Psalm 103:10 – 12.
“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. For as the heaven is
above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far
hath He removed our transgressions from us.” That is what I would call forgiveness! How many times have we not forgiven ourselves for something
that we have done wrong? How many times have others not forgiven us, for something we
have done wrong? Whether it was directed
at themselves or at others. How many times have we not forgiven others, for what we
believe they have done to us wrongly? People have such short memory’s concerning good happenings,
but such long memory’s concerning bad.
No matter how much good one does to another, it is mainly the wrong,
which is done that gets remembered. It
often happens that someone may have looked after another’s welfare for a long
time, but then makes a mistake. Which of
these is remembered? After so much good was done, the comment that is issued is,
“but they spoiled it by doing that.” And
even though that person repents, and gets things back on the right track, it is
only the wrongful matter that is commented upon. When we have wronged someone, we always want to be
forgiven. It is often said, and
genuinely, ‘I didn’t mean to do that. I
am sorry.’ It is at this point we want
others to forgive and forget. But how
often do we remember what others have done to us, and hold it against them. Surely we should forgive and forget others
wrongs, just as much as we want others to forgive and forget ours. In The Lord is, however, indicating that we must lose count, of
the number of times we forgive. If someone has done something to you, that is so wrong, that
you say, “I can’t forgive him for that.” Then, let us remember that, “Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.”
Romans 12:19. Looking back at the Psalm, isn’t it to our benefit, and not
our detriment, that God shows grace in His forgiveness. He hasn’t rewarded us in the way that we
deserve, but by His grace, He has forgiven us, totally and utterly. He has removed our sin, so far apart from us
that we are totally justified. Where does east meet west.
It doesn’t. Praise God, He doesn’t hold anything against us. And, after all, He has a just right to hold a
grudge, because of what we have done against Him. It isn’t that God has a bad memory, it is however, the fact
that He chooses, out of grace, not to remember.
Pray that we may adopt this same attitude with others, that we also
choose not to remember when, and by whom we have been wronged.
Bill
