The Lovingkindness that Is Hesed

Each year at the Feast of Tabernacles, we picture what it will be like to live as spirit beings, reigning and serving under Christ. And we review common things, right? We review and we hear messages to help us better understand our roles, the needs of the people at that time. If you'll turn to Psalms 103, verses two through four.

What would you think if I told you that all of our success in the Millennium will be hinged on us understanding, us reflecting, us conveying a single Hebrew word? This one word has been described as the defining characteristic of God, as wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God, such as love, covenant, faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty. We're told in Scripture, if we do not make this word part of our nature during this lifetime, we won't be in the Kingdom of God. And the reason why is because we're not fulfilling what God requires of us. Psalms 103, verse two. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.

So around the feast time, we hear different messages on crowns, the crowns we're going to wear. And the word we'll focus on today is hesed, which is the word for lovingkindness here that God says He's going to crown us with.

Today's message is an extended version of the split sermon I gave at the feast in Scotland. And there'll be one part of it that overlaps with the message that I gave on Trumpets. So I hope you find that to be a complement to it and not repetitive to a couple of thoughts that are shared, but it's definitely going to be different.

One of the questions I was asked after giving the message in Scotland is how do you spell Chesed and just sound it out? Because the way I write it in my notes is H-E-S-E-D, but you will also see it written as C-H-E-S-E-D, C-H-E-C-E-D, K-H-E-C-E-D, K-H-E-S-E-D. So it's how do you pronounce a letter that sounds [makes a voiceless velar fricative sound], you know, if that's phonetically, it becomes a challenge. And then you're kind of, that C and S are interchangeable for how you pronounce that sound. So I don't mean to be flippant on that, but I mean, you get the spelling. H-E-S-E-D is simple enough and conveys the concept.

Hesed is translated in a number of different ways. In the Bible, it's translated kindness, lovingkindness, goodness, mercy, half a dozen other ways. More modern translations will use faithful love, steadfast love. So all interesting synonyms, right? They convey a little bit of the nuances, but the truth is no one or two English words can get close to capturing the full meaning. It's very multifaceted.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words describes hesed as having a basic meaning involving strength, steadfastness, and love. And it says, "Those have to always interact." So it states, "Any understanding of the word that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. Love by itself easily becomes sentimentalized or universalized apart from the covenant. Yet strength or steadfastness suggests only the fulfillment of a legal or other obligation."

The word hesed is used over 245. I couldn't get an exact number. 248, somewhere between 245 and 250. I couldn't nail it exactly and don't want to trust my checking on that, but it's right around that area. But the fascinating part, over half are by David. And that's fascinating. Over half are written in the Psalms.

In many ways, this is a richer word than the Greek agape. We hear sermons and messages on agape. And the reason I say that is agape was a common Greek word, which Paul helped to put a spiritual meaning around that was beyond what the Greeks were using it as. Hesed is a Hebrew word designed very specifically to explain characteristics of God. But either way, hesed lays the foundation for the type of love that we learn about in the New Testament. It's a relationship term, and hesed is found in actions. Hesed is not this romantic love. It's faithful, it's committed, and it's dependable. It's a dependable love, which is why it's often related to God's covenant, when you hear references. Covenant, it's reliable, and it arises from this mutual relationship. It's designed to move a person to intervene on behalf of loved ones, to come to the rescue of them. And so that's why it's often used to describe God's faithful actions to His people. You and I, Israel, people over time. For people to turn to God in the Kingdom, they will have to observe, they're going to have to feel that word in action through us as members of God's family.

If you will turn to Exodus 34, verses five through six. How does God feel about people who have lived a life that's far from being in obedience to Him? Is there any hope for that person? That's a question we're going to have to be able to convey and make people come to peace with if you think about what's going to happen in the Millennium. And they have to not only hear it in words, they need to feel it in actions as they interact with us.

