Hesed (חסד) . Perhaps one of the most beautiful, life-giving, astounding, and utterly incomprehensible words in Scripture.
To my knowledge, there is no word in the English language that quite captures the meaning of the Hebrew word hesed. I’ve seen it translated as “mercy” or “steadfast love,” but perhaps the best translation for hesed is “lovingkindness.”
Since there is no word in English that captures the full essence of the word hesed, possibly the best way to begin to grasp it is to find it in Scripture and read it in context. However, we can never fully comprehend God’s hesed toward us. As John Bunyan writes in All Loves Excelling about Ephesians 3:18-19: “Were it all [all knowledge] put together, we, we all, and every one, did we each of us contribute [knowledge] for the manifesting of this love, what it is, the whole of what we know, it would amount but to a broken knowledge; we know but in part, we see darkly (1 Cor. 13:9-12)…were all the saints on earth, and all the saints in heaven to contribute all that they know of this love of Christ, and to put it into one sum of knowledge, they would greatly come short of knowing the utmost of this love, yet unknown by them.” In other words, Christ’s love for us is beyond comprehension (Eph. 3:18-19) and even if all the children of God combined all their knowledge about His love, it would be insufficient to scratch the surface!
However, as Bunyan clarifies later, “that which is not possible to be known to the utmost, is to be known we know not how much; and therefore they that seek to know it should never be contented or satisfied to what degree of the knowledge of it soever they attain; but still should be reaching forward, because there is more to be known of it before them.” In other words, although we can never dream of comprehending the Lord’s love and hesed lovingkindness toward us, we must learn all we can! And every little water droplet we take in from the endless ocean of Christ’s love and hesed will awe, astound, and amaze us, drawing us in to praise and worship our Savior for His undeserved favor toward us.
Here are just a few highlights from my personal Scripture study on hesed.
- God in His hesed grants us family (Gen. 24:12, 14)
- We are unworthy of God’s hesed (Gen. 32:10)
- God’s hesed uplifts us and grants us favor in this life (Gen. 39:21, Ruth 2:20, 1 Kings 3:6, etc.)
- God shows hesed toward His people (Ex. 15:13, etc.)
- God is abundant in hesed (Neh. 9:17, etc.)
- God’s hesed is unfailing and endures forever (Deut. 7:9, 1 Chr. 16:34, Ps. 136, 103:17, etc.)
- We can trust in God’s hesed (Psalm 13:5, 52:8, etc.)
- God’s hesed pursues us continually (Ps. 23:6)
- God’s hesed surrounds those who trust Him (Ps. 32:10)
- God’s hesed is precious and better than life (Ps. 36:7, 63:3)
- In God’s hesed He forgives our sins (Ps. 51:1)
- In God’s hesed He hears our prayers (Ps. 69:13)
- God crowns us with hesed (Ps. 103:4)
- We glorify God because of His hesed (Ps. 115:1, 138:2)
- The earth is full of God’s hesed (Ps. 119:64)
- The Lord takes pleasure in those who hope in His hesed (Ps. 147:11)
And so much more!! I would encourage you to do a word study on this verse in the Old Testament (even if you don’t know Hebrew, blueletterbible.com is an amazing resource for original language and very easy to do a word study on) and meditate on the richness of the amazing hesed of our precious Savior.
Psalm 25:10
All the paths of the LORD are mercy [hesed] and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
Psalm 90:14
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy [hesed],
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
Psalm 145:8
The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy [hesed].
Lam. 3:22
Through the LORD’s mercies [hesed] we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.
Hos. 2:19
“I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness [hesed] and mercy;
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like You,
Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy. [hesed]
