As Far as East from West

Psalm 103:12

“…as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Abounding grace!

How far is the east from the west?

It is hard to say.

The east is not a place, but a direction. The west is also not a place, but a direction.

To try to measure the distance between easternliness and westernliness is to approach infinite.

So to say something is as far as the east is from the west is to say these two things are infinitely apart.

And that is how far the Lord removes our transgressions from us.

At one side of infinite: Us.

At the other side of infinite: our transgressions.

This kind of forgiveness is incomprehensible.

This imagery also suggests that our sin is no longer our identity. Our sin is removed from us. We do not wear it. We are free from it.

So God does not deal with us according to our sins (v.10) but as people whose sins are gone.

What happy news!