Quotations from Scripture and Other Writings on Steadfast Love
Quotes: Steadfast Love
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.” 6The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
They refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them; but they stiffened their necks and determined to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them.
For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Surely goodness and mercy [ḥesed] shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Do not, O Lord, withhold
your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
keep me safe for ever.
For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness extends to the clouds.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
…Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
But let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
For the Lord will not reject for ever.
Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
Rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness (ḥesed),
and to walk humbly with your God?
But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,
But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
…God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance…
One can also gain some sense of the "variegated" meaning of ḥesed by observing the Biblical effects or associations of ḥesed on individuals (some contexts speak of Israel) — drawn by God’s ḥesed (Jer 31:3), preserved by God’s ḥesed (Ps 40:11), revived according to God’s ḥesed (Ps 119:88), comforted by God’s ḥesed (Ps 119:76), looking for forgiveness of one’s sins through God’s ḥesed (Ps 51:1), receiving mercy through God’s ḥesed (Israel = Isa 54:8), heard by God on the basis of His ḥesed (Ps 119:149), to be pondered in worship (Ps 48:9), expecting God’s ḥesed when in affliction (Ps 42:7,8), crowned with God’s ḥesed (Ps 103:4).
Secular Quotes on Ḥesed or Steadfast Love
Ḥesed, Loving-kindness, steadfast love, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, loyalty
it is not merely love, but loyal love; not merely kindness, but dependable kindness; not merely affection, but affection that has committed itself.
The word ḥesed…[is] the descriptor par excellence of God in the Old Testament. The word speaks of a completely undeserved kindness and generosity done by a person who is in a position of power. This was the Israelites’ experience of God. He revealed himself to them when they were not looking for him, and he kept his covenant with them long after their persistent breaking of it had destroyed any reason for his continued keeping of it. …Unlike humans, this deity was not fickle, undependable, self-serving, and grasping. Instead he was faithful, true, upright, and generous—always.
Ḥesed is a bone-weary father who drives through the night to bail his drug-addict son out of jail. Ḥesed is a mom who spends day after thankless day spoon-feeding and wiping up after a disabled child. Ḥesed is an unsung pastor’s wife whose long-suffering, tearful prayers keep her exhausted husband from falling apart at the seams. Ḥesed is love that can be counted on, decade after decade. It’s not about the thrill of romance, but the security of faithfulness.
Pray for this experience: “Show Your marvelous lovingkindness” (Ps. 17:7). He will do it! He will bring you up, out, and through—not necessarily in the way you would like to come, but in the best way.
Just as compassion is the wish that all sentient beings be free of suffering, loving-kindness is the wish that all may enjoy happiness. As with compassion, when cultivating loving-kindness it is important to start by taking a specific individual as a focus of our meditation, and we then extend the scope of our concern further and further, to eventually encompass and embrace all sentient beings.
Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.
To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
Kindness is loving people more than they deserve.
And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had more of a tendency to look for people who live by kindness, tolerance, compassion, a gentler way of looking at things.
Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.
When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people.
The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: the Christian, trying to treat everyone kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on
—including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.
We are never more like Jesus than when we are choked with compassion for others.
Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence or learning.
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.
I choose kindness…I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
He who is merely just is severe.
Cowards are cruel, but the brave Love mercy, and delight to save.
The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
That God will forgive may, indeed, be established as the first and fundamental truth of religion; for though the knowledge of his existence is the origin of philosophy, yet, without the belief of his mercy, it would have little influence upon our moral conduct.
Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.
People need loving the most when they deserve it the least.
Faults are thick where love is thin.
The greatest happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves, or rather loved in spite ourselves.
Love doesn’t give a person what they deserve, but what they need.
It is not how much you do, but how much Love you put into the doing that matters.
A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things.
Love has no errors, for all errors are the want for love.
If love is the soul of Christian existence, it must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue. Thus, for example, justice without love is legalism; faith without love is ideology; hope without love is self-centeredness; forgiveness without love is self-abasement; fortitude without love is recklessness; generosity without love is extravagance; care without love is mere duty; fidelity without love is servitude. Every virtue is an expression of love. No virtue is really a virtue unless it is permeated, or informed, by love.
