Friday March 26 – Day 38 – THE SONG

Friday March 26 – Day 38 – THE SONG

“The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

The book of Zephaniah is a small but powerful collection of poetry documenting the goodness of God.  At the end of the book, God restores Jerusalem and gathers all of the nation together to “pour out his burning indignation” (3:8).  However, that sounds a lot worse than what really happened.  God’s presence is there in the restoration in the remnant of the city.  The people are called to sing and rejoice.

And then, something amazing happens.

God desires to rejoice over His people with singing.

Yes, that’s what I said, singing!

The God of Israel…the God of Jacob, of Abraham and Issac, rejoicing over YOU with singing.

Wow.

Can you imagine God singing over you, like a parent sings over their restless infant before their bedtime?  As a musician, I cannot imagine what a sound that would be.  All I know is that it would be perfect…every note, every rhythm and rest, inflection and tone would probably blow me away.

Honestly, can you imagine God singing over us??!!!

Singing certainly beats rebuking, I can tell you that.

For a lot of us, all we can focus on at times is how much God is disappointed with us.  Some of us live in the shadow of the fear of God’s judgement for the things we have done and the things that we have failed to do.  Sometimes we feel the sin in our lives is too great to even approach Him.

But here’s the thing:  no sin that we have ever committed is too much for God to forgive us.

This is the truth, whether you believe it or not.

We have all beaten ourselves up for the sins that we cannot stop ourselves from doing.  The more we beat ourselves up, the more we think we are unworthy of God’s love and we never change.  At times it just seems to get worse.

What if I told you that all God wants is to bring unity to His people and to bring those who are far away from Him into His presence?

We see it at the end of the book of Zephaniah.  We see God is so happy to see His people coming together in genuine worship of Him after their sinful experiences (worshipping false gods, focusing on pleasures instead of worshipping Him, etc).

He is so happy that He SINGS over His people.

The next time you get to that point of not forgiving yourself, ask God to forgive You.  Ask Him to give you the strength to let go of the sins that bind you and make you unable to worship Him.

He is a forgiving and loving Father, full of grace and mercy for all who approach Him.

Don’t allow the thoughts that you have in your mind about yourself distract you from this truth:  the God of the Universe truly truly loves you.  Truly.

He has changed the course of history just to be with you.

He offered up His only Son just to be with you.

He waits for you, as you deal with your thoughts and your emotions, with your doubts and your low self esteem.

He waits for you, and is ready to sing over you at any time.

Are you ready to hear the song God has for you?

On that day when I see God face to face, I know I will worry about the things I have done and the things I have failed to do.  I have never wanted to disappoint God but, I know that my actions in the past have.  But here’s the thing:  He knows.  He knows about it all.  He knows about the nights you prayed to Him in tears not knowing what to do.

He knows, and He still loves you.

He still cares.

And He still has a song waiting for you.

The idea of God being delighted over me is actually overwhelming.  And I think for a lot of us, we need to focus less on the sins we have beat ourselves up over and more about the delight we could bring God with our lives.

Don’t get me wrong.  If you have never confessed your sins to God, you need to.  This is a must.  However if you have confessed your sins and asked for His forgiveness and yet you still keep beating yourself up and go back down the same roads, focus on the delight of God.

Think of delighting Him when you care for the widow and the orphan.

Think of delighting Him when you put others before yourself.

Think of delighting Him when you are at that crossroad with that particular sin and put Him first.  It will make all of the difference in the world.

“ in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”

May this truth fuel you today and may you await the beautiful song God has planned for you as you worship Him fully.

You are Loved.  May you delight Him in you thoughts, your actions and your plans and rejoice!

Have a lovely weekend – see you tomorrow!