Podcast Summary: Simply Put – "Hesed"

Host: Barry Cooper
Date: October 14, 2025
Episode Theme:
This episode explores the deep meaning of the Hebrew word "hesed," a vital biblical term that encapsulates God's steadfast love and faithfulness toward His people. Barry Cooper helps listeners unpack the nuances of hesed, its translation challenges, its centrality in the Old Testament, and its practical significance for believers today.

Main Theme

Barry Cooper explains "hesed," a rich Hebrew word often translated as steadfast love, loving-kindness, mercy, and loyalty. He describes how this one word is foundational for understanding God’s relationship with His people and models how believers are to relate to others.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding Hesed (00:00–01:10)

• Translation Challenges: Hesed appears around 250 times in the Old Testament and is difficult to express with a single English word.
  • "You may see it translated as mercy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, loyalty. There's no single English word that quite gets it..." (00:12)
• Within Relationships: Hesed describes loving actions within a committed relationship or covenant.
  • Applies to both human relationships and God’s relationship with His people.

2. Hesed in Human Relationships (01:11–02:00)

• Beyond Feelings: It's not just an emotional commitment but extends to acts of love and service owed within the community.
• Biblical Example—Micah 6:8:
  • "What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love kindness [hesed], and to walk humbly with your God?" (01:24)
• Parable Connection:
  • Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan demonstrates that hesed should be extended to all, not just fellow believers.

3. Hesed Originates with God (02:01–02:40)

• Divine Initiative:
  • "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
  • We embody hesed only because God has shown it to us.
• Crucial for Believers: Understanding God’s hesed is vital to reciprocate and reflect that love.

4. Biblical Foundations: Exodus, Lamentations, Psalms (02:41–05:06)

• Exodus 34:6–7:
  • Even after Israel’s idolatry, God proclaims Himself as "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (02:55) and keeps that love for thousands.
• Lamentations:
  • "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases… They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness…" (03:28)
  • Written amid destruction and exile, yet affirms God's unending hesed.
• Conditional Restoration:
  • "If his people turn back to him, the Lord will not cast off forever… according to the abundance of his hesed steadfast love." (03:50)

5. Psalm 136 – The Deep and Wide Hesed (05:07–05:54)

• Constant Refrain:
  • "His hesed endures forever" closes every verse, underlining the unbreakable nature of God’s love.
• Broader Implications:
  • Creation, providence, deliverance – all flow from God’s hesed.
  • "He remembered his people in their low estate because of His Hesed. And Christ went to the cross because of His Hesed." (05:46)

6. Hesed in Christ and for Believers (05:55–07:25)

• The Cross:
  • Jesus’s sacrifice was the ultimate expression of hesed—his loyalty, kindness, and mercy were so steadfast that He endured suffering for our sake.
  • "He endured the very worst that we could devise for him so that we could be clothed in his perfect Hesed faithfulness…" (06:24)
• God’s Self-Commitment:
  • God, having bound Himself to His people by covenant, cannot fail in hesed.
  • "Our hope that God will love us to the uttermost and forever is... founded on God's ability to keep being God." (06:58)
• Assurance for the Believer:
  • "If you've trusted in Christ alone… then you can be sure that the Lord's goodness and Hesed will follow you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (07:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Translation:
  • "There's no single English word that quite gets it, which is why some translators have used more than one: steadfast love, loyal love, loving-kindness." (00:18)
• On Hesed’s Consistency:
  • "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, according to the writer of Lamentations, not even when his people rebel against him." (03:13)
• On God’s Faithfulness:
  • "Our hope that God will love us to the uttermost and forever is not founded on our ability to keep his commands, but rather it's founded on God's ability to keep being God." (06:58)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:12 – Translation struggles and range of meanings for hesed
• 01:24 – Micah 6:8 and the call to love kindness
• 02:18 – Jesus' teaching on loving others
• 02:29 – "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19)
• 02:55 – God’s self-revelation in Exodus 34:6–7 after the Golden Calf incident
• 03:28 – Lamentations: steadfast love in a time of judgment
• 03:50 – Restoration based on God’s hesed, not people’s goodness
• 05:12 – Psalm 136: creation and deliverance due to hesed
• 05:46 – Christ’s cross as the ultimate hesed
• 06:58 – The foundation of our hope: God’s faithfulness
• 07:17 – Personal assurance for believers about God’s enduring hesed

Tone and Language

Barry Cooper’s delivery is conversational, warm, and gently didactic, making deep theological concepts accessible without academic jargon. He links biblical passages to contemporary experience and uses illustrations to bring out the practical dimensions of hesed.

Conclusion

This episode equips listeners with a clear, meaningful grasp of hesed—God’s unwavering, covenantal love—grounding Christian hope in God's reliability rather than mere human faithfulness. It reveals how this biblical concept shapes both how we receive God’s love and how we extend it to others.