Inexpressible Quotes

“In the Hebrew mind hesed is always something you do. It is a verb. It is loading wounded people on donkeys, running to greet runaway children, forgiving enormous debts, paying someone who worked an hour as much as the ones who worked all day, giving a party to those who can’t pay you back. It is a resonant response to the overwhelming kindness of the God of Exodus 34, who is full of hesed.”
― Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness

“Hesed is a defining characteristic of God. It is linked to his compassion and graciousness. It is expressed in his willingness to forgive wrongdoing and to take upon himself the sin, rebellion, and wrongdoing of his people. As an expression of his lovingkindness, God allows his people to experience the consequences of their sin, as he promised Moses in Exodus 34:7. Even this is an expression of his hesed. God can be approached boldly based on the confidence we have in this aspect of his revealed nature. He is amazingly kind and loving to his servants as well as to the ungrateful and wicked. He is delighted to show them kindness. Due to this, they marvel that no other god is like their God because of his hesed. The scope of hesed is expanded in the context of worship. It is most often sung, as our hearts resonate sympathetically to the One who created us in his lovingkindness. However, when the reciprocal nature of hesed has been violated we are encouraged in the imprecatory psalms to offer feelings of anger and outrage, trusting in the hesed of the One who knows our hearts and will stand in solidarity with us and act on behalf of the poor. When we are facing despair we can take confidence in all God’s former acts of lovingkindness. Hesed is a standard to which we can appeal. We understand that we can ask, beg, and expect to receive according to the standard of God’s hesed. In light of our inability to keep any of the covenants, God has graciously granted to us a new covenant, based solely on his faithfulness. That covenant came into effect and will be sustained by means of a person Jeremiah refers to as the “Righteous Branch.” He is the incarnation of hesed, full of grace and truth.”
― Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness

“Let’s ask for the grace to be in awe of the God who, when he opened the door of his life to us, had this word consistently on his lips, remembering that even though we have no right to expect anything from him he is pleased to give us everything. He is pleased to open his heart and life to us precisely because he is the God of hesed.”
― Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness

“Let’s let go of the illusion that hesed can be reduced to one English “literal” word and instead see it as a key that can open a door into an entire world—the world of God’s own heart, the world of loving”
― Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness

“The way you respond to the God of Exodus 34, the God of hesed, is to boldly ask him for what you do not deserve and then to stand by and confidently wait for him to be amazed.”
― Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness

“What are the implications for us today of God’s hesed being everlasting and eternal? What kind of confidence might be born in our hearts and minds if we trusted that God’s love, mercy, and kindness will never fail, never leave us in the lurch? What would happen to our deepest lingering fears if we could summon the audacity to believe this promise, a promise that obviously meant so much to Israel?”
― Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness