Zephaniah 3:14-17 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.… Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgements, he hath cast out thine enemy, etc. Here is a call to the regenerated inhabitants of Jerusalem to exult in the mercy of God, who has wrought their deliverance, at the same time, a beautiful description of the sublime delight with which Jehovah will regard them in the future. The words bring under our notice joy, human and Divine. I. THE JOY OF THE REGENERATED MAN. "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shoat, O Israel; be glad and rejoice." What is the joy? 1. The joy of gratitude for the deliverance from evil. "The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath east out thine enemy." What is the joy of the slave in the hour of his emancipation, of the prisoner on leaving his cell, of the long suffering invalid on his restoration to full health? Far more is the joy of the man who feels himself morally delivered - delivered from the power of sin, and brought into the "glorious liberty of the children of God." Gratitude is always an element of joy. 2. The joy of conscious security. "Even the Lord is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more." What joy breaks forth in the apostolic challenge, "Who shall separate us from the love of God?" etc.! Here is the joy of regenerated humanity, the joy of gratitude for the greatest deliverance, the joy of conscious security from all possible dangers. II. THE JOY OF THE REGENERATING GOD. "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee [within thee] is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." What is the joy of God? It is the joy of infinite benevolence. What is the joy of the genuine patriot when he has delivered his country from a power that threatened its utter destruction? What is the joy of a loving physician when he has rescued his patient from the very jaws of death? What is the joy of a loving parent who has rescued his child from ruin? Some such joy as this - infinitely superior - is the joy of God over regenerated humanity. In this joy the redeemed will participate; indeed, it will be their heaven. "Enter into the joy of thy Lord." "Rejoice over thee with singing." Does God sing? Yes; in all the happy voices of the universe, especially in the shouts of the redeemed. - D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. |
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