- Chesed and a Song
Psalm 42:8
Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night his song shall be with me,
And my prayer unto the God of my life.
The Lord promises that He will be with us day and night: “with” meaning He will forgive, save, deliver, protect, provide, care for, and abundantly share His grace and mercy. The result of this wonderful promise is that I will pray to the God who is life, who gives me His life, who takes care of my life because He is so good.
The intriguing wording of the promise, “command his lovingkindness,” gives us a picture of “chesed,” (steadfast love, faithful love, committed love) as an agent or a messenger acting at the command or behest of God. “Chesed” does what the Lord tells him to do and fulfills the mission on which he is sent. The good news is that this “chesed” is sent to us when activity is going one, in the daytime. “Chesed” is an active thing with a personality that gets involved in the daily affairs of our lives. When the Lord sees a need He commands “Love” to act and do something remarkable and saving on our behalf. It is a comforting image for us to imagine “God’s Love” and core character trait as a servant of our God waiting to jump at the chance to do something for our benefit. That’s why we pray to this God; He is so great.
The nighttime is generally a time for rest and repose, reflection and restoration. During that time the Lord commands His “song” to be with me. It could be a love song to reassure me; it could be a lullaby song to bring rest and peace; it could be a victory song to celebrate the joyous victories over our enemies; it could be a praise song to lift the Lord up in praise and glory and with it lift our spirits. The song may differ on different nights depending on the need and the circumstance. But, whatever the song, it will be sent by God to be with me and give me what I need for that night: comfort, hope, peace, reassurance, restoration, or joy.
With this kind of confidence in God’s promise that He will command for me just what I need at the right time, I am encouraged and emboldened to pray to the God who is in charge of my life for good; for He is so good. His lovingkindness (chesed) endures forever.