Today, we are going to review how hesed is four things. It is loyal, steadfast, merciful, and compassionate. So let's start with God's love, God's hesed representing loyalty, considering how it relates to God's loyalty. And in the Old Testament, hesed is predominantly used to illustrate God's benevolence toward His people. Exodus 34 and verse five. Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with Moses,

as he's being described here,

and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness

That word is hesed,

and truth, keeping mercy,

that same word, hesed,

for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

So one of God's defining characteristics is this unwavering covenant loyalty. And what's most remarkable about this instance that we just read is God shared it shortly after the Israelites had just created adultery by creating that golden calf and worshiping. That's the context where this was shared. God is completely and totally loyal to His relationships.

There are four characteristics of hesed that reflect loyalty. First of all, it is offered when an individual faces severe consequences if God doesn't act. Secondly, it's offered when no one else can intervene from the terrible consequences that have been earned. Thirdly, the person receiving it has no leverage or ability to demand or require it. So the weaker party can seek protection and blessings, but they have zero claim to it. And finally, there's no way to repay it. Hesed is when a person from whom you have no right to expect anything gives you everything.

And if you'll turn to Lamentations 3, verses 22 through 24, you'll see a similar use of the word. God has been loyal and lived up to His part of the covenant promises at every step in history. He will be loyal and faithful at every point in the future. Lamentations 3 in verse 22. Through the Lord's mercies,

hesed,

we are not consumed.

Why are we not consumed?

Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him.

In context, that statement is even more stunning when you realize it was written in 586 BC as Jerusalem was being destroyed in judgment for their wickedness. But Jeremiah knew that if God's people turned back to Him, the Lord will not cast them off forever. That His hesed, compassion and loyalty, will start new every morning, even while they were having an army destroying their city. God's steadfast love never ceases, not even when His people rebel against Him. And so as a result, our hope rests on the compassionate loyalty of the Lord. Because if you think about it, that's what fuels His everlasting love. Hesed prevails over His anger toward our disobedience. As a result, it in turn opens up opportunities for you and I, for His people. Having entered this covenant relationship with His people, then God binds Himself to act toward us with hesed. Christ went to the cross, why? Because of His hesed loyalty to His people. Christ's kindness and His mercy toward us was so unshakable that He endured the worst that humans could give Him. And He did that so that we could be clothed in His perfect righteousness, His perfect hesed, is what it says in the New Testament. So God will always be utterly faithful to His own commitments.

Can we put it another way, just to try to phrase it differently for us to think about. Our hope that God will love us to the uttermost is not founded in our ability to keep His commandments. Say that again. Our hope that God will love us to the uttermost is not founded in our ability to keep His commandments. But rather, it's founded on God's ability to keep being God. It's out of God's loyalty, not man's lovability. And that's why hesed is this beautiful, steadfast love that's based on a covenant relationship, which reflects completely undeserved kindness and generosity. Some concepts we hear with agape, but this all really starts with the word hesed. And it was shown throughout the Old Testament. Gratitude should be what our normal response is. Because gratitude is one of the most foundational components of being an authentic Christian. It's humility that recognizes what God has done for us is totally undeserved. It's gladly acknowledging that everything we've received, right, is from God, and we seek to magnify God. So as you think about this word, just trust God has our best interest at heart. Even if you don't get it, trust God has your best interest at heart.

The hope of all Christians, both now and in the future, right, because this is trying to consider what we'll be facing at that time. And those Christians at that time had just fought with Christ, trying to destroy Him, but it has to rest on the nature of God that fuels His everlasting love. Hesed prevails over His anger toward our disobedience, which again, in turn, opens up opportunities for forgiveness, for reconciliation.

