The Steadfast Love of the Lord

I am returning to a series of reflections on David's use of the phrase "steadfast love" in the Psalms. The Psalms are liberally sprinkled with this phrase (translating the Hebrew chesed), and David is not the only psalmist to use it. But I am exploring a hypothesis that David's meditation on this characteristic of God springs from Exodus 34:6, a key passage in God's self-revelation to his people. There in Exodus, Moses had asked God to show Moses God's glory. God replied that he would not do this, for "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." (Ex. 33:20). Instead God would cover Moses with his hand "while my glory passes by ... Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." (33:22-23) And so the next morning, "The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness' ..." (Ex. 34:5-6)

The series began while I was reading through the Psalms specifically locating the appearance of this phrase throughout. As I came to the end of the book yet again, I was refreshed by this steadfast love. It is a key theme of the entire psalter, just as it has become a major theme of Christian praise. And while many of the authors - identified and anonymous - reference steadfast love, David's use is pervasive. And I noted particularly three places where he quotes Exodus 34:6 in its entirely: Psalm 86:15; Psalm 103:8; Psalm 145:8.

The king who was a man after God's own heart, apparently took to heart God's Word. Each King of Israel was to have the Torah written out for him, and read to him, and to reflect upon it. We have no explicit historical statement that David did this, but the Psalms give us some evidence that he did. In any case, his public songs riff on the great theme derived from the highlight of Moses' writing:
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

As we approach Thanksgiving, let us "consider the steadfast love of the Lord" (Ps. 107:43) and
Sing on! 

Next week: God's steadfast love gets even more personal for David.