Day 52 – Lovingkindness (Part 1)
Adam sinned, and God came looking for him.
Day 52 – Lovingkindness (Part 1)
Psalm 23:6 — “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me…”
Are there two more beautiful words side-by-side in Scripture than goodnessand lovingkindness? If you wrote a book about God, this would be a great place to start. So, let’s slow down and consider that word: lovingkindness.
Your Bible may use a different word like “mercy” or “steadfast love.” That’s because English simply doesn’t have one word that captures the richness of the Hebrew word hesed.
Hesed describes steadfast love, faithfulness, loyalty, kindness and mercy. It’s more than just a feeling—it’s love that acts faithfully toward the one who is loved.
Have you ever stopped to ask why God gave us the Bible in the first place? The Bible tells us many things about God, but it doesn’t really answer every question about Him, does it? In fact, it leaves us with unanswered questions.
Why did God allow this?
Why did that happen?
Why is this story in Scripture?
What are we supposed to learn from that difficult passage?
The Bible isn’t an encyclopedia to tell us everything there is to know about God. Instead, it reveals who God is and what He is doing in His world. It’s the story of redemption from God’s point of view.
When you begin reading it through that lens, you see something amazing. Again and again, the Bible tells the story of a holy God pursuing sinful people.
Adam sinned, and God came looking for him.
Israel rebelled, and God called them back.
David failed, and God’s promises remained.
God sent prophets to warn a wandering people, calling them to repentance.
And finally, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son.
That is hesed. God’s lovingkindness is not God overlooking sin or pretending it doesn’t happen. God’s love is holy love. He takes sin seriously while graciously pursuing sinners with the purpose of bringing them to repentance, reconciliation and salvation.
“Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me…”
Those words carry the idea of pursuing or chasing after. Think about that and on Monday we will take a much closer look at this remarkable word hesed.
We’ll discover that God’s mercy is bigger, deeper and more breathtaking than we imagined.
