Day 26: What You Stand On
Read: Psalm 13:1–6
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
— Psalm 13:5 (ESV)
Reflect
Psalm 13 is only six verses long. The first four are lament: "How long, O LORD?" Then verse 5 begins with "But."
"But I have trusted in your steadfast love."
The phrase "steadfast love" translates the Hebrew word hesed. It is one of the great words of the Old Testament, and it is hard to put into a single English word. Hesed is covenant loyalty. It is God binding himself to his people by promise, and then keeping that bond no matter what. It is not a mood. It is not affection that comes and goes. It is love that has committed itself and will not let go.
Notice the "I" in this verse. It is emphatic: "But I, in your steadfast love, I have trusted." The psalmist is planting his feet. And the trust is described as something settled, something already in place. He is standing on it while the lament is still going on.
That is important. The psalm does not say, "Once my troubles were over, I trusted." It puts lament and trust side by side. "How long?" and "I have trusted" live in the same short psalm.
You do not have to stop asking hard questions in order to trust God. Hesed is what holds when your feelings don't.
Across Scripture
God proclaimed himself "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6). Lamentations says, "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases" (Lamentations 3:22–23). Psalm 136 repeats "for his steadfast love endures forever" twenty-six times. When Zechariah praised God at John the Baptist's birth, he spoke of God remembering "his holy covenant" and showing mercy (Luke 1:72).
Sit With It
Lament and trust live in one psalm. Say both today: "How long?" and "I have trusted."
Pray
I stand on your steadfast love today.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.