Micah 7:18–19: “Who is a God like You, / Pardoning iniquity / And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? / He does not retain His anger forever, / Because He delights in mercy. / He will again have compassion on us, / And will subdue our iniquities. / You will cast all our sins / Into the depths of the sea.”
November 30th, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotionalMicah’s name in Hebrew means, “Who is like Yahweh,” which underscores this section. No pretend, made-up heathen idol is anywhere close, or even comparable to God Almighty. He is unique in that He pardons the rebellious sins of His people. Pardoning, forgiving, such severe sins is contrary to human behavior, but God delights in doing so because it fits His character. Micah tells us that God not only forgives but also forgets as He casts “all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Other verses in God’s word confirm this sweeping quality of God’s forgiveness of our sins. We are told that God:
- removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12)
- completely cleanses us from the stain of our sins. (Isaiah 1:18)
- throws our sins behind His back. (Isaiah 38:17)
- remembers our sins no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)
- subdues or treads our sins underfoot. (Micah 7:19)
- casts our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)
The Holy Spirit clearly doesn’t want us to miss how God responds to our sins when we confess and turn from them. Of course these are only the Old Testament verses concerning forgiveness. It is worth taking the time to ferret out the New Testament promises by checking a good concordance for all the verses with the word “forgive” in them. Why is this so important? Doctor Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he could convince the patients in his psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75% of them could walk out the next day.
“LORD, help us to accept Your promises of forgiveness so that this day we can confidently confess and repent of our sins and believe You have forgotten them.”
