Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. – Psalm 32:2

Today's Scripture Reading (July 2, 2022): Psalm 32

Confucius argued that "To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it." Not remembering those who have wronged us is good advice, but often hard advice to live out. But the problem is that we continue to pay the price for something that someone else has done. As I write this, I have a friend who is suffering through the words that someone made in a public meeting. My friend is in pain, and I know that he is replaying the words that he heard over and over again in his mind. But the tragedy is that I suspect that one[s] who spoke the words that hurt my friend have already forgotten them. The instigators are not in pain or suffering from any kind of guilt. They may not even know that they have caused significant pain in my friend's life. And so, my friend continues to pay the price.

I wish that my friend could concentrate on the ones who stand with him in his corner. Many of us love him and want the best for him. But it is not us that he thinks about as he sits alone in the dark. It is the thoughtless words of people who stand on the other side of the debate, which is the tragedy. To be wronged and to continue to play the wrong over in our minds is to give our tormentors all the power. And I know because I have been the on the receiving end of wrong and have played that wrong repeatedly in my own mind. In the process, I magnified both the wrong and the pain.

David knows that he has sinned. But he also knows that God does not count his sin against him. David has wronged God, but God does not continue to remember his wrongs and hold them against him. God is willing to let the wrongs go, and because of that, in the eyes of God, the wrongs are nothing.

We often think that we serve a God who knows all things. But that is not true. The Bible says that there is one area where God's knowledge is limited. Isaiah writes that even God admits to this limitation in his being. "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more" (Isaiah 43:25). God says that he does not count our sins against us for his sake. And because he does not count our sins against us, his anger does not grow.

And because he does not remember our sin, we don't have to pretend that we have not sinned. We can admit our shortcomings, knowing that they will be forgiven and forgotten. For us, God has done this. We might remember the wrongs committed against us and allow the hurt to fester inside of us, but God does not. And in forgetting our sin, he models a healthy response toward those who have wronged us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 33