To say that God loves me is a familiar notion indeed, but to pursue, know and experience His love is a rare preoccupation.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
The word is used only in cases where there is some recognized tie between the parties concerned. It is not used indiscriminately of kindness in general, haphazard, kindly deeds; this is why Coverdale was careful to avoid using the word ‘kindness’ in respect of God’s dealings with his people Israel. The theological importance of the word chesed is that it stands more than any other word for the attitude which both parties to a covenant ought to maintain towards each other….God’s loving-kindness is that sure love which will not let Israel go. Not all Israel’s persistent waywardness could ever destroy it. Though Israel be faithless, yet God remains faithful still.
Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love.
To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.
The time you spend alone with God will transform your character and increase your devotion. Then your integrity and godly behavior in an unbelieving world will make others long to know the Lord.
The art of motherhood involves much silent, unobtrusive self-denial, an hourly devotion which finds no detail too minute.
Soldiers, when committed to a task, can’t compromise. It’s unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it’s been done.
This, and this alone, is Christianity, a universal holiness in every part of life, a heavenly wisdom in all our actions, not conforming to the spirit and temper of the world but turning all worldly enjoyments into means of piety and devotion to God.
I never force myself to be devout except when I feel so inspired, and never compose hymns of prayers unless I feel within me real and true devotion.
I’m a very hard-line, angry atheist. Yet I am fascinated by the concept of devotion.
Be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, you build the trust of those who are present.
“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
“Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
— I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
— I shall fear only God.
— I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
— I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
— I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”
“He’s not safe, but he’s good (referring to Aslan, the Lion, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)”
“You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others… In this world so filled with problems, so constantly threatened by dark and evil challenges, you can and must rise above mediocrity, above indifference. You can become involved and speak with a strong voice for that which is right.”
Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.
Enlightened leadership is spiritual if we understand spirituality not as some kind of religious dogma or ideology but as the domain of awareness where we experience values like truth, goodness, beauty, love and compassion, and also intuition, creativity, insight and focused attention.
An act of goodness is of itself an act of happiness. No reward coming after the event can compare with the sweet reward that went with it.
God seeth different abilities and frailties of men, which may move His goodness to be merciful to their different improvements in virtue.William Law
Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.
Bless the Lord, My Soul
By James Montgomery
O bless the Lord, my soul!
His grace to thee proclaim!
And all that is within me join
To bless His holy name!
O bless the Lord, my soul!
His mercies bear in mind!
Forget not all His benefits!
The Lord to thee is kind.
He will not always chide;
He will with patience wait;
His wrath is ever slow to rise,
And ready to abate.
He pardons all thy sins;
Prolongs thy feeble breath;
He healeth thine infirmities,
And ransoms thee from death.
He clothes thee with His love;
Upholds thee with His truth;
And like the eagle He renews
The vigor of thy youth.
Then bless His holy name,
Whose grace hath made thee whole,
Whose lovingkindness crowns thy days!
O bless the Lord, my soul!
Awake, My Soul, to Joyful Lays
by Samuel Medley (1782)
Awake, my soul, to joyful lays,
And sing thy great Redeemer’s praise;
He justly claims a song from me —
His lovingkindness, O how free!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how free!
He saw me ruined in the fall,
Yet loved me notwithstanding all;
He saved me from my lost estate —
His lovingkindness, O how great!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how great!
Though numerous hosts of mighty foes,
Though earth and hell my way oppose,
He safely leads my soul along —
His lovingkindness, O how strong!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how strong!
When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,
Has gathered thick and thundered loud,
He near my soul has always stood —
His lovingkindness, O how good!
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness, O how good!
Often I feel my sinful heart
Prone from my Jesus to depart;
But though I have him oft forgot,
His lovingkindness changes not.
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness changes not.
Soon I shall pass the gloomy vale,
Soon all my mortal powers must fail;
O! may my last expiring breath
His lovingkindness sing in death.
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness sing in death.
Then let me mount and soar away
To the bright world of endless day;
And sing with raptures and surprise,
His lovingkindness in the skies.
Lovingkindness, lovingkindness,
His lovingkindness in the skies.
