Lovingkindness

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness”.   Psalm 103:8

Lovingkindness – This is a very important word in the Old Testament.  The Hebrew is hesed.  We saw it once before on January 24.  Now we will look at more of its meaning.  For centuries, this word was translated as “mercy”.  But there are many reasons why it should be understood as considerably more than just “mercy”.  When it is used in the Old Testament to describe relationships between people it carries the sense of generosity and compassion that springs from love.  The story of the Old Testament is a divine love story.  It is a story of God’s unfailing pursuit of His wayward and disobedient children.  Throughout the Bible, we are given a picture of a God who passionately loves what He has created and actively engages in reconciling and renewing this broken love relationship.  Here the Psalmist tells us that God is compassionate and gracious toward us.  Even though we have spurned His love over and over, even though we have mocked His sovereignty by acting as though we control our own destiny, He does not give up on us.  Not only does he restrain anger about our rebelliousness, he actually offers abundantly more than we could ever deserve. 

My life is the story of God’s hesed toward me.  When I became a Christian at 19, I recognized that I needed forgiveness for my sins.  But for the next 30 years, God and I argued over who would control my decisions.  So many times I wrenched the power of purpose out of God’s hands and tried to live life my way.  So many times God patiently waited for me to come to my senses.  Thank God he did not give up on me. 

Paul states the same principle when he suggests that even when we were enemies of God, He was acting in ways that would heal of breach between us.  Here is see that it is not just love that God demonstrates.  It is more.  It is love that expresses itself in benevolence toward us.  God has prepared a banquet feast of gifts for us.  He has given an invitation.  All we need to do is wholeheartedly attend.