Heart of Worship: 30 Days to Deeper PraiseSample

It’s Kenzie with Essential Worship and today we are bringing you one of our favorite Scriptures on worship. It comes from Zephaniah 3:17!

“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,” (NIV).

To start - let’s talk about Zephaniah! Stick with us for a minute while we give you a bunch of historical context. Zephaniah was a prophet in Judah during the final decades of the Kingdom there. The Bible Project describes the 3 chapters that make up Zephaniah as “poetry” and breaks them down into 3 sections. The first is a warning of Judgment on Judah. The second a warning of Judgment on the Nations (including Judah). And the third is about the hope and restoration to come to Judah and the Nations. This means that Zephaniah lived through the reign of King Josiah (his story is told throughout 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35) and was prophesying about what was to come. So yes, Zephaniah did see this prophecy to come to pass and God’s Judgment to be served upon His fellow people.

With that in mind, today’s scripture finds us in chapter 3, within the third section of Zephaniah’s poetic prophecy where hope is returned to Judah and the Nations. Isn’t it lovely how our Lord never leaves us with despair and instead brings about a reminder of hope? Oftentimes, we find our hearts prone to wander, just like Israel had left its First Love (God), to serve meaningless, empty gods. While we may not find ourselves offering sacrifices or bowing to altars - we do find ourselves prioritizing achievement over character. Money over generosity. Our own political opinions over unity. We have made our own gods - and we have gotten quite good at worshipping them.

And yet, even as the Lord brings justice on Judah for the first 2 chapters of Zephaniah, he ends chapter 3 with the promise to save His people, delighting in them. This begs the question - do you believe the truth that He delights in you? Can you imagine Him singing over you?

Oftentimes we are so blinded by our own sin and fear of disappointing God that we forget that His forgiveness comes with His love and delight in us.

Charles Spurgeon, a pastor and theologian of the 1800s, says about Zephaniah 3:17, “Think of the great Jehovah singing! Can you imagine it? Is it possible to conceive of the Deity breaking into a song: Father, Son and Holy Ghost together singing over the redeemed? God is so happy in the love which he bears to his people that he breaks the eternal silence, and sun and moon and stars with astonishment hear God chanting a hymn of joy.”

Woooo! This image brings us great peace! God loves us; we need not underestimate the mercy and forgiveness that He has for us. Nor should we underestimate His deep, unyielding delight in us. Just like a mother sings a lullaby over her sweet child to bring them peace and comfort, the Lord does the same to us - only with bold and joyous declarations.

As you go out today - ask yourself this: Do I believe that the Lord rejoices over me with singing? Do I believe that He doesn’t just love me, but that He likes me too - that He delights in me?

Why or why not? Wherever you find yourself on this range, take a moment and ask the Lord “Will you sing over me today, would you remind me of your love?”

He is faithful to show up and delight in His children. Go in peace, friends! Amen.