The verb chasad is the verbal root from which the priceless noun hesed (H2617) derives. To chasad is to act with loyal, committed, covenant-keeping love — to extend kindness and faithfulness to another. In its reflexive (Hitpael) form it carries the sense of 'to show oneself kind/loyal' — and sometimes 'to put to shame' in a legal context, but the primary usage is covenantal faithfulness in action.
Psalm 18:25–26 (parallel in 2 Sam 22:26) gives the great law of divine response: 'With the faithful [chasid] you show yourself faithful [chasad]; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless.' This is not transactional merit but a profound statement about how God relates to those who walk in covenant loyalty — He meets them with His own hesed. Ruth 1:8 uses chasad for Naomi's prayer that God would show Orpah and Ruth the same hesed they had shown to the dead and to her — linking human kindness to divine response. The verb reinforces that hesed is not merely an attribute God possesses, but an action He performs — and calls His people to embody toward one another.