We are approaching Holy Week, so it is time to pour God’s kheh’-sed (חֵסֵד) on you. Here it is in context:
…I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my kheh’-sed to you. Jeremiah 31:3
This is a noun that can be translated as faithfulness, mercy, steadfast love, loyalty, faithfulness, and goodness. My favorite is lovingkindness.
It’s like the kid who was sent to his room without dinner because he couldn’t control himself at the dinner table. Eventually, his father slips in to have a talk about why the child ended up in this predicament. But dad also has a plate of food in his hand, making sure the child doesn’t go hungry. The scene
screams of love, kindness, discipline, and beauty all mixed in.
In our verse, the people are hurting from an exile that they have brought upon themselves. Yet, God never gives up on them. There is a profound permanence to God’s lovingkindness that eventually leads to a cross on a hill and an empty tomb in a garden.
In these final days of the Lenten season, let the Lord’s kheh’-sed wash over you, and feel its warmth.
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