Hesed
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Psalm 5:7
In this verse we see the first reference of God’s “steadfast love.” This will be a frequently used phrase throughout the Psalms, and it is a very important concept for us to understand. The Hebrew word hesed is what is used here and it almost always is used to reference God’s steadfast or faithful love for His people. What is even more interesting about this word hesed, though, is that it is also rooted in God’s covenant with His people. In this covenant God promised that the nation of Israel would be His people and that He would be their God…this is the foundational promise that God gives. This idea of hesed flows out of this promise to refer to God’s love that will always remain with His people…a steadfast, continual, faithful love. A love that not based in merit but based in this promise. In other words, because God has promised His love He cannot renege on this promise…His love will remain, not because His people deserve His love, but only because God has promised to share this love with His people. So, when we see the Psalmist referring to this love, in abundance, he stands sure of this love because it flows from One who will not break His promises. The Psalmist can stand firm knowing that God’s love remains constant and by His side not because of anything he has done, but because of everything having to do with who God is! This is powerful, unshakable, unwavering love extending from the gracious throne of God to the heads of His people. This is why hesed cannot simply be translated as “love,” but must be translated as “steadfast love!”
Church, we must be certain that God’s hesed love did not only stand then, but it stands just as strong today. God’s faithful, unwavering, unshakable love is still extended to us today through covenant of Jesus’ blood. It is purely through Jesus’ perfect shed blood on the cross that this new covenant between us and God is sealed and His unmerited love is extended once again. This is a love that we must know and be sure of. This is a love we can rest in, boast in and run toward. In the most joyous of seasons we must recognize that God’s love is steadfastly by our side. In the depths of tragedy we must cling to His love that has never left us.
Even more powerfully we must look at what the Psalmist’s understanding of God’s steadfast love does…it pushed him to enter the house of the Lord! Do you see that because the Psalmist knows God’s faithful, always staying love he is confident to enter the house of God. God’s love for him pushed him into God’s presence. Oh Church, let this be true of us. May we know God’s hesed love, extended to us because of Jesus’ work on the cross, and may it send us running into the presence of God. This is precisely what the Gospel has done…this is precisely why the Gospel has been done…so that we can enter into the very presence of God. Knowing God’s love must cause us to want to be near Him. So, Church, would we know this love and would we run, run quickly to our God, trusting that it is simply because of His gracious, steadfast love that we are His.
PRAYER OF THE DAY: God, thank you for Your love that never leaves or fades. Help me to know this love more abundantly and may it cause me to run to you.