Discovering God’s Unchanging Love: A Review of The Steadfast Love of the Lord by Sam Storms

What is love?

There’s the love you have for your family, your friends. You might love your work, a hobby you enjoy, the pets you care for. You may love a song, a sunset, the sweet taste of chocolate, or memories you’ve made.

We use the word love in a lot of different ways. Music, movies, and our communities begin to shape the meaning and values we attach to it—often without us realizing it. In a world where love can feel fleeting or conditional, it’s easy to wonder what love really is, especially when life gets hard.

And we’ve all faced disappointment and hurt from those who love us.

In a world where love is often misunderstood or mishandled, The Steadfast Love of the Lord gently recenters us on the unshakeable truth of God’s love. Storms doesn’t just give us theological insight—he offers a pastoral reminder that God’s love is not based on our performance, nor shaken by our failures. For me, it was a comforting invitation to stop striving and start resting in the security of His covenant love. If you're feeling weary, uncertain, or simply longing to know the heart of God more deeply, this book is a timely and tender guide.

Discovering God’s Unchanging Love: A Review of The Steadfast Love of the Lord by Sam Storms

Content

Purpose of the Book

Table of Contents

Summary

My Take

My Recommendation

Quick Stats

More Like This

Scriptures About God’s Love

Follow Along

Content

Purpose of the Book

The goal of The Steadfast Love of the Lord is to deepen the reader's understanding and appreciation of God's unchanging, covenantal love. The author aims to help believers grasp the biblical concept of hesed, the Hebrew word often translated as "steadfast love" or "lovingkindness." He encourages us to experience the comfort, assurance, and joy that come from knowing God's love is unwavering and faithful, regardless of circumstances.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Doubting the Love of God

Chapter 1: Love Is Love. Or Is It?

Chapter 2: How Long Will God’s Love Last?

Chapter 3: Sovereign Love on Bended Knee

Chapter 4: The Look of Steadfast Love

Chapter 5: The Touch of Steadfast Love

Chapter 6: Strengthened by the Spirit to Enjoy God’s Love 

Chapter 7: Love in the Most Famous Verse in the Bible

Chapter 8: When God Loves the Unlovely

Chapter 9: Overwhelmed by the Floodwaters of God’s Love

Chapter 10: The “Much More” Love of God

Chapter 11: The Incalculable, Insurmountable, Sin-Killing, Soul-Preserving Love of God

Chapter 12: Saved by the Love of a Sovereign God

Chapter 13: The Father’s Loving Passion for His People

Conclusion: May the Lord Direct Your Heart into the Love of God

Summary

The book is structured around exploring the richness and facets of God’s steadfast love, which lies at the heart of our relationship with Him. Sam Storms draws from both the Old and New Testaments, showing how this love is woven consistently throughout Scripture. He unpacks God’s covenant promises to His people, emphasizing that His love remains constant—even when we falter.

Storms also offers practical insights into how a deeper understanding of God’s love can shape our daily lives. He invites us to consider how this steadfast love can transform the way we see ourselves, relate to others, and navigate life’s trials. By the final chapter, the book feels like a quiet call to rest—to find peace in the unshakable, sufficient, and deeply personal love of God.

My Take

God’s love is unlike ours. It’s unchanging. It is steadfast.

Most of the time, my definition of love has been shaped by what I can observe—someone who loves me does this or doesn’t do that. But my expectations are high, and human as we are, we fail each other. I disappoint those I love, and they disappoint me too.

Often, I carry this pattern into my relationship with God. If I’m honest, I sometimes believe that when I mess up, God’s love pulls back—just like human love can. But the truth of God’s Word tells me something different: even though I am faithless, fickle, and fledgling in my efforts, His love is perfect, constant, and unshakeable.

When I’ve felt like I wasn’t “enough” for the people closest to me, it’s hard to believe that God’s love won’t waver in the same way. Scripture teaches me I can do nothing to earn His love—it is freely given. When I feel shame over my quirks, my personality, or the way I’m wired, the love of God reminds me that He created me with intention and delight—that He has already accepted me and adopted me as His child. And when I choose self over others, pride over humility, or gratification over self-control, I’m tempted to think I’ve ruined everything. But God’s love meets me even there. His grace restores, drawing me back in repentance, not rejection.

This is the beauty of God’s hesed love—a word that shows up all throughout Scripture to describe God’s faithful, loyal, covenant love. In Aging with Grace, Susan Hunt points out that "hesed is not just an Old Testament concept." She writes, “In the New Testament, we see God’s loyal love to faithless and undeserving people on full display through the sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus.” That kind of love—willing to go to the cross for people who are prone to wander—is the love he extends to us.

Paul Miller, in A Loving Life, deepens the meaning further when he writes, “Hesed love is a determination to do someone good, no matter what, to be faithful to a covenant regardless of its impact on you.” That kind of love is stunning, entirely selfless. It’s not dependent on emotion, performance, or convenience. It’s a love that stays, that serves, that sacrifices—even when it costs everything.

My prayer is that as I continue to lean into this love—to keep myself in the love of God, as Jude exhorts—I would learn to abide in His love more deeply by His grace. And that in doing so, His love would overflow from my life into the lives of others. That even through my imperfections, struggles, and quirks, others would glimpse something of the beauty, goodness, and glory of God. Because when we delight in Christ, His steadfast love becomes not just something we receive—but something we reflect.

My Recommendation

This book is great for those who want to understand more about what the Scriptures teach us about God's love and how it applies to our lives today.

Quick Stats

# of Pages: 240

Level of Difficulty: Easy

My Rating: 4 stars

More Like This

Scriptures About God’s Love

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1 John 4:16)

The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jer. 31:3)

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zeph. 3:17)

Follow Along

Check out my profile on Goodreads

*I received an ecopy of this book as a part of the Crossway blog review program, so a big thanks to them for the opportunity to share an honest review!