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and טוּב (tuwv) as well as the adjective טוֹב (towv) lead us to another important word. For the first noun the connection occurs in 86:15–17, for the second in 25:7, and for the third word in the familiar 23rd Psalm: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (v. 6a). Additionally, the psalmists associate טוֹב (towv) with this word in the repeated statement, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (106:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1). Used 249 times in the Old Testament and 129 times in Psalms and usually translated as “mercy” or “lovingkindness,” חֶסֶד (khesed) has two main meanings.118 (1) This is an important covenant term, referring to benevolence in action because of a prior agreement or relationship—in other words, loyalty. Certainly references to God’s faithfulness and probably appeals for His saving acts are indications that the word is being used in this sense.119 (2) Sometimes, however, the term refers just to an act of kindness or love without calling attention to any covenant bond. In these cases the term can be parallel to “gracious” (חַנּוּן, khannuwn) and is really a synonym for “goodness.” The KJV reflects this second meaning in the Old Testament fifty times by translating it as simply “kindness” (twice in Psalms) or “goodness” (7x in Psalms). It is this second category of occurrences in Psalms that I have attempted to chart in Table 5.1, while recognizing the difficulty of precisely making this distinction.120 I identified 38 such uses, occurring in all five Books of Psalms, almost evenly divided except for Book III.
In Psalm 29:11 David says, “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace,” thus linking God’s giving (נתן, nathan) and blessing (ברך, barak) with an additional term: שָׁלוֹם (shalowm), used 237 times in the Old Testament and 27 times in Psalms. In about seven of these cases it is an expression of God’s goodness.121 For example,
Table 5.1 Key Terms for Blessing
| Hebrew words: | ברך | אַשְׁרֵי | טוֹב | נתן | חֶסֶד |
| barak | ’asherey | towv | nathan | khesed | |
| Psalm | to bless | fortunate | good | to give | kindness |
| 1: | 1 | 8 | |||
| 2: | 12 | ||||
| 4: | 7 | ||||
| 5: | 12 | 7 | |||
| 17: | 7 | ||||
| 18: | 35 | ||||
| 20: | 4 | ||||
| 21: | 3 | 2, 4 | |||
| 23: | 6 | 6 | |||
| 25: | 8 | 6, 7 | |||
| 28: | 9 | ||||
| 29: | 11 | 11 | |||
| 31: | 7, 21 | ||||
| 32: | 1, 2 | 10 | |||
| 33: | 12 | ||||
| 34: | 8 | 8, 10 | |||
| 37: | 22 | 4 | |||
| 40: | 4 | 11 | |||
| 41: | 1 | ||||
| 42: | 8 | ||||
| 45: | 2 | ||||
| 51: | 1 | ||||
| 52: | 9 | 1, 8 | |||
| 54: | 6 | ||||
| 59: | 16, 17 | ||||
| 61: | 5 | ||||
| 63: |
