Hesed

by Michael Card

I re-read this book because in the course of our covenant study, this word has (not surprisingly) made a common re-appearance.  

I LOVE this book.  

I LOVE this word.  

It is a Hebrew word that means so many things, but is often-times summarized as the phrase "loving-kindness".  But truly, there is no accurate word to word translation for Hesed.  

Hesed isn't just an ideal, it is an action.  This quote sums it up the best :

"Hesed is not simply a Hebrew word - it is a Hebrew ideal.  Befitting the more verbal Hebrew mind, it is always looked on as something you do.  You come to understand Hesed not by defining it, but by doing it." pg. 128-9

Each chapter dives a bit deeper into this word, straining to get our hearts around what this word fully means.  Part one focuses on the God of Hesed, part two pulls out people (both in the author's personal life and from the Bible) who either experienced or demonstrated Hesed.  And part three shows how Jesus embodied Hesed to the fullest.  

As the book wraps up the author gives a more full-bodied definition of Hesed and then ends with an awesome section of appendixes.  My favorite being the list of Scriptures in which Hesed is mentioned and/or demonstrated.  He uses the CSB, but you can pull out your Bible and go through and mark them in your favorite translation.

I also read the (very) short and sweet book by Susan J. Heck : A Call to Scripture Memory.  This book doesn't tell you anything you might not have already learned about memorizing, but it is AWESOME in the fact that it is basically a pint-sized cheerleader/encourager you can whip out at any point on your journey.