If you'll turn to Psalms 23 and verse six. So there's this beautiful, loyal aspect to hesed, and it reflects this love that acts, a love that intervenes, a love that rescues, and that's what David, why he mentioned it more than half the uses of the word, or it's mentioned in Psalms, I should say, not everyone's probably by David, but it represents those passions that are throughout the Psalms. Psalms 23 and verse six. Surely goodness and mercy,

hesed,

shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So David knew God's love was 100 percent certain. It was that God would be unconditionally loyal to him, and that's what gave him solace even if he really messed up bad. All of his confidence rested on the fact that God redeems, God saves, God heals, God forgives, God restores, and God wants a similar and total complete devotion from you and I as we recognize the hesed that He shows us. But it starts with God first offering us 100 percent loyalty guaranteed hesed. Picture a silly commercial. This is being offered to you. But He then asks us to exercise that same type of loyalty to Him and to each other that He offers to us. And that act of loyalty is our expected response based on the relationship that we've entered into. That's why hesed is an action word. Hesed is supposed to move us to action for the benefit of someone else and not just consider, you know, I wonder what's in it for me if I do that. That's not what the word is about.

Can you envision again how critical that assurance will be for those who survive into the Millennium? Ninety percent of the people on earth, dead, terrible pollution, but for God, everything would have been destroyed. And now they're faced with this new reality. And even when things can seem to be falling apart, when mountains can shake, God's love will not be removed. How many relationships do you have where you are absolutely sure that love will never be shaken even if you have done something to hurt the other person who loves you? Because you have that assurance from God. God loves you because of who He is. That's what He does. Romans 8:35 to 39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, nothing. And maybe that's another way of phrasing that so you understand it from the lens of hesed, of what that really means. And that doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want and not face the music, don't get me wrong, but it means that in the midst of your rebellion, God loves you and wants you back with Him. That's what it means. You cannot run too far to be out of reach of God's love because His love surrounds you.

And the redeeming love of God is not just this passive love. It's not just, you know, oh, I empathize with you. It's not just sitting from the distance observing. It's a love that steps in, that rescues, that restores. Christ gave His life for us. Many people know John 3:16. I'm sure if we were watching TV, it'd be on some poster sitting out there. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Do you know what verse 17 says? It says, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Friends, God is not wanting to condemn you for your past or your present, even if you really messed up. God's love has in His heart a redeeming purpose, right? To save us from sin, to offer us love and forgiveness so that we can have this glorious future with Him for eternity. And it's a love that never gives up on us no matter how many times we fail or fall. That's beyond my comprehension. I don't know, maybe within yours, but I think it's probably fair to say it's beyond all of our comprehension. Yet it's what we can experience every day. Again, can you see how important that would be for people in the Millennium?

Turn to Isaiah 54 in verse 10, and let's consider the second characteristic. Hesed is steadfast, steadfastness. Isaiah 54 in verse 10. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness,

that's unfailing love, that's hesed,

shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

So God will never fail in His lovingkindness toward us. Beautiful concept. And that's because it's based upon His character and not based on our conduct. When we say that God's lovingkindness is unfailing, what we're saying is that it's constant. It's unchanging, it's dependable. It's not like human love that can be fickle or inconsistent or conditional. You do this, then I'll do that. That's not what it's about. If you'll turn to Psalms 107. God's love is not like the stock market. It's not going to fluctuate. It's not dependent on performance or behavior or circumstances. God's love is always there. It's always available. It's always ready to embrace us.

Now, we're not going to be able to read through all of Psalms 107. We'll read through a good bit of it. It's really all about God's lovingkindness. And the word hesed is peppered throughout it. I'll point them out as we go through it. But probably most famously in verse one. Psalms 107 in verse one. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy,

that's hesed,

endures forever.

Hesed is steadfast, right?

Verse two, Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

We're redeemed from Satan's hand. You and I have been redeemed from the penalties of our sins.

Verse eight says, Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,

that's hesed,

and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

As you know, a lot of the Psalms were musical. They were written in that way. And this is a refrain. So this same verse eight, you're going to see repeated again in verse 15, and verse 21, and verse 31. So we'll get there, but I want you to realize it's like a refrain when we were singing the hymns. That's what we have going on here.

