Hesed is another one of those biblical words, in this case a Hebrew word, that translators have struggled to capture in English.

And yet it's vital for understanding the way God relates to his people.

It occurs some 250 times in the Old Testament.

In different versions of the Bible, you may see it translated as

mercy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, loyalty. There's no single English word that quite

gets it, which is why some translators have used more than one word, steadfast love, loyal love, loving kindness.

Usually, as one scholar puts it, the word describes something that happens within an existing

relationship, whether between two human beings or between God and man. In human relationships, Hesed implies loving our neighbor,

not merely in terms of warm emotional feelings, but in acts of love and service that we owe to

the other person simply because he's part of the covenant community. You hear that sense of the word in verses such as

Micah chapter 6 verse 8. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness,

Hesed, and to walk humbly with your God? And by the way, Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan shows that we're

obliged to extend this kind of love to all as we have opportunity, not just other believers.

But we can only love like this with Hesed loving kindness when we know at the core of our being that this is how God loves us.

As 1 John chapter 4 verse 19 says, we love because He first loved us.

That's why it's vital to understand the extent of God's Hesed love for his covenant people.

Listen to Exodus chapter 34, verses 6 and 7.

The Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed,

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, Hesed, and faithfulness,

keeping steadfast love Hesed for thousands.

What's even more remarkable about the Lord's assurance of Hesed here is that he says these

words shortly after his people have

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