Hesed–God’s Sticky Love

Recently I listened to a teaching by my friend and mentor, Dr. Wilder, on the Hebrew word, hesed. It touched me deeply and it’s something we all need to think about. Dr. Wilder tells a story that is personal to him. I’d heard him share it long ago, but again the story moved me in a deep way. It sticks in my mind and reminds me to love others the way God loves. Here is my synopsis of the teaching and the story:

What is God’s sticky love?

In the Old Testament there is a word that is very difficult to translate into English. We try, but we fall short of the depth of the meaning. This word is throughout the Psalms and is used 248 times in the Old Testament. Paul struggles to show its depth of meaning in the New Testament with the Greek word ‘agape.’  This word is “hesed.” It is most often translated as mercy or loving kindness, but can also mean grace, kindness, and love. God is so full of this word that He “heseded” the world so much that He gave His only Son.” It is used in Hosea 6:6, 10:12, and Micah 6:8 to tell us how the world will know we are His if we walk in this hesed.

We might not notice when hesed flows through us to others.

Paul’s attempt to describe the Hebrew word with a Greek one in 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that hesed is more important than the gifts, prophecies, and miracles. C. S. Lewis tells us in Four Loves that it is the only love that can be commanded. But the command is to have love that endures, sticks it out, and never gives up. We will know in our lives when hesed has touched us, but probably notice less when it flows through us to others.

Here is Dr. Wilder’s excellent story that illustrates the depths of hesed—God’s enduring, sticky, merciful, grace-filled Love.

“When I (Dr. Wilder) was about 19, I went to work in a camp that allowed seniors from the city to enjoy a week in the countryside with trees and flowers. One lady at the camp was very annoying. There was a special line at meals for those using walkers and that line was shorter. When the bell rang for people to begin going through the line, this lady rushed into the shorter line and knocked over the people with walkers. She demanded her food and then gulped it down as soon as she received it. Counselors tried to keep her at the back of the line, but it didn’t stop her.

On top of that she stunk to high heaven. It was really bad. She refused to take a shower; she yelled at people and had a short temper. This was a very unpleasant person. Finally seven lady counselors dragged her screaming and kicking into the showers and gave her a shower. It was awful.

Hesed: Seeing and loving the way God does.

That afternoon I was talking to one of the men from the camp. He knew 19 languages; he was dressed nicely, a refined and educated gentlemen who he could talk about many subjects. The lady walked by who had been the bane of the camp. I said to the gentleman how glad we all were that they were able to get her cleaned up. The man then said to me, ‘That lady is my wife.’ He then pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and showed me the tattoo on his arm.

Both he and his wife had been in a concentration camp. Before the camp his wife had been a concert pianist, a sophisticated educated woman. The Nazis had done brain experiments on her. As we sat there together he said, ‘She has been this way ever since we were liberated 30 years ago. People say I should put her in a home. I just can’t do it.’

Then it dawned on me why she knocked people over to get food and why she did not want to go to the showers.”

This is an example I can’t get out of my head.

This is hesed. An example I can’t get out of my head. An example of enduring, unconditional, merciful, patient love. The kind of love that can only come from Jesus.

Hesed, enduring love, is hard to describe with one word. Is it kind? Patient? Long suffering? Is it merciful?  Let’s remember this story and learn to love others with God’s sticky love. As we read the Psalms we can substitute the word hesed where it says mercy. Check a concordance for all the places hesed is used. Think on these things.

“The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in hesed. . .” Numbers 14:18