When the LORD reveals his Presence to Moses in the 34th Chapter of Exodus, he proclaims that he abounds in steadfast love, as captured by the Hebrew word hesed.

When I think of examples of hesed, I think of my mother watching for me to get off my school bus when I was in Kindergarten and First Grade.

One time, I didn’t get off!

Why?

It was a rainy day. Rain drops smeared my vision out of my window. Steam on the window further blurred my vision. Despite my frantic efforts, I couldn’t see clearly where the bus was. By the time I realized that my bus had reached my stop, it was too late to get off. (Isaiah 6:9-10; Matthew 13:13-15).

Fortunately, the school bus driver was able to swing past my bus stop again a few minutes later.

To 5-year-old me, those few minutes seemed an eternity (2 Peter 3:8).

Fortunately, when we got back to my bus stop, there was my mother!

She’d noticed that I didn’t get off. She’d raced out to where my bus would be coming back. She was standing in the rain, waiting to make sure I was safe, and to welcome me home.

Similarly, we can always depend on the LORD to help us when he notices we’ve gone astray. Why? Because he abounds in love and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6).

As Jesus taught us, the LORD is a Good Shepherd who tirelessly seeks sheep who have gone astray, and who faithfully carries them home. (Luke 15:3-6).

And, as I learned from my mother’s abounding love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6), the LORD hurries to find us when we’ve gone astray. He stands in “the rain” that enters our life and that keeps us from seeing what we should do. (1 Corinthians 13:12). He makes sure we are safe. And he joyfully welcomes us home. (Luke 15:3-6).

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For more of my thoughts about my mother showing hesed, please read my blog “My Mother Watching for My Bus”.

For more of my thoughts about the hesed of the LORD God, please read my blogs “The Hesed of the LORD Endures Forever”, “Hesed Saves and Nurtures Baby Moses”, “Hesed Saves Israel—Passover”, “Hesed Nurtures Israel—From the Red Sea to Mount Sinai”, “Hesed Nurtures Israel—Mount Sinai”, “Hesed Establishes the Work of Moses’s Hands—Mount Nebo”, “Hesed Blesses Forever—David”, “Walking Humbly With Hesed—Micah”, “Hoping in Hesed—Jeremiah”, “Hesed Returns Israel to Jerusalem”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed—The Vision of Isaiah”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Fulfilling the Law of Moses and the Prophets”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Sowing the Ideals of the Law of Moses and the Prophets”, and “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Saving Lost Sheep, Lost Coins, and Lost Sons”.

For more about my mother, please read my blog “My Mother’s Preaching and Teaching” and the passage “Moses’ Mother Saves Him” in my book The Promised Land, at pages 81-82, together with its endnotes 1 & 2 about my own mother.