Chesed … Intentionally

From the Desk of Cheryl Hauer

It’s been a tough few months, but I am getting stronger. Healing takes time, I know, but patience is one area where I often fail miserably. So I rely on the Lord and trust that, as He promised, He is holding me by my right hand and guiding me on the path of life…which makes me think of Psalm 42:8. What a wonderful verse:

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime ... And in the night His song shall be with me ... A prayer to the God of my life ...

Clearly, David wants us to understand that God is not just present in our lives, loving us from afar and having our best interests at heart. He is actively involved, deeply immersed in our existence. The love he describes here is chesed, and we all know what that word means. It’s the extravagant, incomprehensible, unshakable, deeply passionate covenant love that defines God’s very nature.

David says He commands that love surround us, even during the daytime when we are busy and often forgetful of His presence. The word for command is sawa, and it appears over 200 times in the Tanakh, whenever God is giving orders, laying charges, or demanding obedience. Like when He brought the universe into existence, parted the sea, made the sun stand still, or caused the rain to fall. It is the voice of His ultimate authority, and the psalmist says He uses it purposefully, ordering that love to enfold us even when we are too preoccupied to notice. It reminds me of the time I tried to paint a very old piece of wood. I used a wide brush and covered the cracked, dried plank completely, or so I thought. From a distance, it looked fine, but after it dried, a myriad of tiny cracks and holes became visible. I had to take a smaller brush and carefully fill in every blemish. That’s what David means. God’s chesed does more than just cover us; it fills every crack, every hole, every imperfection.

“And in the night,” David says. Now, that’s a different story. It’s in that dark quiet that I become painfully aware of all those cracks and imperfections—everything I should have done and didn’t, or shouldn’t have done and did. My pain seems more acute, my future more uncertain. But David reminds me that God isn’t just present; He is singing. It’s one of several places in the Bible where we see God taking great delight in His children—His disobedient, stubborn, rebellious children—and singing over them! Another flashback…when my son was a baby, we both looked forward to his naptime. Even after he was too old for a bottle, I rocked him to sleep every day, and as we rocked, I sang. We had our favorite lullabies and even long after he was asleep, I continued to sing, my heart filled with joy.  It was very intentional. I wanted him to know how much I cherished him, how very safe he was, that I would never leave him or foresake him, that he was the delight of my life. The same is true with our Father God. With shouts of joy, He cradles us, protects us, and his chesed surrounds us, filling in all those cracks and imperfections. Intentionally,

Blessings and Shalom,

Issachar Community