God Forgets!! 2 Kings 11-15

2 Kings 14:1-3 (ESV Strong's)

In the second year of Joash the son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done.

Tag:  God Forgets

In the above opening verses of 2 Kings 14 we read about the installation of Amaziah as king over Judah.   This is a typical introductory construction found throughout the entire book of 2 Kings.   The interesting point in these verses is that Amaziah is compared to King David.   David is the standard barrier for the Kings.   It is King David who is referred to by God as a “man after God’s own heart.”  When taking the kingship away from King Saul and about to give it to David, here is what God said through the prophet Samual:

1 Samuel 13:14 (ESV Strong's)

But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

So, David is the example to all the subsequent kings that God uses on a number of occasions.    These kings are to measure up to THE King David.   Remember, the Messiah, Christ, is going to come from the linage of David.   David is a big deal in the nation of Israel (Judah).   But, notice that God does not mention the “thing” that David did.   God uses David as the model of great kingship, but does not mention his adultery with Bathsheba or his murder plot of her husband, Uriah.   God forgets that.   Why?  Because in Psalms 51 David confesses that sin and asks God to forget it:

Psalms 51:7-9 (ESV Strong's)

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

Notice that last line, “Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.”   That is what David asks God to do and that is what God did.   In another Psalm that David wrote he would say this:

Psalms 103:12-14 (ESV Strong's)

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

God does not hold our sin against us when we confess it to Him and ask for His forgiveness.  God forgets.   He uses David as the example for all kings because God does not recall David’s confessed sins!!!