Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
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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.
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The LORD thy God is in the midst of thee, a Mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will be silent in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.'
Cross-references (26)
Passages linked to Zephaniah 3:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 149:4 For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.
- Psalms 147:11 Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his loving kindness.
- Isaiah 62:4-5 You will not be called Forsaken any more, nor will your land be called Desolate any more; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
- Jeremiah 32:41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”
- Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.
- Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.”
- Zephaniah 3:15 Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.
- Deuteronomy 30:9 Yahweh your God will make you prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, for good; for Yahweh will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers,
- Isaiah 65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
- John 15:11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
- Numbers 14:8 If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey.
- Isaiah 12:6 Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
- Luke 15:23-24 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate.
- Zephaniah 3:5 Yahweh, within her, is righteous. He will do no wrong. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He doesn’t fail, but the unjust know no shame.
- Luke 15:5-6 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
- Luke 15:32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ ”
- John 13:1 Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
- Genesis 1:31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
- Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless.
- Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”
- Isaiah 18:4 For Yahweh said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- Isaiah 63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who is this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
- Isaiah 63:12 Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
- Psalms 24:8-10 Who is the King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; yes, lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in. Who is this King of glory? Yahweh of Armies is the King of glory!
- Genesis 2:2 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Signifying, that God delighteth to show his love and…
Signifying, that God delighteth to show his love and great affection toward his Church.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zep 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst…
Zep 3:17 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.
Ver. 17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty] Even the mighty strong God, Isa 9:6, the giant, as the word signifies, the champion of his Church. He being in the midst of thee cannot but see who thou art set upon; and how many dangers and difficulties thou encounterest with, and will send thee in new supplies, Eph 1:19, seasonable help.
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He will save] This properly signifieth the privative part of man’s happiness; but includeth also the positive. Jesus will do all for his people.
He will rejoice over thee with joy] As a bridegroom doth over his bride, Isa 62:5. He will take special complacence and content in thee, being made accepted in the beloved, Eph 1:6.
He will rest in his love] And seek no further. Heb. He will be silent in his love, passing by small faults without any the least signification of his displeasure; as if he were even fond over his Church, and did err in his love towards her, as husbands are licensed to do toward their wives, Pro 5:19. Some render it obmutescet in amore suo, he shall be dumb in his love, so as he cannot speak through excess of love. Lovers are so transported sometimes that they cannot utter their minds.
He will joy over thee with singing] As a father doth over his child whom he beareth in his besom, or dandleth on his knee.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Lord; the everlasting One, who changeth not.
The Lord; the everlasting One, who changeth not.
Thy God; thine in covenant, never to be forgotten or repealed. Is mighty; can do all he will, can restrain and destroy enemies, can support and defend his own people. He will save, from thy fears, and thine enemies’ rage.
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Will rejoice over thee with joy; will greatly rejoice in thee. Will rest in his love; will take content and satisfaction in this his love. The love he showeth to thee shall be rest to him; not thy loveliness, but his own love shall satisfy him.
Will joy over thee with singing; will show greatest love and joy in most affectionate manner: all expressions borrowed from the entirest love of man toward dearest relations, Psa 103:11,13; Isa 62:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The Lord thy God in the midst of thee…
