As far as the east is from the west

"The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: 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."Psalm 103:6-12

After the personal list, David widens the lens. The God who forgives him is the same God who works justice for the oppressed, who revealed himself to Moses, who walked with a whole people. And then comes the most beautiful description of God in the Old Testament, the same one God gave of himself on Sinai: "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." Slow to anger is someone who takes a long time to get angry. It's the patience of someone who loves.

Verses 9 and 10 say what God does not do: he does not always accuse, he does not harbor his anger forever, he does not treat us as our sins deserve. Read that last part slowly. If God treated you as your sins deserve, what would your life look like today? David knew the answer. He had failed badly, and he was alive, forgiven, writing a Psalm.

Then come the two measurements. Upward: "as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love." Try to measure that. You can't. Sideways: "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Notice that he didn't say north and south. North and south meet at the pole. East and west, never. There is no point on earth where one turns into the other.

That's on purpose. God doesn't keep your failures in a drawer to bring up later. He carries them off in a direction that has no end. Last week we learned that with God there is forgiveness. This week we learn how big it is: from the heavens to the earth, from the east to the west. It doesn't fit inside you. It was never meant to.