Wondrously!
OCTOBER 19, 2026
SCRIPTURE COLLECTION
Today's Scripture Passage
Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
Psalm 17:7
Related Scriptures:
Ephesians 5:25
Exodus 34:6-7
Numbers 23:19
Exodus 15:11
2 Samuel 7:12-16
Notes & Reflections
This Wednesday, October 21st, my wife and I will be celebrating our ninth year of marriage.
As I think back on our vows, how much I didn’t know, and how much I’ve learned, I smile. It was at that homemade altar, in her parents’ backyard, surrounded by family, where I promised to take care of her and be faithful to her.
This was a big promise, and I don’t think I fully understood how big it really was. This kind of promise asked for a love that would endure through every season, every hardship, every sickness, good, bad, or ugly. This kind of promise was lifelong, and, in the words of the Psalmist, it was steadfast.
In Hebrew, the words “steadfast love” are translated from the word chesed. Chesed is God’s covenant loyalty. This means that this love is rooted in a promise. More than this, it’s the love, rooted in faithfulness, that he promised when he brought his people out of Egypt and through the wilderness.
When the Psalmist writes this passage, he is pulling his hope from the exodus and from the Scriptures which he had at the time. In fact, this Psalm and many other Psalms are drenched with imagery and wording from the time of Moses.
Here in verse 7, the Psalmist is asking God to keep his vows. He is certain that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) and that he will remain faithful. He calls out to God:
“Wondrously show your steadfast love...”
He wants something extraordinary and special from God and something beyond what he could ever imagine. He wants something “wondrous.” He wants God to hear his just cause (v. 1) and then move on the ground of his promise of steadfast love.
The Psalmist loves and leans on every word that God speaks, and like my marriage vows, God’s promises are the center of everything in his life. If God could free people from slavery, feed them, rescue them from their enemies, and continue with them, then he can definitely be reliable to hear and answer the Psalmist. Indeed, he can answer you and me, and his answers are beyond what we could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
The phrase “right hand” is from Exodus 15:6, when Moses says:
“Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.”
This is from a song of Moses after the Lord delivered them out of Egypt. It is in his right hand where the Psalmist finds security and hope. He knows that the steadfast love of the Lord is a love that not only promises but moves. It’s a love that is “glorious in power” and a love that “shatters the enemy.”
It’s the love of a Savior.
Indeed, this love is where the Psalmist goes in all of his distress. He knows that his God is a great Savior.
If only he could have met “the Son of David.” The son who would come through his very lineage. The future King. The one who would sit at the right hand of his God. The one who would die on a cross and become the propitiation for the Psalmist’s sins and ours. The Savior of the world.
The Lord has exhaustively kept his vows and has wondrously shown his love. He showed it through the Savior, Jesus Christ. He has answered the Psalmist’s prayer and every prayer by giving his people eternal life. Through this hope of eternal life, all suffering and all hardships and all persecution are made right. It is through this Savior that any man who trusts in Christ can and will find refuge.
Can God be held to his promises, or does that limit him?
No one can force God to do anything. He freely does what he decides is good and never goes back on his word. That is why the Psalmist can boldly ask God to show his steadfast love: he isn’t twisting God’s arm; he’s taking God at his word. God isn't limited by his promises but is glorified through them. God loves his glory.
Study Questions
QUESTION 01
What does God’s steadfast love (chesed) tell you about his character?
QUESTION 02
How does the exodus give you confidence that God keeps his promises?
QUESTION 03
Where do you see God’s steadfast love most clearly in Christ?
How To Cling Today
Cling to Christ today by setting your mind and heart on his steadfast love today.
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