Let's continue in verse nine. For He satisfies

It's like every time that refrain is used though, the next point is like this little punch. So keep this in mind. Here's the lesson to keep in mind. And then you'll see this tendency that he'll start saying, but here's what you actually do. And here's you have to suffer. And then you realize, oh, I need God. Start to refrain. Now here's what you need to do. Here's what you really do. Here's what I come back and do. Sing the refrain. So you'll sort of see this rhythm going through.

Verse nine. For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Is there something that you're longing for? Or is there something that's troubling you?

Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons—because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.

We all fall guilty to that. We don't fully obey God's law, and therefore we get to the word therefore that follows us.

Therefore,

because we don't listen to God and do what He says,

He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their chains in pieces.

Loyalty. Remember we talked about loyalty. Doesn't that match that loyalty concept that we talked about with the first point?

Now the refrain is repeated. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord

for His hesed,

for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

All right, here's the punch line. Remember this is what you should do.

For He has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two.

That's what we should keep in mind. Then what do we really do?

Fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

Again, God doesn't want to punish us, but He has our best interest in heart and He wants to lovingly do what's needed to make us have that obedient relationship.

Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.

Does that sound familiar? That's a repeat of verse 13. It's repeated again in verse 28. It's this cycle of what he's singing here in this verse, in this psalm. We make our lives so much harder than they have to be, but thanks to God's hesed, He doesn't give up on us.

The verse continues in 20, He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.

Now we get back to the central refrain.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord

for His hesed,

for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

And again, so what should be our response?

Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.

Are we deeply grateful enough for all that God blesses us with, for all of His hesed? What do we probably do? Well, what it would repeat after, and it continues. So let's go ahead and jump to verse 31, where another encouragement happens. Then we first start with the refrain.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,

like we are here.

And praise Him in the company of the elders.

And then the song concludes in verse 43, kind of summing it all up.

Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

That's hesed. They will understand the hesed of the Lord.

It's a beautiful message about God's lovingkindness. I would argue the challenge is because as humans, we are used to conditional love. That's what we have around us every day of our lives. We feel loved when we meet certain expectations, when we fulfill certain roles of another person, but God's love is different. It's a love that's always ready to help. It's always ready to heal. It's a love that doesn't keep a record of wrongs, but keeps pouring out grace upon grace upon grace. God's lovingkindness is unconditional. God doesn't love us because we're good. He loves us because He is good. It's a different way of thinking. It's what we're trying to become when we say taking over His nature. God cares about our actions. Don't lose sight of that. God cares about our choices. He wants us to live in a way that honors Him, that brings true joy and fulfillment, that allows us to be with Him for eternity, but His love for us is not based on our ability to live up to His standards. His love for us is based on His character, is based on His goodness, and because of that, it should give us confidence. We can be confident that His love for us will never fail. It will never end. Anytime you feel that, "God can't love me anymore. I've done too much now," you miss that concept of hesed, which is so unlike what you feel from people and what we've been brought up around. His love for us will never fail or end. It's constant, it's steadfast, it's unchanging. It's not this love that says, "I'm going to love you if," or, "I'm going to love you when." It's, "I'm going to love you, period." That's the nature of hesed, and that understanding of God's steadfast hesed love should really be life-changing.

We can let go of our failures. We can let go of our mistakes, knowing they won't define us. They don't define us. How much do you keep an anchor of your past on you as you go forward? We can face anything with confidence and courage. We can embrace our identity as beloved children of God, knowing that nothing can separate us from His love. We can live with a sense of purpose and passion, knowing that we're deeply loved, we're highly valued, we're eternally secure in His love.

Again, do you see the Millennium connection, how critical that will be for the people at that time to change a mindset that Satan has been so prevalent in showing for 6,000 years to people, and all of a sudden they'll realize, oh, this God is different than God we can make up. This God is different than how people treat me. This is very, very different. And it should change how we see others. It should free us from the fear of rejection, the weight of guilt, shame. It empowers us to love others with God's kind of unconditional love. Do you love others that way? Do you love your spouse that way? Do you love your children that way? It gives us hope and peace and joy in the midst of our struggles and our challenges. It's this foundation for our faith. It's the foundation for our strength.

