Maybe it’s the noise of a thousand children you carried in your body (because surely that’s how many are in the house right now). Maybe it’s 10,000 needs to meet. Maybe it’s working hard to “keep house,” but an outsider might be hard pressed to notice. Maybe it’s exhaustion from being up several times in the night— for the last six years.
Or perhaps for you it’s something different. Something far more weighty like chronic illness, or being broken by someone else’s sin, or a sudden plummet to the valley of death.
Maybe today is hard. Maybe it’s crushing.
Either way, here’s to everyone putting one foot in front of the other…
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
As a younger believer this verse astonished me. It still does. This is God’s view of his own? He rejoices over them. He delights in them. It’s God’s line in the sand, so to speak, his declaration of his stance toward the redeemed.
He is with them!
He saves them!
He rejoices over them with gladness!
He quiets them with his love!
He exults over them with singing!
“Don’t overuse exclamation points,” they say, but sometimes you need to. Read the verse again like it’s the best news you’ve ever heard. The Lord, Creator of all things is with you, and has definite emotions about you. “This is not an aloof, emotionless contentment but it bursts forth in joyful divine celebration: he will exult over you with loud singing.” (ESV study Bible commentary). It’s the Lord’s own exuberant answer to the people’s rejoicing in verses 14-16. It’s as if he can’t contain himself and his own delight compels him to join the party.
Believer, do not for one instant believe God is begrudging in his kindness and steadfast love for you. While some of the promises of the surrounding context will be fully realized in the new Heavens and the new Earth, this verse came to fruition at the cross. The realities are yours to remember.
“The Lord your God is in your midst.”
Never will he leave or forsake his chosen ones again. The punishment was paid; the veil was torn. No longer does God reside only in the Holy Place. God, in human flesh came to dwell with man. (Hebrews 13:5, 4:14-16, Luke 2)
He sees your weariness when you rise yet again to respond to a child in the night. He gives grace to endure, and a song in the night. His compassion compels your compassion.
He is near when you battle to discern truth from error, to untangle lies you’ve been taught. His Word is truth, and he will lead you in it.
He sees you stop to adore him even when the day goes awry, and he meets you there, filling your heart with impossible joy.
He holds you as you wrestle with the fallout of another’s sin. He knows your faith is clinging by a thread, and he clings to you. His word says no man can pluck you out of his hand.(John 10:28) Your faith is fraying, but he does not despise your weakness. He is strong when you are weak.
He feels the crushing weight of your grief, and sits beside you in the valley. He won’t rush you through it. But he binds the gaping wounds, his tears mingling with yours.
And he is with you. He is transcendent but he is also imminent, nearer to you than your own skin. If you are in Christ, you are a recipient of his good favor, and only his good favor.
“A mighty one who will save.”
Unlike earthly heroes, God the mighty warrior doesn’t fail, or quit. He will always win. And when he rescues his people, he explodes in song – for them, rejoicing over them as a groom delights in his bride.
My favorite person to look at when I go to a wedding is not the bride. Of course I see her. She is magnificent and stunning in her bridal array. But it’s the groom who catches my attention. Watch him watch her. Whether he’s sobbing or beaming, his eyes never leave hers. Adoration radiates from his very soul. “This is the one whom my soul loves! Isn’t she marvelous?”
“He will rejoice over you with gladness.”
Wouldn’t it be a sad marriage for a groom to merely tolerate his bride, to view her as a business transaction, to put up with her? Rather the best groom, the mighty warrior behaves like he’s won the most valuable treasure known to man. He exults over her, but in this case the bride is radiant only because he’s made her so. He deserves adoration, but he lavishes her with it.
Of course this verse spoke volumes to the girl who used to think God’s love was stoic—to the one who thought she still needed to earn God’s favor, though she would have dogmatically said salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
But on my worst days, I already have God’s favor. It was won for me. It was purchased. I can neither diminish it or earn more of it (for there is none to earn).
My goodness, we could keep unpacking this. It’s utterly life changing to remember how God sees his beloved!. But it is the little phrase right in the middle that’s been banging around in my brain for weeks. It’s this phrase I hope ministers to you when you’re putting one foot in front of the other today.
“He will quiet you by his love.”
Not silence, but quiet.
It bears connotations of calming fears, of restoring peace, of wholeness rather than brokenness. He restores rest to to the weary soul. His posture is not a stern, hands on hips, scowling face. His words are not harsh.
He quiets your soul with gentle embrace. Like a weaned child leans agains his mother for comfort, so do we lean on the Lord. (Psalm 131:2) His heart calms our hearts.
One day my two year old stood before me his cheeks soaked with tears, his words on repeat, “I need you.” I don’t remember why, but my first inclination was irritation. It could have been that he seemed extra “clingy” that day, or perhaps it was another day that felt like too much noise, noise, noise. For whatever reason, I wanted to be frustrated with him.
But then I saw his vulnerable little face. And the Holy Spirit whispered, “He will quiet you by his love. Quiet him with love.”
I gathered him in, spoke kindly to him, empathized with his little boy heart, and let our closeness quiet him. And it did. He snuggled against me, tears slowing.
As I’ve interacted with my children these last few weeks, I put that phrase on a loop in my mind. “Quiet them with love.” Sometimes it’s a reminder that love meets needs with grace and compassion. Sometimes it’s a reminder that God himself quiets me.
When they’re screaming, whining, sobbing, hitting, kicking, throwing… quiet them with love. Before anything else, quiet them with love. Because if they are calm, and I am calm we all can learn.
Yet, I am not completely faultless. I’ve lost it more than I care to admit.
But God quiets me so I can quiet others. He gathers me with words of truth. His Spirit is gentle with me. He fills me with peace and hope. Because of the cross, God has changed his posture and tone.
I love watching my giant husband kneel down and gather one of our children in his arms. He envelopes them with his strength, but holds them tenderly. This is how God quiets me, and you. His Holy Spirit comforts. The Word calms stormy emotions. When we remember who we he is and who we are, there is peace.
“May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
When you’re trudging along one foot in front of the other, perhaps it’s time to stop and rest. Jesus is the better rest. Lean into him. Lean against his heart, and he will quiet your soul.