The God Who Sings Over Us
I believe that God has forgiven me because of what Jesus has done for me. But I often struggle to believe that He’s glad I belong to Him. Ever been there?
Forgiveness I can understand. Mercy I can understand. But delight? The idea that God looks at me with any sort of joy is often much harder for me to believe. Today, I stumbled across Zephaniah 3:17.
Zephaniah 3:17 - The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
God sings over His people! Not with a funeral dirge…but He will exult! Exult means to feel or show GREAT happiness and joy.
At times, when I think of my relationship with God, I think He accepts me. I think He tolerates me. Like…I got into the family because Jesus wanted to show what it looks like to be the least of these. But Zephaniah…he describes a God who rejoices over His people with gladness and expresses that joy in song. The narrative I sometimes allow to play in my head does not match up with truth. The Scriptures paint a picture of our Father rejoicing and singing with joy and excitement!
It’s a beautiful image, but it becomes even more beautiful when we remember where it appears.
Zephaniah is not a sentimental book. Much of it announces God's judgment against sin. His people have wandered from Him, trusted in themselves, and given their hearts to other things. Sound familiar? Their rebellion is real, and God's judgment is just.
But judgment is not where the book ends.
Near the end of Zephaniah, the language changes. God gathers His people. He takes away their judgment. He draws near to them. He saves them.
And then He sings. He sings with great joy!
The people who had every reason to fear His judgment are now pictured beneath the sound of His rejoicing. My friend, that’s grace! And it points us to the heart of the gospel.
The cross tells us that our sin was so serious that Jesus bore its judgment in our place. Jesus took what our rebellion deserved, and through His death and resurrection He brought us near to His Father.
He did not save us so that the Father could reluctantly put up with us. He brought us home!
I think this is where many of us struggle. We believe God has forgiven us, but somewhere beneath that belief we still imagine Him constantly disappointed with us. We picture Him enduring us rather than delighting in us.
Maybe that’s because we know ourselves so well. We know the thoughts no one else hears. We remember the sins we’ve repeated, the promises we’ve broken, and the ways our hearts still wander. It can be difficult to imagine that the holy God who knows all of that could truly delight in us.
But the gospel teaches us not to measure God's heart toward us by our performance. We look instead to Jesus.
If you belong to Jesus, you’ve been brought into the family of God by grace (Eph. 1:5–6). Your relationship with your Father doesn’t rise and fall depending on the week you’re having. Jesus has already done what needed to be done to bring you into the presence of your Father. This is the truth I often have to remind myself of. My confidence rests in Jesus righteousness, not mine.
And that makes something else in Zephaniah really beautiful. A few verses before God is pictured singing over His people, His people are told to sing.
“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion.”
Then comes the reason…the Lord has taken away their judgment. Their King is in their midst. They no longer need to fear! And shortly afterward, the God they are singing to is pictured singing over them. Being really transparent, this brought me to joyful tears.
Today, when we worship through song, we aren’t trying to persuade God to love us. Our singing is a response to grace that has already been given.
We sing because Jesus has come for us.
We sing because Jesus has taken our judgment.
We sing because sinners have been welcomed home.
We sing because the God we once had every reason to fear has drawn near to us in grace.
So…let me ask you something.
Like I have, do you find it easier to believe that God forgives you than to believe that He delights in you?
When you sing, do you tend to think first about what you are offering God, or about the grace to which your song is responding to?
Zephaniah gives us a beautiful place to rest. Before our voices ever rise to God, He has already revealed His heart toward His redeemed people.
He saves.
He gathers.
He brings near.
He rejoices.
Over you. Yes, you!
So redeemed one, especially if it’s a miserable day, take heart. Your Father in Heaven sent His Son because He loves you. He rejoices over you. He sings over you. He exults over you!
You are not loved because you performed well enough to make God sing. You are in the song because Jesus brought you home.
Forgiveness I can understand. Mercy I can understand. But delight? The idea that God looks at me with any sort of joy is often much harder for me to believe. Today, I stumbled across Zephaniah 3:17.
Zephaniah 3:17 - The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
God sings over His people! Not with a funeral dirge…but He will exult! Exult means to feel or show GREAT happiness and joy.
At times, when I think of my relationship with God, I think He accepts me. I think He tolerates me. Like…I got into the family because Jesus wanted to show what it looks like to be the least of these. But Zephaniah…he describes a God who rejoices over His people with gladness and expresses that joy in song. The narrative I sometimes allow to play in my head does not match up with truth. The Scriptures paint a picture of our Father rejoicing and singing with joy and excitement!
It’s a beautiful image, but it becomes even more beautiful when we remember where it appears.
Zephaniah is not a sentimental book. Much of it announces God's judgment against sin. His people have wandered from Him, trusted in themselves, and given their hearts to other things. Sound familiar? Their rebellion is real, and God's judgment is just.
But judgment is not where the book ends.
Near the end of Zephaniah, the language changes. God gathers His people. He takes away their judgment. He draws near to them. He saves them.
And then He sings. He sings with great joy!
The people who had every reason to fear His judgment are now pictured beneath the sound of His rejoicing. My friend, that’s grace! And it points us to the heart of the gospel.
The cross tells us that our sin was so serious that Jesus bore its judgment in our place. Jesus took what our rebellion deserved, and through His death and resurrection He brought us near to His Father.
He did not save us so that the Father could reluctantly put up with us. He brought us home!
I think this is where many of us struggle. We believe God has forgiven us, but somewhere beneath that belief we still imagine Him constantly disappointed with us. We picture Him enduring us rather than delighting in us.
Maybe that’s because we know ourselves so well. We know the thoughts no one else hears. We remember the sins we’ve repeated, the promises we’ve broken, and the ways our hearts still wander. It can be difficult to imagine that the holy God who knows all of that could truly delight in us.
But the gospel teaches us not to measure God's heart toward us by our performance. We look instead to Jesus.
If you belong to Jesus, you’ve been brought into the family of God by grace (Eph. 1:5–6). Your relationship with your Father doesn’t rise and fall depending on the week you’re having. Jesus has already done what needed to be done to bring you into the presence of your Father. This is the truth I often have to remind myself of. My confidence rests in Jesus righteousness, not mine.
And that makes something else in Zephaniah really beautiful. A few verses before God is pictured singing over His people, His people are told to sing.
“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion.”
Then comes the reason…the Lord has taken away their judgment. Their King is in their midst. They no longer need to fear! And shortly afterward, the God they are singing to is pictured singing over them. Being really transparent, this brought me to joyful tears.
Today, when we worship through song, we aren’t trying to persuade God to love us. Our singing is a response to grace that has already been given.
We sing because Jesus has come for us.
We sing because Jesus has taken our judgment.
We sing because sinners have been welcomed home.
We sing because the God we once had every reason to fear has drawn near to us in grace.
So…let me ask you something.
Like I have, do you find it easier to believe that God forgives you than to believe that He delights in you?
When you sing, do you tend to think first about what you are offering God, or about the grace to which your song is responding to?
Zephaniah gives us a beautiful place to rest. Before our voices ever rise to God, He has already revealed His heart toward His redeemed people.
He saves.
He gathers.
He brings near.
He rejoices.
Over you. Yes, you!
So redeemed one, especially if it’s a miserable day, take heart. Your Father in Heaven sent His Son because He loves you. He rejoices over you. He sings over you. He exults over you!
You are not loved because you performed well enough to make God sing. You are in the song because Jesus brought you home.
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