Chesed

Chesed (Hebrew: חֶסֶד‬, also romanized: ḥesed) is a Hebrew word. It is hard to translate chesed, but it is often translated as lovingkindness. Some say it really more closely means loyal love. God’s chesed for us is certainly loyal and steadfast. R.C Sproul says “God loves His people genuinely, immutably, loyally. Both the love and the loyalty are, of course, tightly bound together. That is, just as one cannot love capriciously so one cannot be loyal without love. God is for His people, and will never cease to be for them.”

I love the word chesed and it’s translation, lovingkindness. In scripture, we see this used in many places:

[Psalm 143:8 NKJV] 8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.

God often speaks to me early. For years, he has called to me at 3 am, to get up and spend some time with him. So, I did and I do. After all, the Lord of all creation calls – who can but obey!

Here are just a few of these precious references that speak so clearly to me:

[Psalm 36:7, 10 NKJV] 7 How precious [is] Your lovingkindness, O God!

[Psalm 40:11 NKJV] 11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

[Psalm 63:3 NKJV] 3 Because Your lovingkindness [is] better than life, My lips shall praise You.

[Psalm 89:33 NKJV] 33 Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.

[Psalm 92:2 NKJV] 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night,

[Psalm 103:4 NKJV] 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

[Psalm 138:2 NKJV] 2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

[Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV] 3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, [saying]: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

[Jonah 4:2 NKJV] 2 So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You [are] a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.

Kenneth Copeland says this about hesed “the Old Testament writers had a word for the way God loves us—hesed. It is translated as “ever lovingkindness; tenderness; mercy.” Hesed is the force that rises inside someone, causing them to stand up for the benefit of another. ” Or, to go out of their way to help another.

The Talmud teaches “Chesed (practicing kindness) is one of the hallmarks of Judaism. It is such an important Jewish value that most marriages, friendships, and business relationships are forged when individuals recognize this quality in one other. The Talmud teaches that chesed is so essential to life that it is one of the three pillars upon which the world exists.” The three pillars mentioned are “The world rests upon three things: Upon Torah study, upon Divine service (i.e., prayer and sacrifices), and upon the practice of chesed (loving-kindness).”

Just the fact that God loves us with such undying, tender mercy and compassion should be enough for most people to turn and worship Him! Every time I hear lovingkindness, I think of God, of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit. What an awesome, remarkable loving God He is! He is worthy of all our adoration our love and our praise and worship!

We love you Lord! We adore you and thank you and praise you for your chesed towards us! You alone are worthy of our love and praise! Who is like unto you oh Lord! You are magnificent and wondrous in all your ways! Your thoughts and plans are far above all that men can think or imagine. Thank you Lord! In Jesus’ matchless name we pray. Amen!