DEVOTION//Buried in the depths of the sea
You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).
Thresher submarine
The USS Thresher, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, sank on April 10, 1963, during deep-diving tests about 220 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The vessel was crushed by the ocean depths. One hundred and twenty-nine souls lost their lives.
Over the next year and a half the Navy launched multiple salvage attempts. But the shattered remains of the sub rested 8,400 feet below the surface. At those depths, just finding the ship strained the capacity of current technology. The operation ended in September 1964. The Navy recovered only some of the wreckage.
No salvaging of our sins
This will seem strange but I'm glad my God has committed himself to refuse to drag the depths of the sea for the crash site of my sins. He has "hurl[ed] all [my] iniquities into the depths of the sea" where his grace keeps them locked away from his justice.
There -- out of Divine sight and out of Divine mind -- my sins are no longer able to anger the God of absolute justice. I need not fear that he keeps a memory of my moral failures in ready to justify penalizing me with loss or loneliness. Whatever life's aches and anxieties are, they are never the result of God's punishment. They are always allowed by a loving Father who uses chastisement to remove spiritual distractions and to improve my spiritual health.
Shame’s threats are lies
I must remind myself of that regularly. The shame brought on by the sins I commit often haunts me. "You deserve punishment," shame says. "It's coming. God will get you for what you've done. Just you wait."
But grace says, "Your sins are buried beyond the reach of God's justice. Your sins were crushed to pieces when God himself carried their weight into the depths of hell for you. Your sins were drowned in the unfathomable depths of the blood he shed on the cross for you. Your sins no longer exist. In their place is the Lord's compassion. No punishment. No anger. No evening the score. Just compassion."
"Not even on Judgment Day will your sins be fished up from those depths. God's grace has made them out of reach -- out of his reach. So live under his compassion. Live to thank him. Live in his love."