Scripture speaks of God forgetting. Is this to be taken literally, or as a figure of speech?
I agree, qaz, that Godās omniscience precludes Him from forgetting.
The fact that He does not know in advance what a free-will agent will choose, is another matter. For prior to a person making the choice, there is nothing to know.
If someone knows that you will eat an apple tomorrow, then how can you refrain from eating an apple tomorrow? For if you did refrain, then that person must not have known that you would eat an apple tomorrow.
God can forgetā¦ 
Jer 31:34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, āKnow the Lord,ā for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.ā
Ive been thinking about getting Bullingers āfigures of speech used in the bibleā to understand what literary devices are being used in these types of verses. Ive heard its a good resource when studying,along a bible dictionary.
This is from Christianforums.com & addresses davoās remark:
I posted:
If anyone was to - never - be remembered any more by anyone, is God going to lobotomize all those in heaven so they canāt remember all their lost loved ones, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters & friends? Will God then also lobotomize Himself so He cannot remember any more, either, & thereby lobotomize his omniscience so that it no longer exists forever & ever & ever?
Der Alter replied:
Do you take that literally that God will forget something? Do you also take all other Scriptures literally? Should we take it literally that God has āfeathersā & āwingsā? Or that people should pluck out their eyes that offend them? Will God literally cast sins into the depths of the sea? If God literally forgets something is He flawed or not omniscient anymore?
This commentary applies the passage to a nation, not individuals: āShalt be no more remembered.āAmmon should be utterly destroyed, as fuel in the fire; the life-blood of the nation should be poured out, and her name vanish.ā (biblehub)
The KJV has the word āmoreā in italics, indicating it does not exist in the Hebrew. NASB & NET have āYou will not be rememberedā & āyou will no longer be rememberedā. Which recalls Paulās words to the saints that they would āno longerā or āno moreā (Acts 20:25) see his face. Does that lead you to conclude the saints will - never - again see his face, even in the afterlife?
If anyone was to - never - be remembered any more by anyone, is God going to lobotomize all those in heaven so they canāt remember all their lost loved ones, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters & friends? Will God then also lobotomize Himself so He cannot remember any more, either, & thereby lobotomize his omniscience so that it no longer exists forever & ever & ever?
Ezek.16:53 But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity, as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them. 55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state.
Obviously, itās a figure of speech and yet still literally quite trueā¦ it is what it is and if God has removed sin as far as east is from west (another figure of speech) to where sin no longer exists in terms of a barrier to Him then He HAS indeed gladly forgotten such. Godās forgetfulness in this matter is NO flawā¦ it is however indicative of His gracious mercy!
As for asking IF I take things literallyā¦ too funny 
given Iām the one pilloried for spiritualising everything ā āhello potā¦ā 
Why should it be literally true? Would that imply God is flawed or lobotomizing His own omniscience or that He was no longer all knowing? Why do you consider it obvious that God forgets (or remembers no more) something is a figure of speech?
No, it wouldnātā¦ you are simply flawed in grasping this by your very own literalist mindset.
Iād suggest God forgets is an anthropomorphism comparable to the statement about Him having feathers & wings. To forget our sins, put them in the sea, & similar statements, may imply such things as not bringing them up again, or not holding them against us, or acting toward us as if they never were.
I wonder if itās free online somewhere.
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Phil 4: 7
āAnd the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.ā
If we cannot comprehend something like the peace of God, how can we hope to understand if and how He can forget anything?
I wish, daily, from the very depths of my being that I could forget all the sins I was, and still am, guilty of committing in thought, word and deed - BUT I CANāT! 
I can only trust and thank my Lord and Saviour for the redemption He purchased.
I remember scores of Bible verses because I sang choruses based on them whilst in my childhood. The following is perhaps pertinent to this discussion:
God has blotted them out, Iām happy and glad and free;
God has blotted them out; turn to Isaiah and see;
Chapter forty-four, twenty-two and three;
Heās blotted them out, and now I can shout,
For that means ME.
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. (Is. 44:22).
It seems to me a fruitless exercise to ponder over whether or not sins that have been blotted out will be forgotten as well.
Donāt worry - I enjoy an esoteric debate as much as any of you.
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Yes. Is there any other way? We are presently studying the book of James in the bi-weekly bible study meeting. Luther did not want James to be included in the canon of scripture since he felt that James was suggesting that works can save a person. Luther was wrong. James was only stressing that a faith that does not produce good words and actions is a spurious faith. Thatās what I believe.
But Iām wondering why you ask me the question. Have my past posts suggested otherwise to my answer above? Yes, I am questioning some of the doctrines held by my current denomination but I still worship there while I work through my current struggles over its teaching about ECT. As I said in the topic āHast thou faith? Keep it to thyselfā, I am very careful not to cause unnecessary offence. It is not easy being part of a minority of believers!
I skimmed through it really quickly. Still seems like a great resource but I was hoping it would give more examples of these figures of speech used in the scripture 
Thanks Norm, Much wisdom there and I can relate brother.
Even in our day, people sometimes say, āI wonāt remember this against youā not meaning that they will forget the offence, but that they will not hold it against the offender.
Also, when someone irritates us, and then expresses regret that he did so, we might respond, āForget it.ā We are not asking them to literally forget the irritation that they caused; we are saying that itās no big deal. We donāt hold it against him.
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Bertha, an eccentric elderly Catholic lady, told her priest: āJesus speaks to me every day.ā The priest decided to expose her naivitee; so he told her: āNext time you talk to Jesus, ask Him what sins I confessed this morning.ā She agreed to do so. The next time the priest saw Bertha, he asked her: āSo what did Jesus say?ā Bertha replied dryly: āHe said He canāt remember.ā
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Isaiah 49:15. "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
The issue of divine amnesia should be discussed in the context of other anthropomorphic biblical teachings about God such as the many OT references to God ārepenting,ā expressing āregretā for what happens, and āchanging His mind.ā These texts raise the question of whether modern interpreters impose a nonbiblical nuance on biblical texts that vaguely allude to an all-powerful God. So I challenge readers to produce a biblical justification for claims that God can do anything that is logically possible and knows everything, including the outcome of all future events.
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Berserk, do you consider yourself an Open Theist?