MINING IN ZEPHANIAH! Part 2

 Last week we began to study in a verse found in the obscure book of Zephaniah in chapter 3 and verse 17 which says the following: “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

             The first two points had to do with God’s PRESENCE and His POWER, which are found in the first two phrases. 

As we progress we come upon the next phrase in the book; “He will take great delight in you”.  These words speak of the PROMISE that God gives us in our lives. When this was written it was directed towards the nation of Israel whom consistently had walked away from the blessing and desire that God had for them. How does this apply to us for today? Does God take great delight in His creation? In Psalm 139 we certainly see a very clear indication of how God feels about us. His divine knowledge of who we are, what we think and how He thinks about us is very clear.  We also read, in Psalm 139 a very clear understanding of how God sees us while we are yet unborn. God loves what He created; how often do we make something and if the item becomes damaged in any way especially by someone else our sense of protection kicks in. It could be something created with our hands, something written or even a culinary delight, these things give us a sense of pride and accomplishment which makes us feel very good about ourselves. God, in His desire to display His love and His glory, created mankind and all that is found in nature. The skies declare His handiwork and far beyond the naked eye, billions of stars and galaxies have been crafted by God’s divine formation. And yet His word says, “He delights in us” with all our flaws and shortcomings, God is gracious and kind. Ephesians 2:10 says, “we are God’s workmanship created for good works”. The word workmanship means a created piece of art. God takes pride in us and desires to protect us and does not want damage to be done to us. His promise is that “He will never leave or forsake us”.

              The next phrase is “he will quiet you with his love”. This phrase comments on how God calms us and gives us PEACE through His love. In Philippians 4:7 it says, “the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Often when we share the gospel with others we tell people that they can have peace with God. Do we believe it? When God grants us peace it aligns with His character as we trust Him. A few years ago some friends of mine went through a crisis, they lost a child before she was born and the loss was devastating to them. The only way they were sustained was through their faith in God, and He granted them peace as they leaned into Him. As we trust Him and love God, His peace can surround us during times of crisis, we can turn to Him. The key is to be open to His care through the Holy Spirit and allow His peace to envelop you.

              The final phrase “he will rejoice over you with singing” speaks about His PRAISE. It means literally God sings over us. Music often expresses things that are deep in our hearts. Both Christian and secular artists play music that touches our lives and describes how we are feeling. Our mood often dictates what we listen to and with God it is no different. What does God sing; I really don’t know but the Psalms give us a window into God inspired music and we definitely hear His heart through the Psalmists that wrote that music. What we see in the Psalms is what God feels, through the good and the difficult times he shows that we can find love and a refuge in Him.

              As we have unpacked this verse, we realize that truth is found at every turn in the Bible. Encouragement and compassion and God’s revealed character are displayed. and as we dig into the scriptures we can find His interest in us consistently. May we always pursue knowing Him and understanding Him better.

By: Pastor David Jones