My soul still remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:20-23. NKJV.

Mercies, chesedh; Strongs#2617: mercies (chesedh) may be the most essential word in the OT describing God’s character to us. Chesedh can be translated “covenant love” or “steadfast love.” It is linked with compassion (Ps. 103:4), truth and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6), and goodness (Ps. 23:6). Mercy describes the Father’s acute emotional yearning for a wayward people.

In the great blessing of God’s “mercies are new every morning,” this text suggests we need His mercies more often than we may think, whether we feel weak or strong.

In this word, we see His compassion toward us even when we deserve punishment, His commitment to restore us even though we deserve to endure the consequences of our sin, and His covenant of love expressed at the point of our greatest foolishness.

Where grace emphasizes the freeness of God’s love toward us, mercy stresses the freeing of our lives from the misery of our disobedience. The Father’s chasadh is everlasting (Isa. 54:8).