Then the LORD passed by in front of [Moses] and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6–7)

Standing “in the cleft of the rock,” covered over with God’s hand, only seeing God’s back (Ex 33:22-23), Moses receives this monumental and comprehensive revelation of the LORD’s character. Lest anyone think God in the OT is unforgiving, we can see by God’s own self-description, He “forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.” He leaves nothing beyond His reach.

God’s compassion, grace and lovingkindness are not theoretical, but outcome-focused. They lead to forgiveness. That God abounds in truth means His forgiveness is not naïve, but well informed of the magnitude of our offense against Him. Forgiveness, if it means anything, tells us that we are in dire need of God dealing with our affront to Him. We know we have sinned against Him; He knows we have sinned against Him. His forgiveness is not superficial like the way we humans brush off our sins against each other. When someone asks forgiveness (rare as that may be), we tend to respond, “Don’t worry, I haven’t thought at all about it,” as though we are above being offended or don’t want to sound judgmental in acknowledging offense.

With God our sin is an offense—He is offended. That is not a weakness in Him. That is the truth, and God is truth. Our sin goes deep: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9). That sets the tone for understanding the depth of His forgiveness. We have no fear that He may say “No big deal” yet continue to hold it against us (like we humans do with our superficial forgiveness). We are reminded of what the psalmist wrote: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:12).

What has He forgiven us for? 1) Iniquity – we have bent, twisted and distorted our relationship to God; 2) Transgression – we have violated His commands for us, and therefore have breached our relationship with Him; 3) Sin – we have missed the mark and come short of the way God wants us to live. For all of this, He forgives, because it is in His nature to forgive. And since we are His image bearers, we too should, by nature, forgive others for their offenses against us.

Lord, help me forgive others for their sins against me, as You have forgiven me.