On Wednesdays this Fall, HomeBuilders is focusing on words in God’s Word that speak of love or connect to the word Love. We are not just talking about romance, but most any deeper personal relationship: Family, Friends, Church, and, yes, God. These words communicate a part or principle of love.
Hesed is a well known word for covenantal love, often translated “loving-kindness” in the Old Testament. It is a love that is committed, benevolent, and often appears in the hard times. About half of the 286 times it is used in Scripture are in the Psalms. I guess it is worth singing about.
Hesed easily connects the ideas of religious covenant and marriage covenant. Both covenant relationships are made for life, founded in love, and strengthened by deep commitment. Both covenant relationships are tested by life’s ups and downs which provide many opportunities for “loving-kindness” to be shone. Throughout our first study, on Sept. 18th, we looked at several verses that speak of God’shesed. God’s loving-kindness is often called on in times of trouble. Moses called on God’s hesed when seeking forgiveness when the people wanted to return to Egypt. [Num. 14] When a servant went a long way to find a bride for Isaac, he called on God to show hesed to Abraham through a successful marriage for his son, Isaac. [Gen. 24:12]
God’s loving-kindness is on display in many ways, but something stood out to me as I was preparing for HomeBuilders. We can call on God and remind him of his great love for us. He loves us and wants to do good to us.
Our own relationships need to be filled with hesed. Kindness, mercy, benevolence goes a long way in keeping relationships healthy and whole. When you see your beloved in need, pour some loving-kindness their way. The person is overwhelmed, so hesed by taking a task off their plate. Maybe even do the extra nice thing “just because.” Many of us do these things automatically, but sometimes we may wonder if it matters to do the extra effort. It does. God, out of great love for us, watches over; guards; helps. We can call on him to show loving-kindness to us and our families. It is no extra effort for him.
God Bless,
Pastor Dave