This is part of one of my favorite passages in the Bible. A couple of years ago I spent five weeks preaching on Lamentations 3:21-24. I called the short series, ‘A Vocabulary for the Suffering Soul.’ No section of Scripture is so pregnant with vital terms in such a short space, especially for those who suffer. With that said, I offer you this snippet from Lamentations 3:22. Another post on ‘love’ will follow from 1 John 4:8 in the coming days.

Lamentations 3:22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.

This phrase ‘steadfast love’ comes from a very well known and much studied Hebrew word, hesed.  It is translated in many different ways in the English versions of the Bible.  My Bible, the ESV, translates it “steadfast love.”  The KJV translates it “mercies.”  Other translations call it “love” or “great love” or “loyal love or “loving-kindnesses.”

Why are there so many different translations for one word?  The truth is that this word does not really have an equivalent in the English language, and so people have tried to coin phrases that will carry the idea as closely as possible.  Each of these translations brings out some element of the word, but none carries the full meaning.  In fact the word is so loaded with meaning that it is plural.  It is not plural because of number, but because of magnitude.

In my opinion, any valid translation of the word must contain two ideas: covenant-loyalty and covenantal love. For both ideas – loyalty and love are essential to the word (hence the ESV translation, steadfast love). Perhaps ‘covenant-keeping love’ will suffice, but I have no problem with steadfast love, though it doesn’t bring out the idea of covenant as clearly.

It is clear from Scripture and experience that there are different types of love.  This is why the Greek New Testament has three different words that are translated “love.”  The concept of love is so large that it often takes many words to describe it in its different manifestations.  The English vocabulary is limited here.  The Hebrew language has various words to describe love as well.  The word before us now, hesed, is one, and the word that follows it in the second part of verse 22 (translated ‘mercies’) is another.  This is very helpful, and it really gives you an idea of what the prophet is thinking about here.

In the first part of the verse he uses hesed, which I am going to call covenant-keeping love.  In the second part he uses the word racham, which means “tender love,” or “compassionate love” or “familial love.”  The ESV translates this “mercies.”  But the idea is that of how a mother or father looks at their child with compassion.  This is a deep emotional feeling of sympathy of a parent for their child. A clear example of this is Isaiah 49:15

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion (rachem) on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

So, in the whole of the verse, the prophet is thinking of two things about the love of God.  (1) That his covenant-keeping love never ceases and (2) that his parental compassion for his children never comes to an end.

This is a very important distinction.  For what we can see here is that Jeremiah is covering both the objective and the subjective (or emotional) elements of God’s love.  When he thinks of the love of God he thinks of both his objective loyalty to his covenant and his subjective affection toward his children.  Both are absolutely vital if we are to understand what love is.

People are often inclined only to believe in one or the other.  Either they believe that love is something that is totally emotional and subjective, or something that is objective and not emotional at all.  Here Jeremiah is reminding us that love is both.  It can be both emotional and objective.  The balance of the Bible is so breathtaking at times -utter balance.

When I was being counseled before my marriage my pastor said to me something to this effect: ‘You have to realize that in marriage you are committing to love your wife. This doesn’t mean you’re committing to feel a certain way about her, but to act a certain way toward her – to keep your vows.’ What he said to me is absolutely true – he was reminding me of ‘hesed’ – of covenant-keeping love. But if we are to love our wives as Christ loved the church hesed alone is not enough. According to Jeremiah he genuinely feels a familial affection for us. His love is not less than absolute oath-bound commitment – but it is more than that. Ours should be as well.

His oath, his covenant, his blood support us in the whelming flood. But his mercies, his parental compassion, should melt our hearts.

And so we can praise him that he ‘is good; his steadfast love endures forever’ (Ps. 100:5, 106:1, 107:1, 117:2, 118:1, etc, etc) and pray,

 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings (Ps. 17:8)