Describing the Indescribable

How do you describe something which defies description? A moment of joy or pain? Something in nature which just takes your breath away? The most beautiful food you have ever smelled or tasted? Throughout human history people have tried to explain or express the indescribable through words, or pehaps other ways like art, music, or drama.

During our June Psalm Study, we were given the challenge of 'describing the indescribable' when we came across this verse...

Let me hear in the morning

of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust.

Make me know the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8 ESV

Describing steadfast love- strong, constant, never-ending, is mindboggling to start with! Then, looking at other translations of this verse boggles the mind even further. The NIV uses the phrase 'unfailing love'. Other versions talk of 'faithful love' or 'mercy'. The King James seems to have trouble finding an appropriate word, because it mashes two words together, creating the concept of 'lovingkindness'! What is going on?!

The clue lies in David's use of the ancient Hebrew word "Chesedh", which is used in other psalms and other places throughout the Old Testament. It is a word that was used to describe God's love and grace. Here is the issue that the translators had, and the issue our group had. How many words do you need to explain about God's passionate, zealous, unending, unfailing, merciful (insert your own adjectives here!) love adequately? To translate "chesedh" as just "love" or "mercy" would seem to do God an injustice. You can understand why the King James version practically created a new word.

It is not hard to see why one particular Bible scholar described 'chesedh' as something indescribable, but we certainly enjoyed talking and swapping ideas with each other, and what we have experienced of God's 'chesedh'. How have you experienced this? What does this particular idea mean to you?