A Good Word: Loyal Love

Years ago, my family received news that a texting driver had struck and killed my sister’s bike-riding husband. That same month, the uncle with whom I’d backpacked the Grand Canyon passed away in a nearby city. My niece in Portland hosted my immediate family, along with other traveling-from-Texas kin who came for the funerals. She carted, cooked, and served with cheer. The trees in her backyard were changing color, and I caught a moment to sit on her patio and savor their oranges, golds and reds while relishing the companionship. After the funeral, all my siblings and parents—seven of us who had not been together in fifteen years— dined under a September Oregon sky. Despite the grievous circumstances, we savored the fellowship as we faced the stark reality that life is short, marriage vows have end dates, and humanity is fragile. In our grief we were carried by the faithful love of God.

My uncle’s service included a verse I recognized from Jeremiah as this traumatized prophet surveyed his surroundings. Broken and smoking in ruins after its destruction by the Babylonians, the once-stunning temple of Solomon with its gold trim, carved pomegranates, and cedar panels lay torched, reduced to rubble, and plundered. The city was destroyed, and its people carried off into exile. As Jeremiah took it all in, he grieved much greater losses than those I was mourning.

Still, Jeremiah reminded himself that while God “brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love (hesed). For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone” (Lamentations 3:32–33). Despite human frailty, God is faithful to His covenant people. It was the hesed of God that gave Jeremiah hope. He knew God would remember mercy and continue steadfast in His love.

If God has a go-to term for describing Himself, we might expect it to be omnipotent. Or omniscient. Or omnipresent. All of which are true. But in the first instance in Scripture where God reveals His nature, He describes himself to Moses in a burning bush as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loyal love (hesed) and truth” (Exodus 34: 6). We often translate hesed as “love” or “compassion,” but it also has covenant keeping, faithfulness, and constancy in view.

It was God’s hesed that so annoyed Jonah when he wanted to see the Almighty wipe out his enemies, the Ninevites. But God had mercy on them. So, Jonah complained to God about God, saying, “I knew you YHWH were gracious, abundant in lovingkindness (hesed)…” (Jonah 4:2). For Jonah, God’s hesed was the problem. Even in wrath God kept showing mercy.

The word appears again in Isaiah 40, where the hesed of grass stands in contrast with the enduring nature of God’s word: “All people are grass and all its endurance (hesed) as the flower of the field. The grass withers; the flower falls because the breath of Yahweh blows on it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower falls; but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40: 6–8).

The hesed of grass is fleeting. Its steadfastness, a breath—just like human beings. In contrast, the hesed of the Lord “never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23). In
our joys and in our griefs we are carried by the faithful, longsuffering, constant, steadfast, never-ending love of God.