October 28
Jeremiah 51-52
Psalms 119:41-48
Proverbs 26:3
Hebrews 8:1-6
An Answer
“Let your faithful love come to me, Lord, Your salvation as You promised. Then I can answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in Your word.” Psalm 119:41-42
The Hebrew word for faithful love found in this verse is hesed. There is no one English word that adequately translates its meaning. Hesed is used over 250 times in the Old Testament and most often describes the love God has for His people. Some descriptive adjectives that could be used for hesed are mercy, compassion, love, grace, and faithfulness, but none of them completely convey the depth of its meaning in Hebrew. Got Questions.0rg gives a good explanation of this word and I would encourage you to go to their website to read it. Hesed describes God’s covenant relationship with His people that is loyal and faithful even if they are not faithful to Him. Our salvation is rooted in hesed. His love and affection compelled Him to sacrifice His Only Son to bring about our redemption and restore our relationship with Him. It not only prompted Him to forgive us, but to provide the means to reconcile us to Himself. David acknowledges the hesed of God and believes in the salvation He promised.
The assurance of the depth of God’s love and faithfulness is sufficient to sustain David and give him confidence in the face of any attack. This is just as applicable to our lives as it was for David. Attacks can come from many directions. No matter what taunts are hurled at us, our best defense is always God’s Word. We can trust His Word and His promises. The attack may come from an unbelieving neighbor or coworker. It may come from family members who disagree with us about an issue. The attack could even come from a fellow Christian who has different beliefs. It can also come in our own head from Satan who makes us question what we believe or is telling us lies to make us doubt. When he was tempted in the desert, Jesus Himself gave us the best example to fight off attacks. He certainly could have answered Satan with His own argument about why He was right and Satan was wrong, but as an example to us, He chose to respond to all the attacks with scripture. Our best answer to any attack is always God’s Word. Whether they are coming from Satan or other people, the main purpose behind the attack is usually to sway us, make us doubt, or change our mind. Relying on God’s Word will allow us to remain steady and firm. The person may choose to ignore what we say or not to believe it, but we must be firm in our belief so that they cannot cause us to doubt. If we don’t know the answer to the questions they pose or we don’t know why we believe what we do about the issue, then we need to find the answer. We can go to God’s Word, ask a trusted friend or pastor, and do the research until we figure out what God’s Word says about it. We have to settle the issue in our own minds based on the truth we find in God’s Word. Then we can answer others. They don’t need to know our opinion. They need to know what God says about it. Confidence in His hesed helps us trust and rely on the authority of His Word.
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