What does Isaiah 38:17 teach about God's forgiveness and "sins behind Your back"? Verse in Focus “Indeed, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; but You have delivered my soul from the pit of destruction, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.” (Isaiah 38:17) Key Observations • The speaker is King Hezekiah, freshly healed from a terminal illness (Isaiah 38:1–6). • He confesses both past “bitterness” and present deliverance—linking personal sin and God’s rescue. • The verse moves from despair (“pit of destruction”) to deliverance and concludes with the vivid picture of forgiveness: sins tossed “behind” God’s back. What “cast all my sins behind Your back” Means • Out of Sight: In ancient idiom, what is behind one’s back is no longer in view. God chooses not to keep our sins before His face (cf. Psalm 51:9). • Out of Reach: Something placed behind cannot be retrieved easily. God will not bring forgiven sins forward again for judgment (cf. Romans 8:1). • Complete, Not Partial: Hezekiah says “all my sins,” stressing total remission, not selective pardon. The Heart of Divine Forgiveness • Rooted in God’s Nature – Exodus 34:6–7: “compassionate and gracious… forgiving iniquity.” • Accomplished through Substitution – Isaiah 53:5–6: “the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” • Described with Multiple Word-Pictures – Distance: “As far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). – Depth: “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). – Erasure: “Their sins I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). • Applied Personally by Faith – “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). – “If we confess our sins… He is faithful and just to forgive” (1 John 1:9). Why This Matters for Us Today • Assurance—God’s forgiveness is decisive; guilt has no enduring claim. • Freedom—Delivered from the “pit” of condemnation, we live in thankful obedience (Romans 6:18). • Hope—The same God who healed Hezekiah heals hearts wounded by sin (Psalm 147:3). • Worship—Remembering sins behind God’s back fuels adoration and joyful testimony (Psalm 40:2–3). |
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