My review of “Inexpressible” by Michael Card, focusing on God’s hesed love for his people.

Goals of the Book:
Do you, off the top of your head, know what the Hebrew word hesed means? You might not, considering that English Bibles translate the word in a multitude of different ways. But what might we think about God, and how he feels about us, when we capture what his hesed looks like for us?
Of course, we’ll never be able to capture the depth of that kind of love God has for us. But thanks to Michael Card, we might start to see it more consistently in the Bible and start to appreciate it on a new level. Hesed, generally translated “covenant love” or “consistent love”, is a deep and powerful concept, one well-deserving of it’s own book. Thankfully, Card walks us through the process of translating the term and applying it to our own lives.

Why Should We Care?:
We always wonder if the Lord loves us when X is true. X could be, “I’m a sinner” or “I committed this specific sin” or “I don’t go to church as often as I should”, etc. But how would your relationship with the Lord change if you started to think, primarily, in terms of the Lord’s love for us? How would it change if God’s love became the primary lens through which we view our relationship? Studying the word hesed is a wonderful way to understand the Lord’s love for us throughout Scripture, seeing concrete examples of this kind of love and the Scripture’s consistent witness to his love for us.


“Hesed: When the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.”

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Book:
As I alluded to above, I appreciated Card’s careful attention to both biblical theology and the breadth of the biblical narrative. Sometimes, we hear that God “loves” us, but these abstract statements may not mean much for us. But studying Ruth, and seeing examples of hesed love? Now, that’ll change your life.

I also appreciated a really early discussion on the laments in the Psalter and how hesed plays into biblical lamentations. I wish I could quote it in full, but I’d rather point you to the book that I recommend you purchase 🙂 Essentially, Card looks at the book of Lamentations/Jeremiah, and Psalms 13 and 89 to show us how God’s covenant love for us is the turning point that changes our grief into celebration and love.

I also appreciated Card’s honesty in translating hesed. He notes that it is not an easy 1:1 translation from Hebrew to English, and the translation comes with some of its own issues. Etymologies are not always helpful in translation, nor are simple word studies. Card can lay this out for us without bogging us down with too many technical details that would bore his popular level readership. (This gets major brownie points from me!)


Like I said above, I highly recommend this book. If you’re struggling with God’s love for you, are interested in a word study with touches of biblical theology, or want to explore new dimensions to who God is and how he relates to us, this is the book for you. You can read more about the book here on IVP’s website, or you can order it on Amazon here.

Inexpressible by Michael Card was an excellent book about God’s amazing character that is hard to find the complete English translation for this complex word. This book is full of Scripture and the fullness of sharing the idea of the word Hesed. As the Scriptures poured over me, I found myself very refreshed and encouraged to yield to the Holy Spirits work of living out hesed in my life to those God places in my path. Even though this is a deep concept, I found that the author puts it in a way that is easy to read and is inviting to dig deep. I highly recommend this read.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

****Also posted on Amazon, B&N, CBD

It is a great joy for me to be able to review this book -- as it has now become the best book I've read in the past 5 years. Michael Card is the Christian song writer and singer (you may be familiar with many of his great songs that he has written and sung over the years), who several years ago—out of his love for the Scriptures—earned his Master’s degree in Biblical Studies so he could better dig into the text of the Bible. He has written several excellent books on various themes of Scripture — and his newest book entitled "Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness" — is absolutely superb!!

He shows how the Hebrew concept of 'hesed' is one of the most crucial terms to grasp in order to understand the character and nature of God. I finished reading the book yesterday, and as I have been reading it I have been simply amazed at what a treasure it is. I appreciate how Michael Card has laid it out. It has superb content … and is made up of chapters of about 6 or 7 pages each (very easy to read and follow) — and yet, although they are brief chapters, they each get the reader into the amazing richness of the various facets of the meaning of God’s hesed-love.

As I read each chapter, I found myself saying over and over again: "This book just continues to be fantastic ... in every single chapter!" The author is now a seasoned writer who has refined his craft so that even when he is making reference to a word study out of the Old or New Testament, he makes his point in a way that is both engaging and memorable.

The book is filled with solid Biblical content -- and is one which will lay a vital foundation for understanding every book of the Bible. I really think readers will greatly enjoy this book — and it is written for people who are hungry to grow in their grasp of the Bible -- and even more so, in their relationship with God. It flows like only great books do as you read it -- and is simply a FANTASTIC new book by Michael Card.

I appreciated the focus on Hesed, in this book and was encouraged as he went through the Bible showing how the word was applied. Michael Card is a thoughtful scholar and I appreciate His insights.
I received this book free from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

"Inexpressible" examines the use of the Hebrew word "hesed" throughout Scripture. God uses this word to describe Himself, so it's important to understand what it means. However, hesed doesn't translate well into any single English word. The author started by explaining what hesed means and how he came to explore the depths of its meaning. He then went through the Old Testament and looked at the different uses of hesed to help the reader to better understand God's character. He also looked at the New Testament, searching for words commonly combined with hesed in the Old Testament to identify where the concept of hesed is being referred to. He ended by talking about showing hesed to others. Overall, I'd highly recommend this excellent study for the insights it provides about God's character and how understanding hesed changes our relationship with Him.

Definitely worth a read. The author explains the uniqueness nature of the word hesed. Next he goes systematically through biblical passages that use that word to show that at the core of God's relationship with his creation is his hesed.