Turn to Micah 6:8, and let's pivot to the third key characteristic, which is hesed is merciful. What does God require of us in order to be in His Kingdom and to share eternity? Now here's where I'm going to morph into a little bit of what was shared in the Trumpets message, but hopefully you find that it's complementary as we focus in specifically on this word. Micah 6:8. He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

So again, we have three things that summarize what God is looking for from His followers. And first of all, notice that they're what He requires of all of us, not just will be nice to have, as well as those in the Millennium, and then realize that love mercy is to love hesed. That's the word that's being used here. We talked in that Trumpets message about how we could summarize God's priorities from the Bible in two ways. God hates sin. God wants a relationship with us, with His people. And then everything kind of hinges on that. God wants us to become like Him in our nature, in our priorities. And Micah 7:18 tells you how God views mercy. Micah 7:18 says, Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever.

Why?

Because He delights in mercy

hesed.

God delights in hesed, His covenant lovingkindness. And that's just a beautiful thing. God's nature and His character delights in showing mercy and lovingkindness to you, to me, to all people. Micah spent this entire book explaining the sins of God's people, walking through all the judgments that they had earned, and then he ends with hope of restoration if they repent. That's the way God looks at it, hesed. That's His ultimate goal. I mentioned this in that other message, but I think it's just perspective good to have. Think of Israel. In the middle of Israel was the tabernacle. In the middle of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies. And in the center of that was the Ark of the Covenant. The lid of the Ark was called what? The mercy seat. That's how important mercy was for God. It should be the center in our lives as well. And God expects that from us. He set that model for us of hesed and how He's treated us so that we act and show that to others around us. We must have a repentant heart and attitude, a humble desire to change, and then live justly and mercifully. If you want to rephrase, Micah 6:8.

We also talked a little bit, but I'll remind you because I think this concept's really important to keep in mind. It's God's desire that all would come to repentance, period, end of sentence. God does not retain His anger forever. He wants His mercy to be accepted by all of mankind. If you think about it, He decided not to wipe out mankind because of the righteousness of Noah and his family. That's amazing. If you think about everyone else being bad, because you guys, I'm going to not wipe everybody else out. Second Peter 3:9 says, God is longsuffering toward us and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So again, it's God's desire to have a reconciled relationship, but He knows that some will not turn to Him because humans have been given that power of choice. He loves us that much, and God gives us, every single one of us, the option to choose life. As a result, there are just going to be some that perish, but that's not what God desires. Again, never doubt that God is merciful.

And then we also talked a little bit about this concept of do we love mercy? It's important to keep in mind what all that means. Do we love mercy and not just like it, and not just like it and think it's really, really good when it applies to us, but do we really love it? The challenge sometimes is we want mercy for ourselves. We love that. I mean, who doesn't love that? But then we want justice for others. I mean, they took my toy. They did whatever. So we start doing that logic. Put in a phrase, oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner, but they wronged me, so give them what they deserve. And sometimes that's the way we talk to God. Do we love mercy only when it's incoming or do we love to extend it as well? So mercy is at the heart of our Christian life. I think the way we see hesed in action through God is think of Christ on the cross, everything that had happened. And He said, God, forgive them for they know not what they do. That's just, that's humbling. That's hesed. And we as a people of God are to be taking on the same nature and character. What does that look like in action? Well, if we love God's mercy toward us, then we need to extend that same mercy towards others. That's what the point is. The model prayer in Matthew 6, Jesus Christ said that we should pray, God would forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. So again, it's this vital principle to remember that God extends to us, what He extends to us in terms of forgiveness and mercy is largely dependent on what we're willing to extend to others.