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee [is] mighty Every word carries in it something very encouraging to the church and people of God; and is an antidote against those fears and faintings they are subject to; Christ "is in the midst of" them; near at hand to support and supply them, to assist and strengthen them, to protect and defend them; he is not only near by his essential presence, which is everywhere; and by his providential presence, which is concerned with all his creatures; but by his gracious presence, peculiar to his church and people; and which gives them unspeakable joy, and is a sufficient security from all fears and dismayings; see ( Isaiah 41:10 ) and he, who is in the midst of them, is the Lord, Jehovah, the Being of beings, eternal, immutable, and all sufficient, possessed of all divine perfections; and their "God", God in their nature, "Immanuel", God with us; and who is "mighty", the Almighty God, the mighty Mediator, who has all power in heaven and earth; and, as man, the man of God's right hand, made strong for himself, and so able to save his people to the uttermost; to deliver them out of the hands of every enemy; to raise up his interest when ever so low, and to maintain and support it; to help and assist his people in every duty and service he calls them to: he will save; he is as willing to save as he is able; he readily undertook in counsel and covenant to save the chosen ones; he came in the fulness of time to seek and to save that which was lost; he has wrought out salvation for them, and sees that it is applied unto them, and will come again to put them into the full possession of it: he saves them freely, fully, and everlastingly; he saves them from sin, Satan, the law, hell and wrath, and every spiritual enemy; nor has the church of Christ anything to fear from any temporal enemy; the converted Jews will have no reason to fear the Turk that will come against them with a vast army; for Christ, who will be in the midst of them, and at the head of them, will save them from him; to which salvation this passage has chiefly a respect; he will rejoice over thee with joy; with exceeding great joy, not to be conceived of, or expressed; as a bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride: this will be the time of the open marriage of the Lamb with the Jewish church; and there will be strong expressions of joy on this occasion; Christ will rejoice over them to do them good; and there will be such singular instances of his goodness to them as will abundantly show the joy he will have in them: he will rest in his love; continue in his love, without any variation or change; nothing shall separate from it; it shall always remain the same; he will take up his contentment and satisfaction in it; he will solace himself with it; it will be a pleasing thing to him to love his people, and to show it to them; he will take the utmost complacency and delight in expressing his love by words and deeds unto them: or, as some render it, "he will be silent because of his love" F18; and not upbraid them with their sins; or reprove, correct, and chastise them in his hot displeasure; or say one word in a way of vindictive wrath: and he "will make" all others "silent"; every enemy, or whatever is contrary to them; such is his great love to them F19; he will forgive their iniquities, and cover their sins, and in love to them cast them behind his back: or, "will be dumb" F20; and not speak; as sometimes persons, when their affections are strong, and their hearts are filled with love at the sight of one they bear a great regard unto, are not able to speak a word. The phrase expresses the greatness of Christ's love to his people; the strength, fulness, and continuance of it: words seem to be wanted, and more are added: he will joy over thee with singing; there is a pleonasm of joy in Christ's heart towards his people, and so a redundancy in his expression of it; he rejoices with joy, and joys with singing; which shows how delighted he is with his people, as they are his chosen, redeemed, and called ones; as they have his own righteousness upon them, and his own grace in them; they are his "Hephzibah", in whom he delights; his "Beulah", to whom he is married; and it is his love of complacency and delight, which is the source of all the grace and glory he bestows upon them; see ( Isaiah 62:3-5 ) ( Luke 15:23-25 ) . FOOTNOTES: F18 (wtbhab vyrxy) "silebit", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Calvin; so Ben Melech; "tacebit", Munster, Cocceius. F19 So Burkius. F20 "Obmutescet", so some in Drusius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. The Lord thy God] יהוה אלהיך Yehovah…
Verse 17. The Lord thy God] יהוה אלהיך Yehovah Eloheycha, "The self-existent and eternal Being, who is in covenant with you;" the character of God in reference to the Jews when standing in the nearest relation to them.
Is mighty] גבור gibbor, is the prevailing One, the all-conquering Hero. The character which is given to Christ, Isa 9:6: "His name shall be called אל גבור El gibbor, the prevailing Almighty God."
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He will save] Deliver thee from all the power, from all the guilt, and from all the pollution of thy sins; and when thus saved, "he will rejoice over thee with joy," with peculiar gladness. "He will rest in his love," - he will renew his love. He will show the same love to you that he did of old to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He will joy over thee with singing.] The conversion of the Jews will be a subject of peculiar delight and exultation to God himself! There will be a more than ordinary joy in heaven, when the Jews return to God through Christ. This event cannot be at a great distance; they are as wretched and as ungodly as they can well be. The arms of Christians are open to receive them; and all things are now ready!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The Lord thy God in the midst of thee…
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save - What can He then not do for thee, since He is Almighty? What will He not do for thee, since “He will save?” whom then should we fear? “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Rom 8:31. But then was He especially “in the midst of” us, when God “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and Truth” Joh 1:14. Thenceforth He ever is in the midst of His own. He with the Father and the Holy Spirit “come unto them and make Their abode with them” Joh 14:23, so that they are “the temple of God. He will save,” as He saith, “My Father is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are One” Joh 10:29-30. Of the same time of the Christ, Isaiah saith almost in the same words; “Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees, Say to them that are of a feeble heart, Be strong, fear not, behold your God will come, He will come and save you” Isa 35:3-4; and of the Holy Trinity, “He will save us” Isa 33:22.
