He Will Rejoice Over You
Our closing doxology this month comes from the ending of the Book of Zephaniah, which was written by the prophet during the reign of King Josiah in Judah. The main theme of Zephaniah’s prophecy is the coming Day of the Lord – a Day in which God’s enemies will be judged but His people will be restored. And so the book ends with this precious promise for God’s people on that judgment day—“The Lord your God is in your midst, the Mighty One will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
On that “great and terrible Day of the Lord,” as the prophet Joel calls it, the wicked will desire to flee from the awful presence of God, while at the same time the righteous—His people—will rejoice in His appearance. Our salvation then comes through the judgment of the Lord.
This is not just a prophecy regarding what the Lord will do, but it is what He has already done for us. Throughout history the Lord has stretched out His saving arm many times, but most powerfully and efficaciously, He has done this through His Incarnate Son—in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
God, in Christ, is the Mighty One who has saved. Christ, Immanuel, is the one that has stepped into our midst on that judgment day 2,000 years ago, and has taken away the wrath of God that was upon us. This means that if you are in Christ this morning, if you have confessed that “Jesus is Lord” and believe that He was raised on the third day – God is singing His praises over you right now.
Do you believe this? Is this how you imagine God the Father and the way He looks at you?
Too many Christians go about their lives imagining that God’s perpetual frown is upon them. That He is a distant and uncaring God, who only comes near when you sin in order to be disappointed.
But this is so far from the truth.
God is love, and He delights over His people with His own praise. Just as an earthly father rejoices over a newborn child, our Heavenly Father rejoices over His born-again children, whom He has adopted with everlasting delight. And so the exhortation this morning is to rest in this Good News.