Sing Aloud!

Isaiah 12:2-6 / Zephaniah 3:14-20

Zephaniah’s Prophecy

600+ years BC

King Josiah’s Reforms

2 Kings 21:16 ESV

16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

2 Kings 22:11 ESV

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.

2 Kings 23:20 ESV

20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Major Emphasis: The Day of the Lord

Zephaniah 1:2–3 ESV

2 “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. 3 “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

Zephaniah 1:18 ESV

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 2:3 ESV

3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord = Judgment & Restoration

The Day of the Lord = Jesus’ earthly ministry

The Day of the Lord = that great and terrible coming day

Sing Israel!

People Sang in thanksgiving

Isaiah 12:5 ESV

5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.

2 Kings 23:22–23 ESV

22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

People were to sing to get right

2 Kings 23:24 ESV

24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

Luke 3:7–9 ESV

7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Sing Mt Juliet!

Sing for the salvation we have received

Soul Salvation

Deliverance in life

Sing for the salvation we know is coming

We know, and we are waiting

Sickness

Families and Relationships

Jobs, Seasons of life, society

Sing through the pain; waiting for the revelation

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Acts 16:25–26 ESV

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

Church Family, as the people of Israel were to sing for the coming judgment and restoration of their land, so too ought we sing. Maybe we are singing in faith. Maybe we are singing in pain, but God’s people have always in joy and in lamentation been a singing people. Let us sing, and see what God will do!