Psalm 103 may be my favorite Psalm to date. Particularly Psalm 103:8-12:

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

This week in scripture meditation, I focused on Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Sometimes I forget that David didn’t have the benefit of looking back and relying on the finished work of Jesus. He had to have faith in the to-be-fulfilled promise of a coming Christ whom he could cast his transgressions upon. Yet, even without the fulfilling of the promise, David asserted in faith that God had removed his transgressions from him, as far as the east is from the west.

This Psalm boasts encouragement of pure Gospel caliber. Grace, unadulterated and totally saturated. As Christians, with all confidence in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can shout this verse into the face of any temptation and any sin, knocking to the floor the enemy disarmed.

But for me, these verses haven’t only encouraged me against the enemy’s accusations. It also drips with the Lord’s good favor and patient correction, his love, that at the behest of grace, the Church enjoys in Jesus.

In Christ, God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger and overflowing with unmovable love (v8). That little word “chide” simply means to “rebuke sternly”, and we’re assured that his stern rebuke will not persist and his anger will subside (v9)–a beautiful promise fully fulfilled in Christ (1 John 2:2). Because of Christ, he does not give us what we truly deserve for our sins, but look’s on Jesus’ righteousness which now clothes us (v10). For his children, the infinite height of the heavens is the only right comparison to his great love (v11).

And finally, two of the most comforting promises are these, stated here in Psalm 103. By Jesus, all the condemning violence of our sin is removed from us–infinitely far away. We cannot be reunited with them (v12). But also, God is compassionately mindful of our sin-weakened state. He will faithfully prevents us from undertaking so much temptation that we can no longer bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13, Palm 103:14).

In the armor of God, I believe this is the stuff the Sword is made of.