Trusting God

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. (Psalm 23:6 NKJV)

Chesed. (Hesed) That is the Hebrew word used here in the first part of this verse. There is no english word that fully defines this word. It is often translated as mercy, love, or compassion; it is all of these and much, much more. Hesed is the fullness of God’s character. It is His enduring, active love. It does not rest or depend on anything we do, it is purely who He is.

One of the first times we see this concept is with God’s unconditional covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. Here God makes an unconditional covenant with Abraham and all his descendants that only God Himself can fulfill. We know that the nation of Israel will go on to turn from God and rebel over and over again and God continues to redeem and restore them in spite of themselves because it’s not about them, it’s about HIM who chose them and made an everlasting, unconditional covenant with them. Even now, God is still honoring that promise. He will ultimately bring them back to right relationship with Him in the end.

You may say, “I’m not Jewish. How does this apply to me?”

Good question. I’m glad you asked.

Part of God’s promise to Abraham was that he would be a father of many nations and that through him, all the nations of the world will be blessed. This would come through the promised Messiah, Jesus, and if you are a follower of Jesus, you to are given Hesed, God’s grace and mercy that is completely undeserved, and is based on nothing that we have done or could do, it’s based purely on who He is and what He has done for us. In the same way God continues to pursue the Jewish people, His chosen ones; Jesus pursues us. Romans 5:8 tells us that God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The word love here is agape love. It paints the same picture as Hesed, it’s mercy and love beyond our comprehension because it’s not based on who we are but on who HE is. And when we as believers, enter into that covenant with Christ Jesus, we are told that, neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NKJV)

So, as we finish our journey through Psalm 23, hear what David is really saying. We belong to Him. His Hesed, His forgiving, gracious, compassionate, patient, enduring active love will follow us all the days of our lives and when this earthly life is over, we will rest in His Hesed for all eternity.

My prayer for you is that you fully trust in Him and rest is His unconditional promises.