Devotions

Psalm 130 teaches us how a pilgrim people, forgiven yet fearful in the right way, ascend together toward the dwelling of the covenant LORD, whose mercy redeems fear and restores us a true fear enabling true worship.

Henry Law (1797-1884) was an Anglican priest in the 19th century. He was Dean of Gloucester from 1862 until his death. Perhaps he is most remembered today for his works "Christ is All: The Gospel in the Pentateuch". In this little article, I have reproduced his words concerning the Table of Shew Bread in the OT Tabernacle.

This the 4th study of the use of the word hesed in Hosea. Here we see a people who thought they were worshipping God, and yet He must chastise them for their performative sacrifices that lacked hearts shaped by hesed.

Continuing on with the devotion series of hesed in Hosea, Hosea 6:4 exposes Israel’s dew-like ḥesed. showing how their words of return mask a heart unwilling to submit to the covenant Lord. True repentance is not a moment of emotion but a life shaped by God’s renewing work, as His enduring ḥesed alone can establish the steadfast love He requires of His people.

Hosea 4 marks the turning point of the book. The story of ḥesed that began in a marriage now becomes a trial. The love pledged in Hosea 2:19, “I will betroth you to Me forever, in righteousness and in justice, in ḥesed and in compassion,” now meets a tragic denial. What Hosea once lived in his home is now repeated in God’s courtroom.

This is the first of a planned 5 studies on the use of hesed in Hosea. However, before turning to Hosea, it will help if we have an understanding of what the Bible means by ḥesed. The word appears more than two hundred times across the Old Testament. Most often it is used in covenant contexts where God’s loyalty sustains a people who cannot sustain themselves.

God’s “rest” is not the easing of fatigue but the expression of divine completeness. To “bless” and “sanctify” the seventh day means that He consecrated time itself as a meeting place between Creator and creature. Before any temple stood, time became the first sanctuary. God wrote communion into the calendar.