Church has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’m used to sitting through sermons and standing for worship sets. But there are some Sundays when I don’t want to sing. I move my lips with the words, but nothing comes out. These songs are meant to glorify God, but my flesh is weak. My selfish nature resists doing things I don’t feel like doing.
In Zephaniah 3:17, God turns the tables on our worship services. He tells us that He rejoices over us with singing. And I bet He’s not just lip-syncing the words to these songs of delight. God loves us with a love so powerful and consuming that even in our brokenness, He rejoices over our very existence.
The only and perfect God delights in us, even as we sometimes fail to glorify Him.
Like other Old Testament prophets, Zephaniah wrote this book as a word of warning to God’s people as judgment approached because of their corruption and violence. God hates oppression, and Zephaniah calls for humility and a return to the Lord. God’s justice is good, and what stands out to me most in Zephaniah is the hope at the end of the book. God longs for restoration. He wants to purify us and take away our punishment.
Many years after the book of Zephaniah was written, God sent His son, Jesus, down to this broken earth. Jesus took on the punishment we deserved. He died and rose again so that whoever trusts in Him could live. This is God’s ultimate gift and His greatest song for us.
May we accept that gift and hear His song over our lives, as we sing our own praises back to the One who deserves all the rejoicing in the world. • Becca Wierwille
• Can you imagine what it would be like to hear the Creator of the world erupt in song? How would you feel to know that His songs are for you?
• How might knowing God delights over us change the way we praise Him?
• Want to know more about what it means that Jesus took the punishment we deserved, and He purified us? Check out our “Know Jesus” page.
The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (CSB)
Read Verses:
Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; Hebrews 13:7-8; Revelation 1:8
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