Advent Readings Day 16
Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20
“Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 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 3:16 – 18
My daughter Hanna loves when someone sings to her just before nap time. Her favorite song is “I love you, I love you, I love you , I love you, I looove you, loooove you; I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I Iooove you, loooove you. I doooooo.” It is a song that makes her giggle and beam from ear to ear as she considers how deeply she is loved.
When I read Zephaniah 3, I think of the love song that God sings over us. Feeling close to Him? He’s singing it. Feeling far away? He’s singing it. In a season of holiness? He’s singing it. Just blew it big? He’s singing it. His love is so incredible that He continues to sing over His people a song of love.
But don’t take my words for it, rather lets look at what Zephaniah had to say. ““Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 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 is looking forward to the day when The Mighty Warrior will arrive. They awaited the day when God’s people would no longer need to live in fear or be afraid to act. On that day He would make his delight known in His people and He would rejoice over them with singing.
Now, we live in the time of The Mighty Warrior. He came as a baby in a manger in Betlehem. And He delights in you and rejoices over you with singing. What happens if we let that message sink deep into the core of our beings? The God of the Universe loves us, delights in us and rejoices over us with singing. It is not because of anything great in us, but rather because He created us and He has restored us to Himself as we put our trust in Jesus.
He delights in you. He rejoices over you. Now that’s something to celebrate. Kind of makes me want to giggle and beam from ear to ear.