"chesed" - lovingkindness

If I'm going to worship God, I want to know more about Him, and let Him reveal Himself to me. So, in searching, I come across this great word about God. It's a hebrew word: "chesed" and it means lovingkindness. Honestly, that's the way the word is displayed - as two words welded into one.

Lovingkindness.

Psalm 36:7 - "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings."

This is a fiercely loyal but personal love the Father has for us. Three examples show up in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament...

First, I find it in 1:8. Naomi faces a great tragedy, with the death of her husband and two sons Naomi and her daughters-in-law are mourning and must figure a way to survive in a land that was harsh to the widow. Naomi directs her daughters-in-law that "each of you return to your mother's house," but she gives a chesed blessing: "May the Lord show faithful love to you, as you have to the dead and to me."

The chesed is used again when Naomi realizes the meeting of Ruth and Boaz is an example of God's faithful love (2:20) .

In the third chapter, Boaz is awakened in the middle of the night, finding a meek yet determined Ruth at his feet. He declares her blessed, paralleling her faithful love to the Heavely Father's.

I praise God for His faithful love to me, not only protecting me from panic and overburdening stress, but also in the words to say int he classroom, the ways I can learn to rightly run my family, and the words to read for comfort.