Day 137: May 17, 2016 Hesed

May 17, 2016     Hesed
Day 137

Because of the Lord's great love (hesed) we are not consumed.

For His compassions (mercies) never fail. 

They are new every morning:

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:23

How many times have you read this verse or heard it spoken? It brings a variety of impressions, emotions, thoughts and senses to your being. If you have grown up in the church it is a nostalgic verse, if you are recently saved it is a life line verse! But when you take the time to look up the Hebrew words in this verse- it explodes you into a new understanding. You are on a blanket at a beautiful park in love with your Savior.

Can we do that together? Do what, you wonder? Look up the word or words in this verse and see what they mean in Hebrew? Please, please, please! It is so explosively fun and your heart will soar. Let's do it. First let me say, that to study, for the believer, means to thirst for more of an understanding of God's great love. It is a quest, a treasure hunt, a deciphering of an intense love letter that has layers upon layers of meaning. This is exactly what we look for in love letters, we constantly read between the lines and soak up the love dripping between the words.

Let's look up the word hesed which is the hebrew word for love. We are going to see what Zhodiates's definition is. You are wondering Zhod who? Read the definition first and then I will introduce you to Zhodiates after.

Definition: "The quality of the kindness shown (of this love) is usually that reserved for close friends and family members, but the act of hesed can be demonstrated in any relationship.... An act of hesed presupposes the existence of a relationship between the parties involved, but where no formal relationship has previously been recognized, the person exercising hesed has chosen to treat the recipient as if such a relationship did exist. For example, Rahab demonstrated hesed toward the Israelite spies whom she did not know and with whom she had nothing in common (Joshua 2:12). It is interesting to note that acts of hesed are often reciprocated, and that it is not unusual for the benefactor to request a return of hesed from the recipient. Abimilech asked that Abraham return his hesed by not dealing falsely with him (Genesis 21:23); the Israelite spies agreed with Rahab to save her family from destruction because of the hesed she showed to them (Joshua 2:12:14); and David promised to requite the hesed shown by the men of Jabesh of Gilead when he heard they had buried Saul's body ( 2 Samuel 2:4-6) Hesed is central to God's Character. It is closely tied to His covenant with His chosen people in fact, the covenant may be thought of as the relationship from which the hesed flows. God's hesed, however, is not bound by the covenant itself, and though men may prove unfaithful to this relationship, God's hesed is everlasting."  (My bible is the "Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible" put out by AMG publishers Chattanoga, TN 3742:U.S.A)

We can now take this definition and bring it back to the verse - "Because of the Lord's great hesed we are not consumed." Wow! Who would consume their best friend???!!!! God sees me as a close friend, he treats me as close friend, he loves me as a close friend. His love towards me is everlasting like a close friend even when I am not acting towards him like a close friend. He still hangs with me.

The time we took to study the Hebrew word was minimal compared to the expansive measure of love it stirred up in our heart. And this is a good point. If you find your time of study greater than your love increased... "Houston we have had a problem here!" We study to learn more about our amazing God! We fall more madly in love with him with every insight into His Word. If our study only increases our knowledge of Him without touching the depth of our heart - not good, not good, it is a fruitless endeavor.

Don't you agree? Hesed is a beautiful word. A lovely word expressing the Father's love for you! Mornings are rough for me. Night time is wonderful. By the end of day my faith soars, yes we can do this. Yes, the bills will be paid (with what? who knows but yes they will be paid), yes! God is faithful. But mornings, man, they're rough. I gots to walk on down to the wall, to the river and get me some fresh liquid. Every morning I am in need. And God says to me, "Lynne, my close friend, my mercies at the river are new for you every morning!" He knew it! He knew the morning time is the right time for new mercies. You know why? He knows me. He is my closest friend. He heseds me! And He heseds you!

Addendum: (to those still curious) So who is this Zhodiates guy? He is cool dude and one who has brought many Hebrew and Greek words to life. If you want to know more about this man, here is the link - Spiro Zhodiates