As High As the Heavens

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him." Psalm 103:11 (NIV)

When I was in elementary school Time/Life published a series of books about nature. My favorite was the one entitled "The Universe." I was fascinated by space and the utter immensity of the universe. When I went to summer camp for the first time, I took a class called "Stars." I can still remember the night Mrs. Johnson, our teacher, took us on a walk and pointed out various stars and constellations to us. My love for astronomy didn't go very far, but I still enjoy going outside on a clear Colorado night and looking up into the heavens and seeing the hundreds of thousands of stars and planets that appear in the night sky.

Thus my attention was caught this week as I read about the world's largest telescope that is under construction on Sierra Negra, a dormant volcanic peak int he Mexican state of Puebla. This telescope, which is the size of major-league baseball infield is reported to have the capability when finished of peering into the universe for a distance of 13 billion light years. Isn't man's quest to see to the "edge" of the universe fascinating? With tremenous advances in science, however, we still haven't seen that "edge" of the universe where it theoretically ends.

Now consider the psalmist David, looking up into the night skies over the Middle East one evening thousands of years ago and writing these words, "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him." For David it was impossible to conceive that God's love could ever be fathomed. And so he did the best he could at describing the greatness of God's everlasting love.

David continues in Psalm 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Where does East meet West? It doesn't! And that's David's point. God loves us so much that when He removes our sins from us, they can't be found!

Both of these verses come after this passage in Psalm 103:10, "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities." For those who would suggest that grace can only be found in the New Testament, let me present Psalm 103 as Exhibit A in my case that grace permeates the entire Bible--both Old and New Testament. David had experienced God's grace in amazing ways (remember the story of Bathsheba?), and in Psalm 103 describes grace just as surely as Paul in the New Testament.

Bottom line: I'm grateful God doesn't treat me as my sins deserve, but instead favors me with unconditional love and grace. By the way, if you ever reach the upper limits of heaven or find where east meets west, let me know. But in the meantime, I won't be holding my breath waiting. I'll be basking in a grace that is as high as the heavens!