Hesed in Every Season of Life (God’s Hesed • Lovingkindness – part 4)

While we are promised difficulty and trials in this life, as Christians, we can stand firm upon the mercy, grace, supply, peace, joy, and life of Jesus Christ. Regardless of the season of life you may be in (good, bad, or ugly), we must remember that God’s hesed (lovingkindness) is still available and surrounds us.

In this episode, Nathan talks about the tremendous reality that even for ancient Israel, God’s hesed was celebrated in every season of life—the good and the difficult—and when we truly understand the hesed of God, we too should cry out “Your hesed (lovingkindness, steadfast love, faithfulness, mercy), O God, endures forever!”

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The promise of difficulty

Have you ever blamed God for the difficulty in your life?

It is easy to fault God for every struggle, circumstance, and hardship we may face, but we must remember that Christianity doesn’t preserve you from problems (oftentimes, it gives you more … since you’ve entered into a spiritual battle); rather, Jesus gives you the hope, joy, and ability to endure well and triumph through the trials.

We are promised difficulty in this life:

• John 16:33 – “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
• James 1:2–4 – Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
• 2 Corinthians 4:8–12 – … in every way afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.

Yet in every difficulty, trial, hardship, or circumstance, God promises to “never leave or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5–6), to be your strength (2 Corinthians 12:9–10), and to be your peace (John 14:27). As Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27).

Psalm 136

Psalm 136 is one of my favorites. It is the “Psalm of Hesed,” for the Hebrew word hesed appears in every verse.

In the last several episodes, we have talked about the amazing Hebrew word hesed, often translated as:

• love, kindness, grace, mercy, faithfulness, favor, loyalty, goodness, lovingkindness, steadfast love, faithful love, devotion, gracious covenant, covenant loyalty, loving instruction, covenant friendship, beauty
• Or as Michael Card so beautifully defined, “When the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.”⁽¹⁾

As you read through Psalm 136, you discover that the psalmist is walking through the history of Israel (all of it, the good, bad, difficult, and ugly) and freshly seeing it through the perspective of God’s hesed (His faithfulness, mercy, and lovingkindness).

In short, God’s hesed is for every season of life.

Psalm 136 – a reflection for every season of life (the good, bad, and ugly)

Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good, for His hesed endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for His hesed endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His hesed endures forever.
To Him who alone does great wonders, for His hesed endures forever;
To Him who made the heavens with skill, for His hesed endures forever;
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His hesed endures forever;
To Him who made the 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 hesed endures forever.
To Him who struck the Egyptians through their firstborn, for His hesed endures forever,
Then brought Israel out from their midst, for His hesed endures forever,
With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for His hesed endures forever.
To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His hesed endures forever,
And made Israel pass through the midst of it, for His hesed endures forever,
But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for His hesed endures forever.
To Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His hesed endures forever;
To Him who struck great kings, for His hesed endures forever,
And killed mighty kings, for His hesed endures forever:
Sihon, king of the Amorites, for His hesed endures forever,
And Og, king of Bashan, for His hesed endures forever,
And gave their land as an inheritance, for His hesed endures forever,
Even an inheritance to Israel His servant, for His hesed endures forever.
Who remembered us in our low estate, for His hesed endures forever,
And has snatched us from our adversaries, for His hesed endures forever;
Who gives food to all flesh, for His hesed endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His hesed endures forever.

We, too, need to remember God’s hesed in every season of our lives.

I would strongly encourage you to map out your own history (whether in bullet points, write out a broad overview, or show it visually with high peaks and low valleys)—and then pray and ask God to give you His perspective on your life. See your life (all of it: the good, bad, difficult, and ugly) in light of God’s hesed. Even when you go through trial or trauma, difficulty or delight, pain or pleasure, we can confidently declare like the ancient Israelites seeing their history in light of God’s hesed that, “His hesed endures forever.”

Continually Remind Ourselves of His Lovingkindness (hesed)

We should always keep God’s hesed in view (translated below as “lovingkindness”). The psalms are full of this reminder …

• Psalm 17:6–7 – I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; incline Your ear to me, hear my speech. Marvelously show Your lovingkindnesses, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand from those who rise up against them.
• Psalm 23:6 – Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.
• Psalm 25:6 – Remember, O Yahweh, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, for they have been from of old.
• Psalm 25:10 – All the paths of Yahweh are lovingkindness and truth to those who guard His covenant and His testimonies.
• Psalm 26:3 – For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.
• Psalm 31:7 – I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul …
• Psalm 31:21 – Blessed be Yahweh, for He has [wondrously shown] His lovingkindness to me …
• Psalm 32:10 – … but he who trusts in Yahweh, lovingkindness shall surround him.
• Psalm 33:5 – He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the lovingkindness of Yahweh.
• Psalm 33:18 – Behold, the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear Him, on those who wait [depend] for His lovingkindness …
• Psalm 33:22 – Let Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, be upon us, as we wait for You [for we put our hope in you].
• Psalm 36:5 – Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, is in the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
• Psalm 36:7 – How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the sons of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
• Psalm 36:10 – Continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
• Psalm 40:11 – You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me.
• Psalm 44:26 – Rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
• Psalm 51:1 – Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the abundance of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
• Psalm 52:1 – Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
• Psalm 52:8 – But as for me … I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
• Psalm 57:10 – For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens and Your truth to the skies.
• Psalm 59:16 – But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; and I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.
• Psalm 63:3 – Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will laud [glorify] You.
• Psalm 66:20 – Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer nor His lovingkindness from me.
• Psalm 86:5 – For You, Lord, are good, and by nature forgiving, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.
• Psalm 86:13 – For Your lovingkindness toward me is great …
• Psalm 89:1 – I will sing of the lovingkindnesses of Yahweh forever; from generation to generation I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.
• Psalm 89:14 – Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You.
• Psalm 90:14 – O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
• Psalm 103:11, 17 – For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. … the lovingkindness of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children …
• Psalm 106:1 – Praise Yah! Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good; for His lovingkindness endures forever.
• Psalm 117:2 – For His lovingkindness prevails over us, and the truth of Yahweh is everlasting. Praise Yah!
• Psalm 143:8 – Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; for I trust in You; cause me to know the way in which I should walk; for to You I lift up my soul.

FOOTNOTES

(1) Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness (Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018), 5

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Question: How have you experienced God’s “hesed” in different seasons of your life?