His Delight
God doesn’t like you. He tolerates you. He has to love you, but He doesn’t have to like you. Have you ever heard something like this in your head?
That thought lived in my head most of my Christian life, ready to pop out at any given moment to harass me. Sadly, I believed it until recent years. I did NOT believe that in regards to anyone else. Of course He loved you immensely. Just. Not. Me.
Enter this verse.
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
You know how you read some verses and never really see them, and then one day God highlights it for you? Yes. That’s what happened for me with this one. It hit me so hard I cried. The realization that God sings over me with delight became one of two things* He used to cement in me that I am not a nuisance to Him. He actually likes me as well as loves me.
However, it wasn’t until I sent in a request to guest on a fledgling podcast that digs into the Word of God that I researched the context. While I would be the first to say it’s crucial to understand the context of a verse, somehow I overlooked this one.
What God showed me turned this apple-of-a-verse into a layered apple torte with nuts and cinnamon filling topped with whipped cream. It’s so much deeper than I ever realized, and the only reason I discovered it is because Angela, the podcast host, always talks about the context of the verses explored on her show.
I’ve included the link for you to listen to the 30 min podcast, but will give some highlights here. Look for clips on my facebook page and reels.
Zephaniah prophesied when Josiah was king just a couple decades before Jerusalem was destroyed. The kings after him were his immediate sons, and a grandson. Predictably then, in this three chapter book, Zephaniah warned of disaster.
By then, the “Day of the Lord” could not be turned back. Judah had rebelled against God and His warnings for hundreds of years by then. He gave the people chance after chance to repent, and they did not, even after seeing what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel. The hearts of the people were filled with evil – ambush and murder of the innocent, sacrifices of children, lies and deceit. Reminds me of the days of Noah where the minds of the people thought of evil only continually.
But Zephaniah 2:3 gives some hope that maybe, if the humble turn their hearts to the Lord, they will be sheltered on the day of destruction.
3:9 Tells why God is bringing judgment – “to purify the lips of the people that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.”
God goes on to promise good will happen after the Day of the Lord. He says in 3:12 He will leave within Judah the meek and the humble who trust in the name of the LORD. Verse 13 promises the remnant “will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.” Isaiah 10 shares more about the remnant that will return to Israel after exile.
Chapter 3 ends with the promise God will turn back the enemy of Judah and Jerusalem and they will no longer need to fear harm. Tucked in the middle of this is verse 17.
Zephaniah 3:17 makes so much more sense to me now. Here’s a brief overview.
The Lord your God is with you. KJV says “in the midst of you.” He is right there. Right in the middle of the evil and chaos being judged during the Day of the Lord. Right in the midst of the judgment, He is with the people who turn their hearts to Him.
He is mighty to save – He assures them He has the necessary power to save them out of the destruction that will take place. And He DID save. Among others God saved Daniel and his three friends. They went into exile but they didn’t die, and He used them to bring a foreign nation to worship their God.
He will take great delight in you. – He delights when we turn our hearts to Him – then and now. He doesn’t merely tolerate them or us. We need to absorb this. We are not a nuisance He has to love because He created us. He DELIGHTS in us. I don’t tolerate my children and grandchildren, I adore them. They are my delight.
In His love He will no longer rebuke them (us) but will rejoice over us with singing – Just like a mother sings over her child, He sings over us. In the long hours when my babies fussed I sang love over them. I made up words that expressed my heart of adoration. (bet you did also if you cared for infants) God does the same.
In the midst of His warnings of destruction God spoke through Zephaniah to tell His people, I still love you.
Thanks, Angela, for the push to discover more. (Listen to the podcast to hear more.)
*(The other was the song, “You’re a Good, Good Father.” We can talk about that another time.)
