God’s Relentless And Steadfast Love

“Save me in your steadfast love!” Psalm 31:16

The Bible is a story of God’s undeserved, gracious, and generous love. God is under no obligation to rescue us, but he chooses to do so and takes the initiative to bring it about. As the story of salvation develops throughout the Bible, this rescuing love of God is referred to in various terms, but the main one is the Hebrew word hesed. The entire history of God’s relationship with Israel and Jesus’ message can be summarized in terms of hesed.

Hesed is God’s steadfast love—the consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, one-way love of God. It turns up regularly in the Old Testament, particularly in the Psalms, but it is not just an Old Testament concept. Rather, it points to the fullness of God’s love shown in giving up his Son Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus, God has and is actively reaching into our chaos, our sin, our pain, and our confusion and taking hold of us. God is active and initiates the relationship with us. And when we are grasped through his steadfast love (hesed), we are secure, not driven away or lost. Rather, we are being lifted out and brought to new life. We have been given life now, and we will be given eternal new life by Jesus at the end. As Jesus told us, “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).