God’s Chesed… How He Loves

Each February it seems one can’t escape the topic of love. I love it that we’re focusing on God’s love in our Love Song series this month! In Kathy’s introduction post, she got us thinking about what real love really is.  She reminded us that the Bible tells us that God is love. (1 John 4:16)

Yes, God is love and His love is illustrated in every single action toward mankind.

In the last post, we learned about the New Testament Greek word agape. And there’s another word that describes God’s love that’s used about 250 times in the Old Testament. There, the Hebrew word transliterated chesed is used to identify the type of love God has toward us.

Chesed has no direct translation in English but it’s defined as favor (toward man), lovingkindness, steadfast love, loyalty, and mercy. Chesed  is a love that involves action and great depth. It implies that those in the love relationship belong together. It’s a love that rescues and forgives. It eclipses the noise of the world around us, the noise inside ourselves, and our afflictions. It lifts us up because of its beauty.

It is love that values its prize… And its prize is you!

Are you in need of that kind of love? I know I am!

Jeremiah the Prophet suffered much as he not only prophesied (much to the Jews’ anger) about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, but also lived to see it.  Though emotionally hurt over what he knew, witnessed, and experienced Jeremiah tells us about the hope he had (and we can have) in The Lord.

He had this hope because he knew of God’s chesed love.

Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD. ~ Lam 3:19-26

Like Jeremiah, we too can know and therefore have hope in the “steadfast love” and “mercy” (both chesed) of the Lord! God’s mercies never, ever come to an end! They are new every single morning! God’s loving faithfulness to you is great, dear Christian sister. That, my friend, is truth. And that’s what real love looks like. You have freedom from bondage because of that rescuing, soul-loving chesed! You may safely place all your hope and trust in His goodness and unwavering love for you. 

He loves you so much. After all… He is love!

When I think about God’s great chesed love for me, the love song that comes to my mind is David Crowder’s How He Loves… Here’s a video for you that shows all the lyrics. I pray that you’ll sit back, watch, listen, and meet with God over the melody and lyrics and be reminded of His great faithfulness, and His steadfast love, and tender mercy. His chesed.

{Wanting a few more verses that tell you about God’s chesed love? Look up Psa 23:6. The word “mercy” in the ESV is chesed. David could place all his trust in the Good Shepherd because he knew God’s chesed. Also look at Hos 2:19 where God longs to betroth Israel in chesed love. And also, Psalm 136, which is a beautiful illustration of God’s hope and mercy and mentions a form of chesed love in each verse.}

How does your heart respond to the depth of God’s chesed love for you? Has His love ever surprised you? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.