He will rejoice, over thee with joy - Love, joy, peace in man are shadows of that which is in God, by whom they are created in man. Only in God they exist undivided, uncreated. Hence, God speaks after the manner of men, of that which truly is in God. God joyeth “with an uncreated joy” over the works of His Hands or the objects of His Love, as man joyeth over the object of “his” love. So Isaiah saith, “As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee” Isa 62:5. As with uncreated love the Father resteth in good pleasure in His well-beloved Son, so “God is well-pleased with the sacrifices of loving deeds” Heb 13:16. and, “the Lord delighteth in thee” Isa 62:4; and, “I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people” Isa 65:19; and, “the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good” Deu 30:9. And so in a two-fold way God meeteth the longing of the heart of man.
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The soul, until it hath found God, is evermore seeking some love to fill it, and can find none, since the love of God Alone can content it. Then too it longeth to be loved, even as it loveth. God tells it, that every feeling and expression of human love may be found in Him, whom if any love, he only “loveth Him, because He first loved us” 1Jo 4:19. Every inward and outward expression or token of love are heaped together, to express the love of Him who broodeth and as it were yearneth “over” (it is twice repeated) His own whom He loveth. Then too He loveth thee as He biddeth thee to love Him; and since the love of man cannot be like the love of the Infinite God, He here pictures His own love in the words of man’s love, to convey to his soul the oneness wherewith love unites her unto God. He here echoes in a manner the joy of the Church, to which He had called her 1Jo 4:14, in words the self-same or meaning the same.
We have “joy” here for “joy” there; “singing” or the unuttered unutterable jubilee of the heart, which cannot utter in words its joy and love, and joys and loves the more in its inmost depths because it cannot utter it. A shadow of the unutterable, because Infinite Love of God, and this repeated thrice; as being the eternal love of the Everblessed Trinity. This love and joy the prophet speaks of, as an exuberant joy, one which boundeth within the inmost self, and again is wholly “silent in His love,” as the deepest, tenderest, most yearning love broods over the object of its love, yet is held still in silence by the very depth of its love; and then, again, breaks forth in outward motion, and leaps for joy, and uttereth what it cannot form in words, for truly the love of God in its unspeakable love and joy is past belief, past utterance, past thought. Rup.: “Truly that joy wherewith ‘He will be silent in His love,’ that exultation wherewith ‘He will joy over thee with singing, ‘Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man’ 1Co 2:9.”
The Hebrew word also contains the meaning, “He in His love shall make no mention of past sins, He shall not bring them up against thee, shall not upbraid thee, yea, shall not remember them” Jer 31:34; Jer 33:8; Mic 7:18. It also may express the still, unvarying love of the Unchangeable God. And again trow the very silence of God, when He seemeth not to hear, as He did not seem to hear Paul, is a very fruit of His love. Yet that entire forgiveness of sins, and that seeming absence are but ways of showing His love. Hence, God speaks of His very love itself, “He will be silent in His love,” as, before and after, “He will rejoice, He will joy over thee.”
In the next few verses Zep 3:18-21 still continuing the number “three,” the prophecy closes with the final reversal of all which, in this imperfect state of things, seems turned upside down, when those who now mourn shall be comforted, they who now bear reproach and shame shall have glory, and those who now afflict the people of God shall be undone.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Silent; constant. (Menochius) --- He will accuse thee no…
Silent; constant. (Menochius) --- He will accuse thee no more. Can this be understood of the Jews, who have been cast off till the fulness of the Gentiles enter the Church? [Romans xi. 25.] To the latter all this must be applied. Few prophets inveighed against the crimes of the captives after their return. (Calmet) --- But this must be deemed a punishment, unless the crimes were also removed. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain he will rest in his love--content with it as…
he will rest in his love--content with it as His supreme delight (compare Luk 15:7, Luk 15:10) [CALVIN], (Isa 62:5; Isa 65:19). Or, He shall be silent, namely as to thy faults, not imputing them to thee [MAURER] (Psa 32:2; Eze 33:16). I prefer explaining it of that calm silent joy in the possession of the object of one's love, too great for words to express: just as God after the six days of creation rested with silent satisfaction in His work, for "behold it was very good" (Gen 1:31; Gen 2:2). So the parallel clause by contrast expresses the joy, not kept silent as this, but uttered in "singing."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. Render with R.V., The LORD thy God is…
17. Render with R.V., The LORD thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save.
he will rejoice over thee] Comp. Isa_62:5; Isa_65:19.
