As Far as East is from West: An Unforgettable Image of the Mercy of God

God Sends our Sins to the Sea of Forgetfulness Where They Are Remembered No More Psalm 103:12 - Episode 16 of the series "From Dust to Eternity".

King David has run out of words. He’s running on empty. In describing God's inexhaustible benefits, blessings, and attributes, it seems that the King of Israel has exhausted his own supply of superlatives.

But still, he has more to say. So he draws a picture that is worth a thousand words. I have been waiting to show it to you for months. And the day has finally come when I can reveal one of the most intriguingly simple yet profoundly moving metaphors in the Bible.

Let’s go there.

As we saw in the last episode verse 11 is a verse about the heights of heaven: For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. Here the king sketched an image of the infinite height between earth and heaven and said God’s love was like it. Infinite.

Now, in verse 12, he uses another image. And to my thinking, it is one is the most beautiful, rich, and sublime images in the entire collection of Psalms. When we look into it, we weep. It is another reason to believe that G. Campbell Morgan was right in saying Psalm 103 is “perhaps the most perfect song of pure praise to be found in the Bible.”

Here is what David wrote:

In verse 11, the measure of God’s love is infinitely high. In verse 12, effect of God’s mercy is infinitely vast. After all, how far is the east from the west? It is infinite—infinitely far away.

Verse 12 shows us the vastness of the love that forgives us and then forgets about our sin as if it never happened. David’s metaphor is not merely beautiful and evocative, it is a profound theological truth about the nature of God’s forgiveness.

How Far Is East From West?

Consider this: a traveler heading north from any point on the globe will eventually reach the North Pole. After that, every step is a step south. The distance between north and south is finite and measurable. It is 12,440.01 miles exactly.

But east and west are not like that. A traveler heading east will never meet the west. The two are separated by an infinite distance. A person heading east will always be heading east; they will never meet west.

Moving east or west along a latitude line is continuous and endless. It is infinite.

This is precisely the point. When God removes our transgressions, they are gone forever, placed at an unreachable distance, and gone forever.

The Hebrew phrasing of this verse adds even more depth: “As far as the sunrise is from the sunset.”

A Judge Unlike Any Other

With this image, we see another aspect of the astonishing character of our God. An earthly judge places the sin of a guilty person beside them, ready to render judgment. You’ll be sentenced to a fine, a day, a month, a year, or a lifetime in jail.

But our God—compassionate and patient (Psalm 103:8)—does something wholly different. He moves our sins to an infinite distance away. How can a just God do this? How can He, without compromising His holiness, place our transgressions so far from us? Someone has to pay.

For the ancient Israelites, this question was answered by the rituals of the annual Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. On that holy day, the high priest sacrificed animals to atone for the sin of the people. A goat, the scapegoat,¹ was burdened by the priest with a symbolic transfer of the sins of the people to the beast. Then the goat, now bearing the people’s sins is let go into the wilderness, carrying them over the horizon, never to return (Leviticus 16).

A living being carried the sins of the people and was sent out over the horizon never to return, sent as far as the east is from the west. That far.

A Sea of Forgetfulness

David is not the only one to say this in the Bible. Micah says that our sins are hurled into the sea, what could be called a “Sea of Forgetfulness”, a place where sins go to die.

He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea. —Micah 7:19

The writer of Hebrews reminds his readers that God forgets our sins.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.” —Hebrews 8:12

Why This Matters

I often forget about this aspect of God’s mercy. Sometimes I bring up my own sins before my mind, remembering them fully and grieving them again. It’s called regret.

But I know better. In truth, I vividly remember the time and the place when I learned that my sins had been completely erased.

I was a young Christian and I was very earnest about eradicating sin from my life. I had tried many times to overcome them, but had failed often. I knew the gift of forgiveness from God through Jesus Christ. But I couldn’t accept it in my heart. It didn’t ease my guilt.

One evening I attended a speaking event featuring Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch evangelist. She had spent time in a Nazi prison camp for hiding Jews during the Second World. War. She was miraculously freed from her imprisonment and traveled the world speaking about the love of God and the forgiveness of sins.

That night she said something that King David would agree with, and that Micah would surely love too. She said,

“God has taken our sin and thrown it into the sea of forgetfulness, and posted a sign that says, 'NO FISHING ALLOWED’”

I have never forgotten that statement. And like most of us, I have needed to remember this many times.

Many of us struggle to remember God's promises, yet we have a vivid recollection of our own sins. We often "fish" through our past, seizing on those mistakes and reminding ourselves of how terrible we are. Do you ever find yourself doing that?

Christians should only remember their old, previously confessed sins when they want to remember the mercy of God, who forgave them. They should never wallow in past sins that have been confessed, forgiven, and then forgotten by our merciful God.

If God has forgotten my sin, who am I to drag it up again?

Why We Hate Ourselves

Will you consider something about yourself for a moment? When you look in a mirror and see who you have become, what does your heart say about YOU? When you read through an old journal, or think through a past mistake, or consider a few comments you regret making, or remember a relationship you damaged or destroyed, or sins you committed—the things done and left undone—what do you do with those memories and the guilt that tags along with them?

Many times, we end of hating ourselves because of our past. And hatred for ourselves is often the root cause for depression, negativity, vindictiveness, anger, or addiction. Self-hatred arises from the memory of what we did or didn’t do and still hold in our minds.

This is what King David would say to you and me.

Confess your sins to God.   He will forgive you. Then He will forget about it. Then He will forget that He forgot about it. It will be gone forever. 

A Mirror Moment of Reflection

Now, take a moment to talk to yourself about this. (Remember, the entire psalm is David talking to himself about God.)

So, stand before a mirror and speak these words to the person you see there:

“[Your Name], take hold of this incredible truth: God has removed your sins as far as the east is from the west. That’s not just far—that’s an infinite distance. The sins you can’t forget? God has removed them to infinity. The guilt that haunts you? In God’s eyes, it’s gone, vanished to a point beyond reaching.

Are you living in the freedom this truth provides?
Are you extending this kind of forgiveness to others?

Bless the Lord, O my soul, who removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west!”

No Wallowing. Only Basking Allowed

As we continue our journey through Psalm 103, let us pause and marvel at God's infinite forgiveness. It is a forgiveness so vast that it defies comprehension. Yet, it is ours to embrace. We should never live in the past and wallow in our past sins. Instead, we should live in the freedom that comes with forgiveness. basking in the warmth of God’s grace—a grace as wide as the distance between east and west.

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The Rev. David Roseberry, an ordained Anglican priest with over 40 years of pastoral experience, offers leadership services to pastors, churches, and Christian writers. He is an accomplished author whose books are available on Amazon. Rev. Roseberry is the Executive Director of LeaderWorks, where his work and resources can be found.

1. The word “scapegoat” was coined by Wm. Tyndale in 1530 as he translated the Hebrew Bible into English. The Day of Atonement rituals called for one goat to be slaughtered and another to be symbolically burdened to carry the sins of the community. Then, it was allowed to escape, walk into the wilderness, and never return. It took all of Israel’s sins with it.