Monday 12/19/2022

Monday 12/19/2022

Isaiah 63:7-9

Praise and Prayer

7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,

    the deeds for which he is to be praised,

    according to all the Lord has done for us—

yes, the many good things

    he has done for Israel,

    according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

8 He said, “Surely they are my people,

    children who will be true to me”;

    and so he became their Savior.

9 In all their distress he too was distressed,

    and the angel of his presence saved them.

In his love and mercy he redeemed them;

    he lifted them up and carried them

    all the days of old.

Isaiah 63 used the Hebrew word hesed to express God’s steadfast, covenant love, and the Hebrew ahav (also used in Song of Songs 8:6 of human love) to show God’s deeply-felt affection for God’s people. Human feelings come and go, so in human love the more central the emotional, feeling aspect, the more changeable it tends to be. But God’s love is strongly felt (ahav) yet also utterly dependable—it “endures forever” (cf. Psalm 136).