From the desk of Steve Shultz:
We all need to experience the lovingkingness of God – He's always there to give it, anytime and in any given situation. This word by Tiffany Ann Lewis will help you to open up the door for His lovingkindness to come in.
Let this word, and the Lover of your soul Himself, minister to you exactly where you're at today.
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Tiffany Ann Lewis:
The Sound of Lovingkindness
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust...Psalm 143:8a
I woke up one morning with the phrase, "Cause me to hear Thy Word" in my spirit. I thought the Lord was trying to encourage me with the promises of His Word; reminding me that His Word is something that we can cling to in order to stay afloat in these times of chaos and uncertainty.
I got up and began to look up the Scripture. To my surprise, I couldn't find it. All I could find was Psalm 143:8. Pulling out more books and rolling up my sleeves, I was about to begin a more intense search when I sensed the Lord was telling me that I already found what He had me looking for...His lovingkindness.
As I stopped a moment and pondered, I began to hear the heartbeat of God as I meditated on this Psalm. I heard the sound of His lovingkindness, His loyal love, and I began to understand why I didn't have to look any further.
What Does His Mercy Sound Like?
The Hebrew word in our passage above that is translated as "lovingkindness" is: chesed (Strong's #2617). Chesed is the Old Testament's highest expression for love. It is a love that remains constant regardless of the circumstances. Chesed is translated in English in many different ways: kindness, lovingkindness, mercy, loyalty, love, and unfailing love.
Taking a look at the letters that make up His Word will paint a spiritual picture that can deepen our understanding. It's a beautiful feature that is found in Hebrew. Hebrew is a pictorial language because every Hebrew letter has a pictograph that accompanies it.
Chesed is spelled with the three Hebrew letters: chet – samech – dalet.
The chet is a picture of a fence symbolizing protection or separation. It is also the symbol of life, as it is the first letter of the word for life: chayim. Interestingly, it is the letter eight, a number that represents "new beginnings."
The samech is another letter of support and protection. The ancient pictograph of the samech is that of a prop or support, thus it represents God's support. The circular shape of the samech can be seen as a picture of God, our support, who has no beginning and no end. This center letter is seen by the sages as a picture of the heart of God where one can reside and be protected by the strong outer circle.
The dalet is a picture of a door or a pathway, a porthole, you might say. Because the dalet is the last letter in the word for lovingkindness (chesed), we can picture ourselves walking through that door and into the next word.
In John 10:7, Jesus releases one of His seven "I Am" proclamations and says, "...Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." Therefore, spiritually speaking, the dalet of God's chesed [lovingkindness] is a porthole, a doorway, opening to the attribute of God that our soul is so thirsty for.
You see, throughout Scripture, the word chesed is paired with other words to describe an attribute of our Great God's lovingkindness. This is called a hendiadys.
For example, when chesed is paired with truth ('emet) in Exodus 34:6, "And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness [chesed] and truth,'" the phrase means true/faithful love or true/faithful kindness.
When chesed is paired with forgiving (nasa) in Numbers 14:18a, "The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy [chesed], forgiving iniquity and transgression..." it describes God's love/kindness as being forgiving.
In Psalm 103:4 chesed is paired with the word that describes God's tender mercy (racham): "Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness [chesed] and tender mercies." Here, it gives us a description of God's love with motherly overtones.
Spiritually speaking, we can walk into all of these qualities of God through the door of His lovingkindness. Although it's not in our key text, I felt God's mercy was the sound He was causing me to hear. You see, the mercy (racham) of God does make a sound for those who have ears tuned into His Spirit to hear. Racham (Strong's #7356) comes from a root which has the meaning of love deeply, have mercy, have tender affection, and be to compassionate. Yet, in Scripture, it also means womb.
Now, a child growing in his or her mother's womb can hear the parent's heartbeat. The sound of the mother's heartbeat creates a steady rhythm of love 24/7 in the unborn baby's ears.
This is a sound I need to hear when my soul is screaming. This is the sound of lovingkindness that I desire the Lord to cause me to hear. You see, actually hearing His lovingkindness is a bit different than reading that His Word never fails. Hearing His heart beating with a love that would rather die than live without us quiets my screaming soul.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). Ephesians 2:4-5
Holy Spirit, cause us to hear the sound of Your lovingkindness and not the lies of the enemy. Amen and amen.
Tiffany Ann Lewis
Dancing With the Flame of the Lord Ministries
Email: tiffanyann@tiffanyannlewis.com
Website: tiffanyannlewis.com
Tiffany Ann Lewis is a prophetic worship leader and Bible teacher with a unique focus on Biblical Hebrew, and whose heart has been passionately awakened by a God who sees us in our shortcomings, loves us in spite of it all, and calls out to us so we can live (Ezekiel 16). Her vision is to create an atmosphere in worship where we can meet with God face to face, where the Spirit of God moves freely, releasing emotional, spiritual and physical healing, and igniting a passion for our Heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus. Tiffany Ann has been ministering for over 10 years in prophetic worship throughout the Body of Christ. She worships with her family at Northway Church in Malta, New York, where she serves on the worship team.