Mercy is extended through showing kindness to someone, someone in need. Think about opportunities you have now or throughout the week. Look who's ill, send them a note or a text. Let them know they're loved. Go meet somebody who's in a hospital or care for somebody. All of those are acts of mercy. And the concept of showing mercy indicates how we get along with those around us and if God's heart and nature is flowing through us. We're to show others mercy like God does. We do this by sharing His grace and not judgment. We do this by sharing His forgiveness, not blame. We do this by sharing His patience, not irritations. We do this by sharing His kindness, not our harshness. We do this by sharing His holiness, not our fleshliness. I shared that and somebody afterwards asked me to text that to him because they were going to print it out and put it in front of them to look at throughout the day. So look for opportunities, hold a door open for somebody. Don't get irritated. Phone a friend, not because you need that, but because you might be the lifeline to help them for the way God wants them to be helped. So it's in action. Hesed is about actions and actions of kindness and compassion or favor. It encompasses the idea of forgiveness as well. Forgiveness is this critical part that links to mercy very closely. Forgiveness comes from and is an extension of God's mercy if you think of it that way. So when you're looking to God for forgiveness, you are seeking His hesed mercy for you. Romans 8:1 tells us there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. So once we are in Christ, all we need to do is confess our sins and they will be forgiven. That's what 1 John 1:9 says. Again, think about those in the Millennium. Do you think they're going to want to hear that? Do you think they need to understand that they can be fully forgiven? Man, that's going to be so critical for all the confusion that's going to be going on. And Jesus dealt with that issue of us showing forgiveness when He was talking with Peter, right? And Peter quoted back to Him what the rabbis had said about how often he should forgive and it's what Matthew 18:22. And Christ said, no, not seven times, 70 times seven. Keep forgiving, keep showing hesed, make that part of your nature.

Turn to Psalms 86 and verse five. Please recognize that when God created us, He knew we were going to fall short. Sometimes I don't think we allow ourselves the grace and mercy to realize that we're going to make mistakes and then we beat ourselves up. The goal is not to make mistakes, but show yourself a little bit of hesed as well. When God created us, He knew we were going to fall short, yet He still created us. God knew He was going to have to exercise a great deal of forgiveness toward us. And the good thing to keep in mind is that when God's hesed mercy is tested, He is willing to forgive. Psalms 86 and verse five. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy,

that's hesed,

to all those who call upon You.

You're included in that all. Put a Southern phrase, that's all y'all.

God reveals Himself through merciful lovingkindness. In other words, God's lovingkindness fills the gap between His holiness and our sins, if that helps to visualize how it works. And David understood that amazing nature of His and that he could go to God in humility. He could ask for repentance, even with what happened with Bathsheba. So our God is primed, He's ready, He is anxious to forgive if we only ask. He is merciful because He loves mercy. And as people of God, if we are taking on God's nature, if we love His mercy toward us, then we must love and extend that same hesed mercy to others.

One of the things just to link it through is mercy is also related to grace. Not going to take a whole point on that one, but it kind of connects with this mercy and grace concept because in the New Testament, we talk about grace being unmerited favor, hesed is unmerited love. Grace is what saves us, mercy is what sustains us. So showing mercy should be one of the ways we recognize that we're being treated by grace.

Let's go to the final characteristic, and that is hesed is compassionate. Hesed is compassionate. Turn to Isaiah 54, verses seven through eight. Again, compassion links very closely with mercy. Hesed is a love that's not earned, it's not deserved, rather it's given from the foundation of compassion. So one way to link those. I'm going to read this from the New Living Translation. It says, Isaiah 54 and verse seven. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while, but with everlasting love,

that's hesed,

I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.

