Doves On Distant Oaks

Are We Not All Beggars?

I tend to jump around from one version to another when I study passages from the Bible. That's because I understand the difficulties of translating from archaic texts. Sometimes it's difficult to translate a Hebrew or Greek word or phrase exactly into English—there may be no word that fits it. So, I like to see how different translations express it.

In doing so, I sometimes come upon words that jump out at me and touch me in a special way. One of those words is "lovingkindness." This phrase comes from the book of Jeremiah in the New King James version:

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. (Jeremiah 31:3)

As an writer, I should probably object to lovingkindness as a word. It's really just a combination of two words and is now considered an archaic expression, arising from it's use in this very verse. The Hebrew word is hesed and has been interpreted as "faithfulness" or "unfailing care" in other versions. However, it seems impossible to express it using just one word. I think "lovingkindness" is a great attempt that expresses God's consistent love for us.

In stumbling on the word "lovingkindness," I discovered Jeremiah had also used a term with an odd translation. The literal translation of the term "of old" means "from afar," though it doesn't have a connotation of distance, rather of time. God is saying to His people of Israel that he has watched over them from the timeless past extending to the furtherest stretch of the future. It arises out of a divine love that is anchored in eternity. It relates to the nature of God’s divine kindness that is the source of God's mercy towards us.

Because it's mercy that we need. We are lost in the wilderness without God’s love for us. Mindless beggars, sorting through the scraps that life gives us, we dupe ourselves into thinking we are building a life by our own efforts. When in truth, we are aimless without His guidance, weak without His strength, broken without His provision. We know he will be there to help us because He has shown us He has through the love He has shown in the past. May we always be able to bring that to our remembrance.

When we begin to struggle. When things don’t go our way. When we begin to wonder if God is really there watching over us or has turned his back because of our sin; we only need to remember what He has done for us in our past. More, what He has done for all mankind from the beginning of time. Then we know He has been and always will be by our side ... if we would only draw near to Him and accept His help.

That’s why, even as these times in which we live are beginning to get darker, we know God has not ceased to love us. Even as we’ve witnessed Christians being executed in foreign lands and the burning of Bibles, we know that He will continue to care for us. We know that the lovingkindness He has displayed of old remains with those who are drawn to Him.

Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted.

– Isaiah 49:13

Keywords: Caring, Kindness, Love, Mercy

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