The Most Important Word in Psalms

The Most Important Word in Psalms When you think about one of your favorite people in the world—maybe a close friend, a parent or grandparent, your partner—how would you describe them in a word? Kind? Patient? Faithful? Stoical? Loving? Funny? Adventurous? But if you take this seriously and try to summarize a friend in a word, you’ll find it’s actually pretty hard to do. One word just isn’t enough to capture the nuances and complexities of someone we know deeply. And if it’s that hard to describe a friend in a word, it would be impossible to summarize who God is in a word. Okay, it is impossible. God doesn’t fit into one language, much less one word. But if we’re going to try, the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament—specifically, the book of Psalms—offers us a great word to use. It’s the word “ḥeseḏ.” In Hebrew, it looks like this… חֶסֶד (ḥeseḏ) …and it means “steadfast love, loving-kindness, or unfailing love.” Way before the book of Psalms was assembled, God used this word to introduce himself to Moses in Exodus. To set the scene, Moses asked God if he could see God’s glory. God basically says, “Your eyes can’t handle it. If you really saw me, you’d die. Here’s another option. You can see my backside.” Let’s hope it was the upper back. (For real though, read it yourself in Exodus 33). Anyway, God places Moses in a little cave-like structure on a mountain and then passes by so Moses can get a glimpse of him. And then God says, “I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love (ḥeseḏ) and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6). Of all the ways God could have described himself, he used this word (along with a few others). Interesting! Ḥeseḏ also shows up in a bunch more places—over 240 times in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. 130 of those instances are in the Psalms. And when you think about the fact that there are only 150 Psalms, that’s a pretty high word-to-Psalm ratio. Probably the best place to get a picture of what the word means is to read Psalm 136, where it shows up in every single verse. Here’s a taste: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love (ḥeseḏ) endures forever” (v.1). This Psalm goes on to describe the ways God provides, rescues, and meets his people where they are. And when God does these things, when he provides or rescues, or when he shows an interest in your life, it’s because of his love.