Psalm 136 has an interesting reverse parallel structure. The stanzas feature key words and concepts like this:
“Give thanks” to God (1-3)
“To Him” who created (4-9)
“To Him” who saved Israel (10-22)
“Who” saved Israel (23-24)
“Who” created (25)
“Give thanks” to God (26)
But even more obvious is the fact that every other line repeats the refrain, “for His lovingkindness [hesed] is everlasting!”
That Hebrew word hesed is found over 250 times in the Old Testament. A look at different translations shows a great deal of variety to hesed. Many focus on the aspect of God’s favor: “Lovingkindness” (NASB), “love” (NIV), “mercy” (KJV, NKJV). But many translations also try to include an aspect of God’s faithfulness: “steadfast love” (ESV), “faithful love” (NLT), “loyal love” (NET). One Hebrew scholar says, “It is difficult to convey the full meaning of hesed with just one English phrase. The semantic range is rich and complex” (Renn’s Expository Dictionary of Bible Words). Obviously, hesed is more profound and complicated than simply “love.” We will be able to barely scratch the surface in this article.*
A survey of the major Hebrew resources shows that hesed “denotes kindness, love, loyalty, mercy, most poignantly employed in the context of … the relationship God has with His covenant people” (Mounce’s Expository Dictionary of Bible Words). Hesed is not just God’s occasional kind act, the random moment when God does you a good turn. Instead, it’s God’s committed favor, demonstrated in His keeping His promises, especially with regard to blessing Israel. A phrase I’ve heard some people use is “covenant faithfulness.”
While there are countless examples of God’s hesed, one of the best places to wrap our minds around hesed is in the book of Ruth. When poor grieving Naomi told her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth to return to her people, for she had nothing to offer her, Ruth insisted on staying with and caring for Naomi (Ruth 1:16). Boaz, who observed this selfless act of commitment, called it hesed (Ruth 3:10).
God is characterized by hesed. In Exodus 34:6, God revealed Himself to Moses as, “the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in hesed
truth…” Throughout Scripture, God keeps His benevolent promises to Israel. God assured Israel in Isaiah 54:10, “the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My hesed will not be removed from you.”
God’s hesed is even more noteworthy because it is usually unmerited. Even when God’s people disappoint Him or reject Him, God shows His love to them. In Genesis 32:8-10, though Jacob had been a schemer, He believed God’s promise, and prayed upon his return home, “O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the hesed … which You have shown to Your servant…” God kept His promise to Jacob, though he was undeserving.
Thus, to return to Psalm 136, the psalmist is not merely telling us that God is capable of occasional acts of kindness, but that all of Israel’s history demonstrates that God keeps His promises. He is faithful to His covenant even when His people are undeserving. God rescued Israel from Egyptian bondage by parting the Red Sea, brought them safely through the wilderness, defeated their strong enemies, and gave them the land of milk and honey. As dependable and powerful as God has proven to be toward creation, so He is toward His people.
God has also proven faithful to His people through the rest of their history, through judges and kings, through the captivity and return of the remnant, to the coming of Jesus. And still his faithfulness is proven through His church, until the final consummation of history in the heavenly Jerusalem.
When you can’t count on anything else, you sure can count on God to keep His promises to the faithful! For His hesed is everlasting! —John Guzzetta
*If you want more, some of my favorite mentions of God’s hesed are found in Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 17:7, 25:6, 51:1, 52:8, 89:1-4, Isaiah 54:7-8, 55:3, Lamentations 3:22, Hosea 2:19, Micah 7:18-20.