חסד
This week as I have been thinking about “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy” I keep being drawn to the Hebrew word “Hesed” (or Khesed). It is translated into English as loyalty, loving kindness, covenant love, and mercy. In all instances it has the inference of commitment. It is the word traditionally translated as “mercy” in Psalm 23.
Psalm 23:6 (KJV) 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
I think it is amazing that hesed can mean both loyalty and mercy. I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising. God has committed to be loyal to me, I am a sinful being, and therefore God has committed himself, in a way, to be merciful.
Isn’t that the way it is with human relationships? It is much easier to forgive someone, at least the minor offences, to whom you are committed. That is what the marriage covenant is about, at least in some way. In fact all love is about forgiveness.
Paul writing about love says to the Corinthians:
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)
Committing to any relationship implies committing to mercy. After all, is there any human we can be in relationship with who is not going to require our forgiveness at some point? Is there any human relationship that we can be in where we won’t need to be forgiven?
God asks us to be merciful to one another, to be loyal to His family. It isn’t too much to ask since after all there is no one who is going to test our loyalty as much as we test God’s.
I praise God that he knew what He was getting Himself into when He committed His loyalty to us sinful creatures.
Mark Wallace
0 comments:
Post a Comment