An insomniac's Psalm 103: Verse 12

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

How far is east from west? About as far as yes is from no, I suppose, or guilty from innocent. Or as far as future is from past. They can give each other a good chase, but they will never catch each other.

If you were trying to encourage a fearful soul to understand that he is forgiven, if you were dealing with someone given to serial relapses into self-incrimination, what would you say to him? God bends over backwards; He multiplies metaphors till one of them works for you: Your sin is so forgiven that only if the east could become west would you become unforgiven.

Don't like that one? Then how about this: Your sin is so forgiven that it is like the goat whose head the high priest Aaron laid both his hands on it and confessed over it everything he could think of, transmitting all the vileness of his person and his people onto the animal. And then he took the sin-ridden beast to another man, who led it into the wilderness, never to return (Leviticus 16:20-28).

That one doesn't do it for you, either? Try this: Your sin is like the curtain between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (don't picture your mother's drapes but more like an iron curtain) that was ripped clean from top to bottom in the hour that Jesus, the archetypal scapegoat, took on our sins (Mark 15:38).

Or if it helps, picture yourself standing before God, covered in human excrement (that's the actual word in Zechariah 3), with Satan accusing you---and making a very good case. And the Angel of the Lord rebukes Satan instead of you and calls for the filthy garments to be taken away and brand new, pure garments put on you.

Can you dare to live as a forgiven person? Will you not take sides with God's evaluation of yourself over your own self-evaluation? Would it be humility or treachery to continue to whine about your guilt? "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? . . ." (Hebrews 2:3).

To read "Verse 13," click here.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.