So hesed is, I'm sorry, compassion is one of those key foundations that hesed is built on. You probably have read different things, but Pastor Rick Warren, one of his quotes was, "God's love is like an ocean. You can see its beginning, but not its end." I think it's a beautiful way of picturing that God's compassion is that great. He is our Redeemer. He is not going to reject us when we come back to Him, regardless of our mistakes. And the New Testament builds on this issue of compassion if you think about the story of the prodigal son. Because the father wanted the son back, even though the son was disobedient, he was wasteful, with everything the father had given him. Without compassion, it's hard to love others when it feels they don't deserve our love. Again, do we show that type of love to our spouses and our families and those around us?

Author Dr. Will Kynes described hesed as, "Never merely an abstract feeling of goodwill, but always entails practical actions on behalf of another." Great model to evaluate ourselves. It's one of those measuring sticks that we all know we have room to grow in. Hesed, described one way I read about, "Getting inside someone's skin, looking at their life, feeling what they're experiencing, then moving in and acting on behalf of the one who's hurting." Again, there's so many ways of trying to capture and phrase this concept that is so deep. And so if that helps you, that was another visualization. And it's exactly what Jesus did when He chose to become human. How can we tangibly show our love to God, our love to His people? Hesed, it's what we should do: through the abundance of compassion, that hesed that God showed us, we can in turn worship God and be abundant in our expression of unconditional, undeserved love for others.

Let me share a story I read. It's during the late 1800s, an English minister named Henry Moorehouse made several trips to preach in America. On one occasion, he was taking a walk through a poor section of town when he noticed a small boy coming out of a store with a pitcher of milk in his hand. Just then he slipped, he fell, broke the pitcher and spilled the milk. So Moorehouse rushed to the child, was worried about him because he saw him just very emotional and crying and he realized he was unhurt, but he was terrified. He kept saying, "My mama's gonna whip me. My mama's gonna whip me. My mama's gonna whip me." And so he picked up the boy and he carried him into the nearby store where the preacher purchased a new pitcher. Then he returned to the dairy, had the pitcher washed and filled with milk. With that done, he carried the boy and the pitcher home. When he put the youngster down then on his porch, he handed him the pitcher and he asked, "Will your mama whip you now?" And then this big smile spread across the boy's tear-stained face and he goes, "No, sir, 'cause this is a lot better pitcher than we had before."

Turn to 1 John 3:16 through 18, compassion. Hesed seeks to relieve the distress of others when we become aware of it. In other words, if we know someone is in need, the point is that we should do something to the point that we're able, within our power, is the best interest of others your primary concern. 1 John 3:16, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

So God's mercy extends from His hesed love, extends from His compassion, extends from His loyalty. Then when that's happening, mercy is what gets extended. Compassion is what gets extended. Kind acts are what should be an extension of our character like it's an extension of His. Verse 18, My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

So that's what we're supposed to exemplify. We're supposed to exemplify God's hesed love through kindness. In other words, our actions should be an expression of the love of God that's in us. And if you're treating others poorly, what does that reflect of your relationship with God and how we're yielding to Him? Do we reflect steadfast compassion, hesed, to our spouses? Do we to our children, to our families, to our coworkers, to people at the grocery store? How do we do at the Feast? You know, in all these areas, how are we doing with it? And Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan shows that we're obliged to extend that kindness of love to all. That we have the opportunity to, not just other believers. So don't think, well, they're not a believer, so I don't have to do it to them. It's not the example that Christ set. And it's not just this warm, emotional feeling, but it's acts of love and service. We can only love like that when at the core, we realize this is how God loves us. That's why He showed us His steadfast. That's why He taught us what it looks like, what it feels like, so that we can then reflect it.

A vital principle to remember, again, is what God extends to us in terms of forgiveness and mercy is largely dependent on what we're willing to extend to others. I read you Matthew 6. Matthew 5:7 is similar. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Again, they're just parallel. Psalm 18:25 speaks of God extending mercy to those who are themselves merciful. So I'm going to turn this into a mathematical, maybe a little bit selfish concept. But do you desire God's mercy and compassion for yourself? If so, extend it to others as well. May seem self-serving, but it's what the Bible says is the formula. Be merciful and compassionate, and you'll receive it back from God.

