Oh, give thanks to the Lord , for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalms 118:1 NKJV
הֹודוּ לַיהוָה כִּי־טֹוב כִּי לְעֹולָם חַסְדֹּֽו׃
Strong’s H2617 – checed
From חָסַד (H2616)
The KJV translates Strongs H2617 in the following manner: mercy (149x), kindness (40x), lovingkindness (30x), goodness (12x), kindly (5x), merciful (4x), favour (3x), good (1x), goodliness (1x), pity (1x), reproach (1x), wicked thing (1x).
חֶסֶד cheçed, kheh’-sed; from H2616; kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opposition) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty:—favour, good deed(-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.
[Godly mercy is not passive – it is active. It is not simply an exchange of forgiveness for sacrifice, that is religion. It is an exchange of His active participation in our lives for our belief and surrender, that is Christ. God’s ways are quite different than the ways of men.
His mercy endures forever towards us – we cannot escape it no matter what we do – because His mercy is poured out the same to all, but is received quite differently depending on our hearts.
He is merciful enough to chasten us when we are in rebellion, He is merciful enough to forgive us when we are repentant, and He is merciful enough to surrender the reprobate to their true desires.
This is why the very same truth of the Word of God can produce revelation in one, conviction in another, and rejection in yet another. His mercy, His Truth, His way does not change, it endures forever, it abides, it is eternal and victorious.]
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13 NKJV