Devotion Booklets for Seasons of the Church Year Lent 2019 | Page 43

Tuesday, April 9, 2019
So Great! So Far!
Psalm 103:11-12
From the point where you’re currently sitting, how far would you have to travel before you could say, “I believe
I’ve reached the east?” Hmm. Wouldn’t the east still be beyond the horizon? Or if you headed the other
direction, how far would you have to go before you could say, “I’ve actually reached the west”? Hmm.
Wouldn’t the west stretch still further west? And as for the distance between those two unlimited distances, is
anyone actually capable of arriving at a fixed number of miles for it?
With the Spirit of the Lord on his tongue, King David compels us to imagine a limitless distance that’s beyond
our imagination. “As far as the east is from the west,” he says, “so far has (the Lord) removed our transgressions
from us.” Have you failed to love him as you must? Or misused his holy name? Or despised his word? Have you
always honored the government he’s put in place over you? If you’re married, are you content with the spouse
God’s given you? If you are single, have you struggled against lust? Have you been stingy? Have you been
greedy? Do you protect other people’s reputations even if they aren’t always so kind to you?
Turn to your God and take heart! Your God has removed all those sins so far away and he will never to reinsert
them into your record. He’s cast them away from his mind. He will never bring them back up. For now and
forever, your transgressions are “as far as the east is from the west.”
NASA launched Voyager 1 back in 1977. Traveling at a speed of 38,610 miles per hour, the space probe is
currently more than 13.5 billion miles from earth. Hmm. Is that how high the heavens are above the earth? The
most distant galaxy, scientists speculate, is billions of lightyears away. Not miles. Lightyears. Hmm. Is that how
high the heavens are above the earth?
Once again the psalmist has us trying to imagine an unimaginable distance. “As high as the heavens are above the
earth,” he sings, “so great is (the Lord’s) love for those who fear him.” It’s so great that he came from his
heavenly throne to be conceived of a woman, cradled in poverty, raised in obscurity, rejected by his own people,
despised by earthly authorities, arrested, accused, condemned, and “pierced for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5).
It’s so great that was willing to be “pierced for our transgressions, … numbered with the transgressors.” It’s so
great that he “bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).
As you go through the day today, try to imagine once again how far your transgressions have been removed. The
distance from the east to the west. Ponder the height of his love. Like the heavens are above the earth. Impossible
to fully grasp? Of course it is. Nevertheless, its comfort is without scope or limit. His glory is beyond measure.
PRAYER: Oh, the height of Jesus’ love, Higher than the heavens above, Deeper than the depths of sea, Lasting
as eternity, Love that found me—wondrous thought!—Found me when I sought him not. Amen.
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