Our God Sings

Our God Sings

Zephaniah 3:14-17

Sing O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more.

In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear; Zion, Let not your hands be weak.

The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with (He will rest in his love he will joy over thee with singing KJV) His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”*

This is one of the most touching passages in the Scripture.  It depicts the LORD as a loving God, singing over His children and finding joy in their presence.  The people of God sing and shout because of all that God has done for them.  He has taken away their punishment, defeated their enemies, and come to dwell with them.  Furthermore, He has guaranteed that the people of Israel will never again be afraid.  Because the LORD is the King of Israel, His people have nothing to fear.

When Pilate presented a suffering Jesus to the Jewish leaders, they rejected Him and shouted, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15).  But now the Jewish people (Spiritual Israel) will joyfully acknowledge that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords (Philippians 2:9-11)..  Instead of standing dejectedly like defeated prisoners of war, spiritual Israel will enthusiastically shout God’s praises.

What do they have to sing about? To begin with, they have God’s presence with them and God’s power working for them (Zephaniah 3:17).  Even more, their God holds them next to His heart like a loving mother holds a baby; He quiets them with his love, and he even sings to them!  This image of “the Fatherhood of God” assures forgiven sinners that God is with them, that He loves them and that they have nothing to fear.

Our God is a “singing” God.  God the Father sings to the remnant entering the kingdom (verse 17). God the Son sang at the close of the Passover Feast, and then went to the garden to pray (Matthew 26:30).  He also sang after His triumphant resurrection from the dead (Psalm 22:22; Hebrews 2:12).  God the Spirit sings today through the hearts and lips of Christians who praise God in the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-21.

*The LXX of this clause “He will rest” states “He will renew thee in his love.”  No more is there reason to be afraid, instead it is time to rejoice with God over what he has done for all his followers.