The theme for today is: Hesed.

Psalm 107. A psalm about the power of loyalty. A psalm about the power of love. A psalm about the power of ‘hesed.’

The psalm presents four desperate situations. Situations about loss, hunger, thirst, death, depression, trouble, distress, gloom, rebellion, violence, storms, fear, and destruction. Dire and depressing circumstances. Hopeless situations presented to us four times. If one wasn’t enough.

But after each situation is presented, we hear a beautiful response. A repeated refrain of prayer. “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” A repeated refrain of thanksgiving. “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.” Unfailing love. Hesed.

Hesed is another important Hebrew word. You can find it in 54 of the 150 psalms. You can find it in each of the 5 books of the psalms. And you’ll find it 127 times. Need to go on an uplifting Bible word search? Get to it! Not to mention you can use it the next time you play Boggle (inside joke).

Hesed. What a beautiful word! It represents God’s covenantal loyalty, steadfast love, and kindness toward us. Hesed is what dominates God’s motivations toward us. His faithfulness. His unconditional love. His promises. It’s what dominates the race that God has marked out for us and for Zach. Hesed was initiated by God and will be fulfilled by God. All God all the time. Even during desperate situations. Especially during desperate situations.

The race marked out for us. The race we’ll all complete thanks to God’s hesed. God’s hesed fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God’s hesed embodied in Jesus Christ. The race we run empowered by God’s hesed. The race we’ll win completed by God’s hesed. His hesed is sufficient.

Today’s Updates:

Zach was taken off the ventilator today! They put him back on the trach mask and he’s getting less oxygen than he was on the ventilator. Zach is using more effort to breathe, but his oxygen levels have remained stable. The doctor is happy to see this progress, saying “it’s no small thing that Zach is breathing on his own.” We are excited to see this progress, praise the Lord for the strength he has given to Zach!

Everything else with Zach is the same as yesterday. His level of consciousness remains the same. The doctor is continuing to taper Zach’s sedation and Zach is more active, but still not aware or responding. We continue to pray that Zach’s brain may heal, and that his lungs will continue to improve. Thank you for your prayers and support.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”

(Psalm 107:1)

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love.”

(Psalm 33:18)

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

(Psalm 103:8)

“Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

(Psalm 136:26)