“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.”
– Psalm 103:10–12
Isn’t Psalm 103:10–12 overwhelming verses? This kind of love, grace, mercy from God never ever, ever gets old, and it won’t ever get old. I have good news for you today, and it may be the millionth time you’ve heard it. Or maybe for somebody, it’s the first time you’ve heard it, but God does not deal with you according to your sins. That’s good news.
This Verse Reminds Us God Has Saved Us
For all who are in Christ, God deals with us not according to our sins, but according to the righteousness of Jesus. He has paid the penalty for sinners to bring them back to God.
That’s incredibly good news. That’s the best news in the world. That God, whom we have sinned against, whom you have sinned against, and your sin is deserving of eternal judgment before him. Infinite judgment, holy wrath due your sin, but God does not deal with you according to your sin.
So what does he deal with me according to? For all who trust in Jesus, so this is the key, this does not apply universally. This is for all who trust in Jesus. God in the flesh who came to pay the price for our sins, who died on a cross for our sins, who rose from the dead in victory over sins, for all who trust in him. You are in Jesus. You are in Christ. Who never sinned once you are in him, which means that for all who are in Jesus, he does not deal with you. God does not deal with you according to your sin, but he deals with you according to the righteousness of Jesus.
Boom. That is awesome, that God deals with you according to how he deals with his righteous son, which means the next phrase, Psalm 103:10, “He does not repay us according to our iniquities.” We don’t have to pay the ultimate price for our sins because Jesus has paid it for us. And now God on high, the creator of the universe, the judge of all deals with you and me according to the righteousness of Jesus, his son.
Psalm 103:10–12 Leads Us to Pray to Trust Jesus
So yes, God, we step into this today in a fresh way, and we praise you for new mercy every morning that enables us to step into it day after day after day to live in Jesus, through faith in Jesus. And God, I pray if there’s anybody listening to this right now who has not put their trust in Jesus, who has not trusted Jesus and what he did on the cross, who he is as savior and Lord of their lives.
God, I pray that you would bring people to trust in Jesus right now, that they would hear this good news that you will not deal with them according to their sins, if they will trust in your love for them in Christ. God, I pray that that would happen even right now. And then for all who trust in Jesus, whether right now or who have however many years ago, trusted in Jesus as savior and Lord may we live in this. May we rejoice in this in a fresh way today that you, the holy God of the universe do not deal with us according to our sins.
Thank you, God. Thank you for dealing with us according to the righteousness of Jesus. God, thank you for not repaying us according to our iniquities. Oh, glory be to your name for this good news. And God, we pray. We’re compelled to pray.
Psalm 103:10–12 Leads Us to Pray For India
For those of you who haven’t heard it, for almost a million Goria people. Over there in East-central India, near Bangladesh who’ve never heard, never the good news of what Jesus has done on the cross for their sins. God, we pray that you would raise up laborers to go to the Goria in India. We pray that you would open their eyes to your grace, your forgiveness, your love in Christ. God, we pray that the Goria and India would know your salvation.
God, we pray that you would use our churches to get the gospel to them. We pray that our churches will get the gospel to other people who have never heard this good news. It doesn’t get old for us, and they’ve never even heard it. Some of us have heard it a million times. They’ve not heard it once. God, may that change. Cause our churches to go and take the gospel, the good news of your grace, forgiveness of sins to every single nation, every single tribe, every single people group in the world. As we celebrate this reality, use us to spread this reality. We pray. We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, who makes all of this possible.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
