“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

A touch of Zephaniah (part 1 - His Song)

Welcome to my newest "occasional series" - another one I'm not sure how many parts there will be (probably somewhere between two and four), or how long it will take me to complete. I have a lot on my plate, and my blog by necessity needs to be taken a notch or two down on my priority list. I'm NOT giving it up--just committing to putting a couple of things before it. Hoping for a couple posts a week (including Friday Fiction), but we'll see how my book and other things are coming along.
The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

Just a few hours ago, I was in my wonderful church, among other things, singing praises to God. I love our church's music pastor, and the songs he chooses are always a blessing. He does a nice combination of the hymns (we opened today with "I'll Fly Away") and some of the more modern melodies (We also sang "In Christ Alone"-- a favorite of mine). It is such a wonderful thing to be with a body of believers, rejoicing over our wonderful Lord. I often imagine what our singing will sound like in Heaven. I can't even fathom singing these songs of praise in His presence.

But, do you know what is even more incredible to me? The thought that the perfect, holy God of the universe rejoices over the imperfect, fault-ridden humans of this earth. And not only that. He does so with singing. And he isn't singing the blues, either. He is singing songs of rejoicing, according to good 'ol Zephaniah the prophet.

It makes me wonder what I could possibly do to make the Lord sing. What might please God so much that it would cause Him to break out in a serenade about me? Perhaps my acts of mercy might bring a tune to His Heavenly mind. Exercising my spiritual gifts might put a song in His heart. Maybe when I sing songs of praise to Him, he joins in with His own words.

Isn't that an amazing thought?

I would love to know what I can do to make my Lord sing praises about me. And though I may not know for sure, I'm certain that following His ways and pleasing Him is a good start. Maybe, when I get to heaven, the Lord and I can sing a duet--me praising Him, and He rejoicing over me.

Now if that isn't a mind-blowing idea, I don't know what is.

Heavenly Father, thank You for opening my eyes to this single verse in Zephaniah, that is so full of blessings. Help me, Lord, to bring blessings to You, and to cause You to rejoice over Me with singing. Bringing pleasure to You is such an incredible privilege, Lord. Thank you for assuring me that I can do this for You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

7 comments:

  1. He sings over me. What joy and awe that thought evokes in me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I cannot imagine him singing over me today. But therein lies the beauty of his grace...

    he sings even when my imagination limits his voice.

    Thank you for reminding me, Joanne. I really, really needed to hear this tonight.

    peace~elaine

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Joanne, what a beautiful verse - thank you for sharing it with us today. Bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It astounds me that God would sing and rejoice over me! Wow. I want to give Him more reason to sing!

    So cool to think about!
    Huggles!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is one of my favorite verses, and one I write about often. I have actually experienced the feeling of HIm singing over me several times, most in my childhood. It is a comfort. A peace. A beautiful reminder of His love for me. Thank you.

    BTW, have you heard the contemporary worship song "Mighty to Save"? I think I posted it on my blog a few weeks ago...by Hillsong? It is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a wonderful thought! It's amazing that God cares about little us. I wonder what songs He sings? Have you ever heard a child just sing about their toys and pets and home? My daughter did while she was swinging. I'm sure the Lord sings with them in their simple joy of life.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is a favorite verse of mine. And "In Christ Alone" is one of my favorite songs. Thanks for reminding me of both.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear your thoughts - please share them!

My One Word: 2016 and 2017

Most who know me know I am a very goal-oriented person (in fact, I already shared my goal wrap-up for 2016 and my new ones for 2017 on this...