from the west…” As if going in opposite directions for all of time - that is how far God will remove our sins from us! It’s as if they don’t exist!
But how is this possible? Because of who God is and what He does. That’s the compassion He shows to us. And it’s not just a one time thing - verse 17 of Psalm 103 says that the Lord’s love is "from everlasting to everlasting.” That covers all of eternity!
We treasure this beautiful gift from God, especially as we find ourselves struggling with sin. Each time we fall into sin, for every struggle that comes up in our lives, for every time we fail to resist those temptations, God forgives us. What wonderful forgiveness it is, that God, who has every right to hold us accountable, chooses instead to forget what we have done against His holy will for us. His forgiveness is undeserved…but it’s more than welcome!
We can only pray that the love God shows us in forgiving our sins will lead us to forgive each other when we sin against one another. It proves difficult to forgive. But God’s forgiveness of our sins encourages us to forgive one another. It isn’t always that easy. It doesn’t always end with forgiveness in this life. But whether we forgive each other on earth or not , may we never forget the forgiveness God has given to us, a forgiveness that is for all people and through which we may enter heaven.
Prayer: We praise you, O Lord, from the depths of our soul for the awesome blessing of your forgiveness. As far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed our sins from us. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is your love for us who fear you. May all creatures in heaven and on earth join in a song of praise; for you live and rule with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.