Daily Devotions – God is in your midst

Daily Devotions – God is in your midst

 

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NIV)

14 Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. 16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 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.” 18 “I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. 19 At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. 20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.

Here is another passage which expresses the promise of God being with us. This particular passage is set to music in Handel’s Messiah. While the passage reminds us that we should “fear not” because God is in our midst, it includes several other important teachings. In v. 15, God is forgiving us, which takes away the chief barrier to our being with God. Furthermore, we get the news that God is not only with us, but God “rejoices over us” (v. 17).  Finally, notice how when we “go out” to serve God, we find that God is actually using that to bring us to our true home (vv. 18 & 20).