Journaling Through Zephaniah 3:17

"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.” Zephaniah 3:17

Mighty Warrior = (Hebrew): All Conquering Hero, Warrior King, Prevailing One.

What does He do?
Saves, delivers me from guilt, shame, sin
Takes great delight in me, rejoices over me with gladness!
He loves without conditions: NO LONGER rebukes me, reproves me for my sin
He finds joy in me and sings loudly over me

God is speaking through Zephaniah to the people of Israel. God says, his people are “rebellious, they listen to no voice, accept no correction, they don’t trust the Lord and they do not draw near to Him”. They are prideful. They don’t pursue God. This is a picture of a warrior king defeating the enemy. He pursues his enemy, defeats them and then finds delight in conquering them.

Lord,
What a picture you have given me in this verse! You are defeating me. I have fought and rebelled and desired to be free from your rule. I have wanted my way, I have pursued other things. You came after me and captured me in my rebellion. Just like a child who is so emotionally distraught and angry at not getting her way. Her dad must hold her tight until she finally gives in and melts into his arms. THIS IS AGGRESSIVE LOVE! But, you delight in me and find great joy in me! You don’t bring up my past rebellion. You don’t reprove me and list out my sin and the many times I chose to follow after other gods. You love without conditions. You sing and rejoice over me simply because of Jesus.

You find delight in me! That is very hard to understand. Much of life is defined by doing something or being something good in order to receive someone’s delight. I seldom, if ever, find delight in myself. I seldom think others find delight in me. I can only see where I don’t measure up, where I have failed, and my ever present selfishness. But YOU DELIGHT in me even though I often seek love, approval, control and comfort from other things and other people. You desire for me to be yours. This is aggressive love. This is freeing love. I am free to see what you see. You have made me for yourself and for your delight.

Lord, enable me to see what you see. I need to be reminded that you delight in me. Daily capture my heart with your aggressive love and let me hear you singing loudly over me, telling me I am yours!

written by: Carla Love