Turn to Psalms 36 and verse 7, and let's start to conclude. The world is going to be in this terrible, terrible state when Christ returns. I don't like hyperbole. I think people use it too much. But I think it's fair to say that the few humans still living will be facing traumas and anxiety and depression like no one ever has in the history of humanity. I mean, if you think about how much death they've seen and how awful the world will be around them and how much hatred and just on and on and on. And as resurrected humans and spiritual representatives of the family of God, we will have an important role of helping survivors realize God is a God of hesed. That's going to be our calling card. Psalms 36 and verse 7. How precious is Your lovingkindness,

That word is hesed,

O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

What are we going to be trying to encourage people for in the Millennium? To put their trust in the shadow of God's wings. And we will do that by showing how precious God's hesed is. And we have to understand that with all of our hearts now to serve and to submit to God in the way He wants so that we can be in the Millennium. And once people in the Millennium see how compassionate and merciful and loving God is, then they will really have no choice but to put their trust in Him as well.

And the flip side is, do you struggle to believe God could possibly love you? Because if we struggle with grasping the full meaning of hesed, we will never fully understand the reasons Christ was sent, as well as the reasons why we need Him and why He will forgive us and so much more. We will struggle with the concepts of God's forgiveness because we will allow our feelings of unworthiness to trump the way God feels about us. Think about that. If you struggle with some of those emotions and thoughts. In Psalm 63 in verse 3, David says, Your lovingkindness,

that's hesed,

is better than life.

Your hesed is better than life. What a phrase. What do you value in life, right? Value possessions and knowledge and health, reputation, on and on, fill in your part. Yet all those things are temporary. You know, they're here today, gone tomorrow. David understood that God's hesed was loyal and it was steadfast and it's merciful and it's compassionate.

Turn in conclusion to Psalms 136. No way I could give this sermon without going to Psalms 136. We don't have time to read the whole thing, but realize every verse repeats a line celebrating God's hesed. And that redundancy is the point. Every thought of what God has done for us should be followed by this humble awe-inspired statement of gratitude to God and gratitude for His hesed. Psalms 136 in verse one. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy,

that's hesed,

endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods, for His hesed endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who alone does great wonders, for His hesed endures forever.

Then the psalm pivots to recount examples of hesed being shown from creation.

Verse five, To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who stretched out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who made great lights, for His hesed endures forever. The sun to rule by day, for His hesed endures forever. The moon and stars to rule by night, for His mercy endures forever.

Then the psalm gives a number of examples highlighting what He's done for Israel. And again, this concept is we need to continue to grow in recognizing and seeing God's hesed around us, everywhere we look, and then reflecting it in everything we do.

Let's continue in verse 23. Who remembered us in our lowly state, for His mercy endures forever. And rescued us from our enemies, for His hesed endures forever. Who gives food to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, for His hesed endures forever.

Beautiful. Since it's hard to comprehend a love that's like this, that's rooted in compassion and forgiveness, that's loyal, that's faithful. I hear you. Many people rejected because of fear. God can't really be that way, but He is. And many are so intimidated by the thought of someone loving them unconditionally, that they will not come to Jesus Christ. Therefore our job, one of our Millennium duties will be to help people overcome and bridge that fear. God's hesed lovingkindness is this unconditional, unlimited, unfailing, unending, everlasting love. And the moment we can help those in the Millennium to understand God loves them in that way, God loves them so much that He gave them the gift of Christ's life, who died for them on the cross, and whose hesed love endures forever, it's going to be easier for them to trust God with their lives and have the faith that's needed.

So let's, let that profound truth, first of all, serve to help you. Keep in mind that God's love is unfailing, it's redeeming, it's unconditional. Let that sink into your hearts. And then let it transform your lives. And finally, let's be people who are quick to give thanks, quick to tell our stories of redemption, and quick to share God's hesed love with others.