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St Mark's Darling Point | Anglican Church Sydney Eastern Suburbs

Zephaniah 3:14-17

Sing, Daughter Zion;
shout aloud, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
¹⁵ The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
¹⁶ On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
‘Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
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.’

Comment

Can we imagine what it would sound like to hear God singing with delight in his people? The Day of the Lord will come with all its heaviness; but it will be a day of great rejoicing, because it will mean the forgiveness and restoration of the people of God!

It is the cause for much rejoicing. The Lord has spared them, turning away their enemies – but the true meaning of that victory is of course spiritual, for it means that God has taken away their punishment. Their repentance has been met with mercy.

The city that had struggled with corrupt and complacent leaders now has a new king, who is present in his holy city and will protect his people. He will not betray them or exploit them for his own gain. His rule means that his people need not fear. That is the refrain that they will sing to one another: that the Lord God, the Mighty Warrior, is with them, the one who saves.

Not only does he stand sentry over them and vanquish their enemies, but he has also turned aside their sin. The Lord will himself take great delight in his people, his eyes filled with love for them. They are no longer in need of his rebuke. The Lord himself will rejoice! And divine music will fill the air – the sound of the Lord himself singing the song of his own great delight in his people.

Who could imagine such a sound? And we know with greater clarity how this dream has come to pass, in Jesus Christ, the King who came into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey; who mourned over it, who died for it, and who rose again in great exaltation to reign over all things. Today, he rejoices over his treasured people, those who also rejoice in him.

Prayer

Heavenly King, loving Father, make me continually glad in you; fill me with your delight in me, that I might delight in you, through Jesus Christ. Amen.