Bible League: Living His Word 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.— Zephaniah 3:17 ESV King Josiah (640-609 B.C.) had no greater fan in all of Judah than the prophet Zephaniah. Following the reign of his righteous great-grandfather Hezekiah, Josiah’s grandfather Manasseh and his father Amon made an utter mess of the nation; not only allowing, but inviting the debaucherous idolatry of the surrounding nations to be practiced throughout the land. As Josiah strove to bring about righteous reform among the people, Zephaniah (though clearly proclaiming that pending judgment would soon arrive in Judah as it had in Israel) spoke wonderful words of encouragement to sustain the people once judgment was complete. As the prophet begins to conclude this short prophetic utterance on an encouraging note (vs 3:14), one can almost sense a growing crescendo of joy immersed in the national reformation that will take place! He invites the people to “sing aloud” with him, as he foretells the wonderful ways in which the Lord will dispel fear, build faith, and restore fortunes for all of eternity. Indeed, the transformation of the nation that is described in verses 18-20 is truly something to sing about! But what makes the people respond positively to all the transforming benefits God wishes to bestow upon them, is knowing that despite previous sinful downfalls, God is “in their midst!” God is the “mighty one who will deliver them,” who will “rejoice over them with gladness” who will “quiet them by his love.” Indeed, as the people are singing (vs 14), God is also singing aloud with them in a mutual exaltation! (vs 17). Imagine that: God singing along with His people! Surely, this is an expression of His love for them. And what God did for His children and will do in the future, He does for us who belong to Him today. We too have experienced His wondrous love through being rescued from our sins. We rejoice with Him, knowing He has quieted our restlessness in life with an assured confidence of His presence and love; and then we hear Him sing aloud with gladness over us, encouraging increasing advancement in our loving relationship with Him! It is in how God loves us that we are positioned to respond positively to the transforming work He wants to do in us daily. London businessman Samuel Trevor Francis (1824-1925), who traveled across the Atlantic Ocean more times than he could count would often ponder the vastness of God’s love for him as he gazed upon the rolling waves of the ocean. At one time, he took pen to paper and jotted this verse he would sing: “O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free! Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me, underneath me, all around me, is the current of thy love; leading onward, leading homeward to my glorious rest above.” As we walk (or sail) through the days of our lives, may we have a song we can sing, highlighting the love God has for us, knowing that He sings along with us all along the way! By Bill Niblette, Ph.D., Bible League International staff, Pennsylvania U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNumbers 1, 2 Numbers 1 -- The Census of Israel Totals 603,550, Exempting Levites NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 2 -- Arrangement of the Tribal Camps NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 3:1-21 Mark 3 -- Jesus Heals on the Sabbath, Chooses the Twelve, discusses Beelzebub, Mother and Brothers NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Finally, I confessed all my sins to youand stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Insight What is confession? To confess our sin is to agree with God, acknowledging that he is right to declare what we have done as sinful, and that we are wrong to desire or to do it. Challenge It is to affirm our intention of abandoning that sin in order to follow him more faithfully. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Ezekiel 36:37 Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. Turn to sacred history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication. You have found this true in your own personal experience. God has given you many an unsolicited favor, but still great prayer has always been the prelude of great mercy with you. When you first found peace through the blood of the cross, you had been praying much, and earnestly interceding with God that he would remove your doubts, and deliver you from your distresses. Your assurance was the result of prayer. When at any time you have had high and rapturous joys, you have been obliged to look upon them as answers to your prayers. When you have had great deliverances out of sore troubles, and mighty helps in great dangers, you have been able to say, "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Prayer is always the preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing as the blessing's shadow. When the sunlight of God's mercies rises upon our necessities, it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain. Or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, he himself shines behind them, and he casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest certain, if we are much in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of mercy. Prayer is thus connected with the blessing to show us the value of it. If we had the blessings without asking for them, we should think them common things; but prayer makes our mercies more precious than diamonds. The things we ask for are precious, but we do not realize their preciousness until we have sought for them earnestly. "Prayer makes the darken'd cloud withdraw; Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw; Gives exercise to faith and love; Brings every blessing from above." Daily Light on the Daily Path Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 1 Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:27,29 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, • so that no man may boast before God. Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Luke 4:22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?" John 7:46 The officers answered, "Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks." 1 Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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