Zephaniah 3:17
Joy-Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.”.
Often when we think of joy, we automatically think of the Joy that is given us by the Holy Spirit. But rarely do I think about the exquisite joy that the Lord continually has when He thinks of His relationship with us. And He is continually thinking of us, His children. Just like our children bring us joy, we bring our Heavenly Father great joy. Today I’d like to talk about both-the Father’s great joy in His relationship with us and our response as we allow the Holy Spirit to give us the fruit of the Spirit-Joy.
This scripture in Zephaniah should bring us joy beyond measure to know that our Heavenly Father rejoices over each one of us, His children! Wow! What a statement. I wonder how much it would change our attitudes if we were to meditate on this one scripture verse. If we asked our loving Father to reveal Himself to us in new and exciting ways so that we can get to know Him better.
First let’s look at the difference between happiness and true joy. Happiness depends solely on the circumstances at the moment or if the situation is to our likings. I’m not suggesting that happiness is a bad thing, but it must never be confused with JOY. There is a night and day difference between happiness and joy. Since JOY has its origin in the Lord, it is eternal, while happiness is at best-temporary. Since the Bible explains that joy has its foundation in the Holy Spirit, it has nothing to do with how we feel at the moment or whether circumstances are favorable. Joy lives in each and every believer and is active within us whether our circumstances are favorable or not.
The Word defines joy as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His Presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,” We also learned that this fruit of the Spirit, Joy, is Love’s strength. Nehemiah 8:10 “for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.”
Let’s for a moment, dig a little deeper into this verse in Zephaniah, what it actually means and how can this one little verse continue to make us joyful beyond measure. The verse begins with the statement that “The Lord your God is in the midst of you, which should bring us great joy! Then it goes to tell us Who is with us, “a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]!” Our Savior! “He will rejoice over you with joy.” This is worth repeating- “He will rejoice over each of us with great joy!” Wow! What a magnificent beginning. That alone should grab our attention and whet our appetite for more! But wait-there is more!
He will rest [in silent satisfaction] It’s my opinion that this verse means that after the ordeal of the cross and His resurrection, He sat down and rested, satisfied with the completion of His great sacrifice on our behalf. Isaiah 53:11 “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He shall see it and be satisfied, By His knowledge [of what He has accomplished] the Righteous One, My Servant, shall justify the many [making them righteous—upright before God, in right standing with Him],For He shall bear [the responsibility for] their sins.” Jesus great sacrifice at Calvary should bring abundant joy to each and every believer. Because it gave Him great joy. Hebrews 12:2 “[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].”
In His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins or even recall them];” Psalms 32:1 “Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered.” Ephesians 1:7 “In Him (Jesus) we have redemption [that is, our deliverance and salvation] through His blood, [which paid the penalty for our sin and resulted in] the forgiveness and complete pardon of our sin, in accordance with the riches of His grace.” What joy our Lord bestows on us by not only forgiving us All of our sins for all eternity but to never again recall them. He deliberately forgets our past sins! Our sinful nature is -just as if it never was! What joy!
He will exult over you with singing.” Isaiah 62:5 “And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So, your God will rejoice over you.” This is what I call contagious joy! I have been thrilled with this verse since I was a young woman. With my husband working straight midnights and having two newborn infants, I was a wreck. But then I read this verse about Jesus singing over me. I could envision Him each night, watching over us, singing a lullaby over my babies and me. He calmed me, comforted me, & reassured me of His great love for me. I am confident that I couldn’t have gotten through those early days with the twins without Jesus and Zephaniah 3:17.
Conclusion: Today we have read about the great joy that the Father has for us. And our grand response. Let our response be Psalm 59:16 “But as for me, I will sing of Your mighty strength and power; Yes, I will sing joyfully of Your lovingkindness in the morning; For You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.” And as we enter into His Presence we will say, Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the path of life; In Your Presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”
