“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
This is one of those Old Testament verses that would fit well in the New Testament. It gives a great positive view of God. He is referred to here as “The Mighty One.” And our God is certainly that. We see His might throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus shows His might by all of the miracles that he performed in His earthly ministry. “The Mighty One” looks, and sounds, so formidable. It doesn’t look like He would be personal with us in our tiny little lives, but the same verse that calls God “The Mighty One,” also shows His tenderness and love towards us. It begins on a very positive note – “The Lord your God in your midst.” The mighty God is “in our midst” or is among us. We see this illustrated in the Old Testament with God’s guidance of the Jews through the Exodus and through the wilderness journey. He was in their midst as a “pillar of fire” by night and a “pillar of cloud” by day. Notice that the prophet did not write, “is in your midst.” Instead he wrote “in your midst.” He stated it as a settled fact. God was not in and out of their midst, but He was in their midst at all times. Jesus made the same promise to those who believe in Him. He has promised to be with us through the Holy Spirit at all times. In fact Jesus gave a specific promise in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Psalm 46:7 gives a specific promise: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Wherever you look in the Bible, Old or New Testament, God is in the midst of His people – a “very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) The verse tells us that “The Mighty One, will save.” We see God’s willingness to save His people throughout the Bible. He saved Israel from Egypt. Their situation seemed hopeless after four hundred years of captivity, but God saved them by His power. God saved His people through the aforementioned wilderness journey. They wandered in the wilderness, or the desert, for forty years, and we are told that their clothes did not even wear out. Of course, the greatest example of God’s power and willingness to save people, is the coming of His Son, Jesus, into the world to save sinners. One of the great promises of Zephaniah 3:17 is that God will “rejoice over (us).” We are told that He will “rejoice over (us) with gladness,” and that He will “rejoice over (us) with singing.” We usually think of our rejoicing because of what God does for us, but here we are told that God rejoices over us. Jesus illustrates this for us in Luke 15, where He gives three parables about that which was lost but was found. He told about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. In each case there was great rejoicing over that what was lost being found. We cause the Lord to rejoice when we are saved. We cause the Lord to rejoice when we repent and turn from some besetting sin. This is not a picture of a sour, mean-spirited God, but of One who rejoices over us in gladness and with singing. The same Bible that tells us about the wrath of God tells us about the love of God and His joy in us when we follow His will. The verse tells us “He will quiet (us) with His love.” I get a picture here of one who is lost and in turmoil over sin and shame, but when God’s love comes into his or her life, he or she becomes quiet, or calm. One of the great realities of the universe is that God loves us, and when we personally realize that God loves us, it quiets our spirits and diminishes our anxiety. Perhaps you are reading this now, because God wants you to know that He loves you, that He sent His Son to die for you. His love can settle your life down and give you the “peace that passes understanding.” Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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