Psalm 103

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children
18 of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!
19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything.
20 Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom. Let all that I am praise the Lord.

The circumference of the earth is 24901.55 miles around the equator. That's a longs way. So...when King David tells us God "has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west"...I'm going to say it's at least that far.

I understand its a metaphor to help us understand the God has made our sins irretrievable, but a graphic illustration sometimes helps. Its interesting God didn't say "as far as the north is from the south." That would be a finite distance. If we travel south from the North Pole we can only continue south until we get to the South Pole. At that point, any step we take will be heading back north.


However, if we begin travel east we would never stop. The same is true if we travel west. So the distance between the two is infinite. We simply can't get there from here.

Which, of course is why David says "let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies."

I can't think of a better way to express it.

I understand we don't always feel that way. Casting Crowns wrote wrote a beautiful song taken from this verse:
Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

It's the "human factor.' It's impossible for us to be as forgetful as God. But the Chorus brings us around...
Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other.
"From one scarred hand to the other." That's beautiful...and it's a long way.

This is a distance that God, himself, created. It is a bridge that cannot be bridged by human endeavor. No matter how we feel today...about the struggles in our life...the work of Christ cannot be overcome by our humanity.

Which brought David around to this proclamation: "The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love...He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve...The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust."

So the real question is this: Do you want to take responsibility for you sin...or would you like God to do it for you? Take courage. Not in your worthiness, but in the worth of Christ's work on Calvary..."hand to hand." That work is the basis upon which God is able to forgive us.

Live boldly out there today...