Have you ever listened to a common saying and realized it may carry more weight than it seemed? Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Psalms 33:22 NIV
[22] May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
May God’s Hesed Be Ours
The psalmist ends on what could be seen as a hopeful, though positive note. It is a request for God’s hesed to rest upon God’s people. Although it sounds formulaic, the psalmist introduces a dependent clause at the end – as though God’s lovingkindness should not be given to us without a reciprocal investment of hope.
Self-Check
How readily do we place our hope on God? What generates the frequency?
Digging Deeper
It is true, there’s a contingency written in the Nougat. Although it may merely be a stylistic device, it also bears an uncanny similarity to the pattern of Y’shua’s request in the Lord’s Prayer: forgive our debts in the manner that we forgive. This may indicate that Y’shua’s model followed a more ancient practice of reciprocity in our relationship with God.
If that’s the case, it invites us to wonder: ‘Should our current level of hope in God actually result in an outpouring of God’s hesed?’ Perhaps not. Not individually nor collectively. Thank God that God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve (see Psalm 103:10-14). Otherwise, we would be in a bind.
And God’s selfless act challenges us to do likewise. To ensure that we offer God’s hesed to others around us, including those whom we believe are undeserving. That’s when it gets a bit challenging. Because those who wrong us are usually so wrong that our first and second instinct is to retaliate in like manner. I know that’s my default reaction. But if our hope is in God, we have the opportunity to respond differently. We can apply the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as we would wish them to do unto us.’
Incidentally, some say the Golden Rule is advocated by other religions too, not only Christianity. So we can live with hope, even as non-believers. While we act, intending someone to pay it forward, as believers, our action may be governed by the desire to please God, and not just for selfish gain. Who knows, our persistent hope might infect someone else.
And so I close with the psalmist’s words, May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
Point to Ponder
What would God’s hesed look like in our daily lives?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
