It runs, pursues after you.
You hide, it seeks, and finds you.
If you go to the highest heights or lowest depths, it is there.
You may give up, but it never, ever, ever gives up on you.
You may lose your grip, but it does not lose its grip on you.
There is no end or limit to it.
Why? Because it is Hesed.
This Valentine’s Day my thoughts are entwined around “Hesed.”
Hesed has filled my mind and heart until I am nearly
bursting with delight.
Now, before you think I am in a “relationship” or have a boyfriend
who happens to be named “Hesed,” let me explain.
Truthfully, I am rejoicing and delighting in God’s covenant
love, known in the Hebrew language as “hesed.”
Just recently introduced to this incredible word, I continue
discovering its many facets.
Translators have struggled to find the right English word to
fit its broad and deep meaning1. They’ve tried “steadfast love,” “faithful
love,” “everlasting love,” “kindness,” “mercy,” etc. But many readily admit
these words don’t quite cut it.
As I’ve been learning, this is God’s “covenant love,” the
love that doesn’t let go, will never lose its grip on you, that is loyal beyond
loyal, is abundant, “great in extent,” everlasting, good, and it keeps showing
up no matter where you go or what you get yourself into. It is the love that
goes to all heights and depths to seek out, rescue and restore God’s chosen ones.
It never gives up, never runs out, never dries up.
Hesed, pronounced “kheh'•sed,” is used 248 times in the Old
Testament – the first instance in Genesis and the last in Zechariah, and in 239
verses in between.2 More than half of these are found in the
Psalms.
At times, hesed is used in interpersonal relationships when
one person requests kindness and mercy, like when Joseph asked for hesed
(kindness) of the cupbearer so he could be delivered from prison.
But, I think hesed takes on its fullest and deepest meaning
when God uses it to describe Himself.
“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the
Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast
love (hesed) and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love (hesed) for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” Exodus 34:6-7a
“In Psalm 136, the central message of the entire psalm is
the truth that God’s mercy, lovingkindness, or steadfast love (hesed) endures
forever. Hesed is mentioned in every one of the twenty-six verses in Psalm 136.
God’s steadfast love endures forever because God’s covenant relationship with
his people endures forever. Hesed is often associated in the covenant God made
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because that covenant is without end and hesed is
a ‘lovingkindness’ that endures forever.”3
This morning I taught from Micah 6:6-8. The familiar verse 8
clearly relays God’s expectation of His covenant people – “to do justice, and
to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” To my pleasant surprise,
the word “kindness” is the Hebrew word “hesed.”
God asks us to show hesed to others – the same hesed He
lavishly, freely and unreservedly bestows on us.
At the end of Micah, the prophet
delights in God’s hesed love. The people of God have not yet repented or turned
from their sins, but Micah is confident God will not forget them or retract His
gracious love.
“Who is a God like you, pardoning
iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He
does not retain His anger forever because He delights in steadfast love (hesed).
He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show
faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love (hesed) to Abraham, as You have sworn
to our fathers from the days of old.” Micah 7:18-20
Hesed, God’s covenant love, is shown not only in the Old Testament.
“In the New Testament, God went
one step further. Hesed took on flesh and moved into the neighborhood. Hesed
became not just a concept for us to grasp about God’s heart toward us, but had
arms and legs and was born in Bethlehem. In Christ, hesed was no longer a what,
it became a WHO. He showed us the ultimate hesed when he walked the
lonely road to Calvary and stood in our place.”4
I feel as if I just met “hesed”
and am still learning its width and breadth and depth.
Today, I rejoice in my Valentine,
my Jesus, who faithfully shows me “hesed.”
Note: This post was partially
inspired by a recent series of blog posts over at Velvet Ashes, focusing on “hesed.”
