This month, with all of the festivities of the Easter and Passover holidays, I subscribed to a blog written by an Orthodox Jew who describes in detail how Jewish holidays are celebrated and how Jewish ceremonies are completed.
It was through this blog that I first read the word “hesed.”
And so, I decided to explore what this word “hesed” was and how it was used in the Old Testament.
Hesed, it turns out, is found 250 times in the Old Testament. It expresses an essential part of God’s character. According to “Gotquestions.org,” many words such as “mercy, compassion, love, grace and faithfulness are related to the Hebrew word ‘hesed,’ but none of these completely summarizes the concept. Hesed is not merely an emotion or feeling but involves action on behalf of someone who is in need. Hesed describes a sense of love and loyalty that inspires merciful and compassionate behavior toward another person.”
Here is an example of when hesed is used in the Old Testament: When God appears to Moses and gives him the Law a second time, He described Himself as “abounding in ‘hesed’”(Exodus 34 6-7). Different versions of the Bible translate “hesed” differently. The NIV translates hesed as “love and faithfulness.” The New King James Version translates hesed as “goodness and truth.” The New Living Translation translates it as “unfailing love and faithfulness,” whereas the Living Bible translates hesed as “steadfast love and truth.”
You get the idea—it is a rich, devoted, and active love, rooted in truth.
Hesed is not limited to God—people can express “hesed” to each other. According to the Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, acts of hesed are always performed freely. It is the inclination of the heart to show not just kindness but also amazing grace to the other person. “Hesed finds its home in committed, familial love, and it comes to life in actions.” (Gotquestions.org)
As I was reading about this attribute of God throughout the Old Testament, I couldn’t help but think of how Jesus embodied hesed. He poured Himself out to everyone, no matter how undeserving. And, I reflected on how the Holy Spirit today empowers believers to live lives which demonstrate hesed to those around them. The word hesed does not appear in the New Testament, as it is a Hebrew word (the New Testament is written primarily in Greek). Certainly the emphasis on “mercy” in the New Testament is an element of hesed.
There is a contemporary Christian song that really captures God’s spirit of hesed. It is entitled Reckless Love and is written by Cory Ashbury. A portion of the lyrics is:
The overwhelming, never-ending
Reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down
Fights ‘til I’m found
Leaves the ninety-nine.
I couldn’t earn it and I don’t deserve it
Still you give yourself away.
The overwhelming, neverending
Reckless love of God.
That is hesed..
Michael Card, songwriter and author, defines hesed as “When the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.” He notes that this lovingkindness of God is what makes the Hebrew/ Christian God distinctive. In his book, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness, Michael Card states, “The final challenge to you and to me is to take whatever understanding we have in our heads of hesed and allow the Spirit to move it into our hearts.”
So, this week, I plan to pray for a head and heart filled with hesed. This is a prayer that can change a person, a community, and the world.