Unfailing Love

READ: EXODUS 15:13; PSALM 36:7; ISAIAH 54:10

Unfailing love of Jesus,
unending mercy renewed,

Unfailing strength in my weakness—
for your name is Faithful and True.

Unceasing comfort in sorrow,
untold delight in my heart,

Unceasing hope for tomorrow—
for your mercy I see from afar.

Jesus, my Savior, I praise You,
Jesus, the One I adore,

Jesus, the face of the Father—
my God, my King evermore.

This poem grew out of a season when I found myself turning to the psalms to find comfort in God’s presence. In the book of Psalms—and some of the prophets—I noticed the phrase “unfailing love” turned up repeatedly. The more I saw it, the more I thought that this is the perfect phrase for God’s loving pursuit of us. His unfailing love gets put on display in a variety of circumstances: when He helps His people through troubles (Psalms 44:26; 94:18), when He comforts people with His presence or His promise (Psalms 21:7; 90:14; 119:76), and when He extends forgiveness after failure (Psalms 51:1; 130:7; Lamentations 3:32).

As I studied these Scriptures in different Bible versions, I learned that unfailing love may also be translated as: loving-kindness, faithful love, mercy, steadfast love, constant love, loyal love, and gracious love. Wow! I like thinking about God’s love in all those ways—His love is so much deeper and richer than any other! Thus, I find it fitting that we simply can’t describe His love with a single phrase. But we can join with the apostle Paul in praying that God Himself will help us “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18-19). • G. Kam Congleton

• Which of the phrases for “unfailing love” speaks most to your heart today? Why?

• Many of the psalms look forward to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—the One who came in flesh as “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) to reveal His unfailing love. Check out our “Know Jesus” page to learn more about God’s great love, which has come to us in Christ Jesus.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love… Psalm 143:8a (NIV)