I was spending some time in the Word just now and I had to come and type this down. I was reading 2 Chronicles yesterday and I came to 2 Chronicles 24:22 and I highlighted the last few words and put a star next to it, and in highlighter, wrote the name "Stephen."
Just this morning I realized why I had done this.

"Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son: and as he died, he said, 'The LORD look on it and repay!'" 2 Chornicles 24:22.

This is what a prophet, Zecharia who was the son of another Old Testament prophet Jehoida, said as he was dying under the Old Testament. Now, compare that to what Stephen said in Acts in the New Testament:

"Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep." Acts 7:60.

It's worth noting that this illustrates the nature of the New Testament. The Old Testament enforced the law, the 10 commandments, and their lives centered around it. Part of the life that Israel lead to was to keep the Mosaic law, which called for an 'eye for an eye,' a just repayment for transgression or bad things someone's done against someone. But, the New Testament reveals that the very heart of why the law was given was to prepare their hearts for the grace of God. The law was our schoolmaster, or tutor, to lead all of us to Christ, so that we can be justified by faith - it teaches us why we need a Savior (to save us from our sin, which we do when we break the law). But, after faith has come and the grace of God through faith (Eph. 2:8-9), we are no longer under a schoolmaster (Galatians 3:24-25), because by Christ the law for us is fulfilled (Matt. 5:17, Gal. 6:2, James 2:8).

But lets look at the hearts of the two people. They were both martyred after being called of God to deliver an important message. They both willing gave their lives to the work God called them to do. But, one was under the Old Testament, which was to lead to the New Testament grace of God. He cried out, Lord, look on it and repay! He demanded a repayment for what was done, which illustrates the nature of the Old Testament. But Stephen under the New Testament said, Do not charge them with this sin! He was having mercy on those killing him while the other demanded to be vindicated. The last point in scripture that I can think of that illustrates this so clearly was in Luke 9:54, when the Samaritans were rejected Jesus and His disciples said, 'Wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, like Elijah did?' They were raised Old Testament Jews and after that would be New Testament, born-again, believers, but what was in their heart was what was in Zechariah's heart. They wanted vindication. "But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." Luke 9:54.

Thus, Jesus illustrates the very character and heart of the New Testament and the grace that we receive by faith. Jesus hadn't come to destroy, but to save (Luke 9:56). He came to offer the grace of God that He always has as the only begotten Son of God, but that we would never have known because of our sin. This is why we get such an illustration in our Lord's preaching on forgiving others  in the Gospels (Luke 17:3, Luke 6:37, Mark 11:26, Matt 18:21). Paul said to the Corinthian church that whoever they forgive, he would forgive (2 Cor 2:10) and it seems to me to be revealed in the writing style of his letters it migh t have been casual for them ask to be forgiven for something (2 Cor 12:13). So, it is comfortable for us as New Testament believers to ask God to forgive us our shortcomings and trespasses (NOT forgetting what it cost the Lord to pay for these sins, the value and the importance, which is revealed in the Gospel), and uniquely receive the grace and the compassion, kindness of God which Jesus died to give us on our behalf if we ask (1 John 1:9). Because we understand the Spirit of God through believing the Gospel, we can see in our Lord's preaching the nature of the New Testament and the grace we've received in Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12. And having changed hearts and continually changing minds we ourselves can forgive those who wrong us, daily, knowing the character and manner by which we have been saved as New Testament believers. We can cry out like Stephen rather than like Zechariah, and even though we do necessarily have the right to ask God to vindicate us and get revenge for us, we "know what spirit we are of."

Another interesting thing to note in that passage in Acts 7:59-60 is that Stephen is praying in Verse 60, 'Lord, do not charge...' Verse 59 shows Stephen talking to Jesus, saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' So, when he was asking for his executors' sins to be withheld, he was talking to Jesus. This is a prayer to Jesus, which is a somewhat concealed claim to the deity of Jesus, and how we understand it, that even though He was fully man, He remains fully God, having added humanity to His deity, and even now resurrected from death, retaining His physical body as a man though God. Mark 2:10 reveals Jesus forgiving sin even while He walked on the earth, showing that He retains His essential identity as God. 1 Timothy 3:16 - God was manifest in the flesh.