God Rejoices Over You!

I Will Rejoice over You Zeph. 3:17

Friday, August 24, 2018

1:30 AM

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

The Book of Zephaniah is probably best known for being the least known book of the entire Bible.

We know very little of Zephaniah, the man -- the author of this book. Strangely, though, his genealogy is traced back four generations:[4]

This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. Zephaniah delivered this message during the reign of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah (Zephaniah 1:1).287

the prophet Zephaniah delivered the Word of the Lord during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah. Josiah reigned from 637 to 608 BC. So his reign came to an end just 20 years before Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians and Israel was taken into captivity. Josiah is the king, you recall, who found the long-lost book of the law in the temple and tried to reform the people who had drifted so far into idolatry and wickedness. [1] There seems to be two major themes in the book of Zephaniah: Judgment and deliverance.

I think the book falls naturally into five parts.

Chapter 1 announces the coming judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem. Verse 4, "I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem." Chapter 2, verses 1–3, calls the nation back to God, and specifically (as it says in verse 3) to "seek righteousness and seek humility." In chapter 2, verses 4–15, Zephaniah announces the judgment that is also coming on the lands that surround Judah: the Philistines to the east (vv. 4–7), Moab and Ammon to the west (vv. 8–11), the Ethiopians to the south (v. 12), and Assyria to the north (vv. 13–15). The fourth section of the book is chapter 3, verses 1–7. Here Zephaniah turns his attention to Jerusalem again and lengthens the catalogue of God's accusations against her. Finally, chapter 3, verses 8–20, proclaims the conversion of the peoples (v. 9), the conversion and re-gathering of Israel (v. 10), and the glorious future of all the godly as God rejoices over them with gladness.

PERHAPS SOMEDAY I WILL DO A FULL BIBLE STUDY ON THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIA.

I think the main point of the book is 2:3, "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility." The rest of the book is mainly made up of warnings that judgment is coming upon the proud, and promises that the humble and righteous who seek refuge in the Lord will be saved (3:12, 13). So there are three things: commands, warnings, and promises. Obedience to the command in 2:3 is Zephaniah's main goal, and the warnings and promises are incentives for the people to repent and obey.[2]

Our text says -

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

This is one of the most inspiring and encouraging verses that you will ever read—but not in a “power of positive thinking” way. To read this passage merely as an inspirational pick-me-up would cheapen it and obscure its true meaning. To lift the verse out of its Old Testament context and surround it with clouds and doves is to miss the substantive joy and weighty delight of which it speaks. To examine the passage as a whole, however, is to understand the depth of the song and the broader story of which it is a part.

Lori Colbo a Christian and a poet who suffers from terrible mental illness wrote on her blog,

"Back in 1999, I ended up in a psychiatric unit at a local hospital. As you might guess, my time there was full of uncertainty and endless cycles of mood fluctuations. A few months before a friend had said she would pray that God would give me a song. I politely said thank you and dismissed it, feeling sure I would never be blessed with any kind of songs.

I sat on a gurney in the hospital ER corridor for seven hours waiting to be seen for dehydration because I had curled up to die, stopping food and water. Somehow, I knew I would end up on the psych ward. For those seven hours my mind raced like a cyclone of agony. Inside I cried out to God. "Lord, what's happening to me? How do I get through this, God? God. God. Speak to me. Help me."

While my two friends who brought me were chatting away, I was being ravaged by despair and fear. But shortly into my pleading, I heard a voice in my head. A man was singing this hymn chorus:

There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God.

For hours it played in my head, along with the chaos. When I got up to the psych ward I felt safe and relieved. My nurse was a Christian and ministered to me. There was my song (the one my friend prayed for) fulfilled for that day.

The next morning I was full of fear and uncertainty, having never been on a psych ward before. Wouldn't you know, another chorus arrived in my head:

God's love takes good care of me.

God's love takes good care of me.

Though the rains fall,

the winds blow,

the storm is on the sea,

I know God's love

takes good care of me.

It got me through that tumultuous day. But wait, that was two songs, not only one.

The next morning I woke up at dawn. More turmoil, sadness, uncertainty, and starting again down the road toward hopelessness. I was on the eleventh floor. The windows were tall, massive, and I could sit in the window sill. I watched the sunrise over the city asking God for hope, a sign, something to hold on to. The song, written by the Gaither's came to my mind. It was like God was singing it to me.

Because He lives

I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives

All fear is gone.

And I know who holds the future,

And life is worth the living just because He lives.

I began to sing it back to God and hope and joy filled me. It was one of the most beautiful and powerful moments of my life. And it was song number three. Exceedingly, abundantly, above all I could ask or think. It didn't fix everything. I had a long journey of healing ahead. But it would come back to me often during stressful times of crisis.[3]

From <https://letterpile.com/poetry/You-Rejoiced-Over-Me>

From <https://my.bible.com/moments>

Times of darkness may come even of judgment - But God delights over and rejoices over his own.

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

F.B. Meyer writes of the free flowing generosity of our Father

Now and again there is a dash of extra sweetness poured into life's cup-some special deliverance; some unlooked-for interposition; some undeserved and unusual benediction-sent apparently for no other object than to satisfy God's passion for giving….

With Him, the calf is always the fatted calf; the robe is always the best robe; the joy is unspeakable; the peace passeth understanding; the grace is so abundant that the recipient has all-sufficiency for all things, and abounds in every good work. There is no grudging in God's benevolence.

He loves me He loves me Jesus Loves me

He loves me He loves me

Jesus Loves me.

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[M] Clipped from : https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-lord-will-rejoice-over-youIBID[M] From <https://letterpile.com/poetry/You-Rejoiced-Over-Me> [M] https://bible.org/seriespage/42-book-zephaniah