In The Midst of Thee
Today’s Verse:
The LORD thy God in the midst of 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. ~Zephaniah 3:17
Zephaniah 3:17 is an incredibly encouraging verse of Scripture. It was a word of comfort and promise given to God’s people during a dark moment of affliction and suffering. In our darkest moments, God never fails to come alongside of us when we need Him, and to give us words of encouragement to replenish our soul. F.B. Meyer calls this verse “a cluster of grapes.” Let us see five promises to lift every discouraged soul.
We see the Lord, Who is in the center.
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty….” The first thing God tells us is that He is right there with us when we need Him. He is in the midst of thee. He is in the midst with us. He’s not distantly away; He is in the center of our difficulty. Not only is God is in the midst, but God is also mighty. In effect, it is saying that He is a mighty God. He’s greater than our affliction, difficulty, and problem. He’s personal, He’s present, and He’s powerful.
We see the Lord and His salvation.
“He will save….” The people looked at their circumstances, and they knew that they were in serious trouble. God was there to rescue them. Our choir sings a song entitled “To Rescue a Sinner Like Me.” Salvation is God rescuing us from danger. He rescues us, as sinners, from the fire of the abyss. He rescues us, as saints, from the fire of adversity. He keeps us from falling! He keeps the evil one from doing further hurt.
We see the Lord and His satisfaction.
“He will rejoice over thee with joy….” The Lord rejoices in being there for us. It is not an inconvenience, nor is it troublesome. It is a joy for the Lord to be in our midst, to pull us up from our despondency, and to see us through our restoration. The Lord rejoices over us in our repentance. Just like the father of the prodigal, who ran to meet his wayward son, our Father in Heaven rejoices to meet us, to put shoes on our feet, to put a ring on our finger, and to clothe us in a purple robe.
We see the Lord and His soft spot.
“He will rest in his love….” We are the soft spot in God’s heart. If there is one thing that God does for us that we cannot explain, it is the fact that He loves us with an everlasting love. His perfect love for us casts out our fears. His perfect love for us makes us more than conquerors. His perfect love never lets us go. His perfect love endures to the end. It is unconditional and unchangeable. What’s amazing is that He rests in His love. God has a great delight in showering us with grace and love that we do not deserve.
We see the Lord and His singing.
“He will joy over thee with singing.” This promise has the idea of a marriage song that a groom sings to his bride. In our despair and crying, He sings to us! His singing to us is sung with great joy. God composes a love song that replenishes us from being drawn out and restores us from our discouraged spirit. Normally, we think about the singing we do to God, but in our difficult moment, we see the Lord Who joys over us with singing.
God is in the midst of thee! We have His promise, His presence, and His preciousness. Rejoice today in the Lord and His love for you.
Have a revived God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Isaiah 23-27