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He will rest in his love] Or, he will be silent. The words seem to mean that God’s love will be so strong and deep as to hush motion or speech; it will be a silent ecstasy. The Sept. rendering, he will renew thee (reading d for r), offers no acceptable alternative.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) He will rest . . .—Better, He will…
(17) He will rest . . .—Better, He will keep silence in His love; He will exult over thee with a shout of joy. Unutterable yearnings and outbursts of jubilant affection are both the expressions of sexual love. By a bold anthropomorphism, both are attributed to the Heavenly Bridegroom, as He gazes on “a glorious Church . . . holy, and without blemish.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain In the midst of thee; better, is in the…
In the midst of thee; better, is in the midst of thee (see note on ver. 15). Is mighty; he will says; rather, a Mighty One who will save; LXX, O dunatosei se , "The Mighty One shall save thee." This is the real ground of confidence: the Lord wills their salvation. He will rejoice over thee with joy, now that thy iniquity is purged, and thou art united again to him, as a chaste and comely bride. (Isa_52:5 Hos_2:19) He will rest (Hebrew, be silent) in his love. This is a human expression, denoting that perfect love which needs no outward demonstration. For the very greatness of his love God rests, as it were, in quiet enjoyment of it. Some take it to mean that in his love for his people he is silent about, makes no mention of, past sins; but this seems less suitable, as this clause is merely an expansion of the preceding one. The Septuagint and Syriac Versions render, "He will renew thee in his love;" and Ewald has proposed to alter the present reading to, "He will do a new thing." But there is no sufficient reason for making the change. With singing. Again he gives to his ineffable love outward expression. The LXX paraphrases accurately, "He will rejoice over thee with delight as on a day of festival". (Isa_65:19)
God and his people.
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I GOD"S RELATION TO HIS PEOPLE.
1. Their covenant God.
2. Their rightful King.
3. Their mighty Saviour.
II GOD"S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE. He is in their midst.
1. In the Spirit of his Son.
2. In the Word of his truth.
3. In the ordinances of his Church.
III GOD"S WORK FOR HIS PEOPLE. Salvation:
1. From the guilt and power of sin.
2. From the danger of ignorance and error.
3. From the temptations and corruptions of the world.
4. From the fear of death and the dominion of the grave.
IV GOD"S DELIGHT IN HIS PEOPLE.
1. True and tender.
2. Full and deep.
3. Perfect and abiding. T.W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The Lord thy God in the midst of thee…
Zep_3:17
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.
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God in the midst of His Church
Almost all the messages of the prophets to the ancient Church begin with the most awful threatenings and end with the most animating promises.
I. What is here said to the Church by way of encouragement.
1. The Church is encouraged by the assurance that Jehovah is her God, her own covenant God.
2. By assurances of Gods everlasting, unchanging love, and of His gracious designs respecting her. He has formed an unalterable determination to save her.
3. That God rejoices in His love, and in all its sanctifying, saving effects upon His people.
4. That her God is no less able than willing to effect her salvation. He is a God at hand, and not afar off. The Lord Thy God is in the midst of thee.
II. What is said by way of exhortation. Fear thou not. There are various kinds of fear mentioned in the Scriptures,--filial fear, reverential fear, humble fear, unbelieving fear, slavish fear, etc. The text forbids the Church--
1. To indulge unbelieving fears; or
2. Slavish fear; or
3. A desponding, pusillanimous fear.
The second exhortation is, Let not thine hands be slack. Slackness is opposed to zeal and diligence. The remark is no less applicable to our spiritual than to our temporal concerns. Slackness or indolence is the principal cause why so few Christians are eminently pious or useful. Inferences--
1. All the doctrines and promises of Gods Word, and all the gracious assurances of His love, have a practical tendency, and are designed to produce holy zeal and activity.
2. Learn whether our belief of the Divine promises, and the hopes and consolations which we derive from them, are real and scriptural.
3. Is God in the midst of us, resting in His love to us, and rejoicing over us with joy? Then with what emotions does it become us to receive and embrace Him! (E. Payson, D. D.)
Gods activity
This text is cast in the Gospel mould. It has the true evangelical mark. It discovers the revelation of Gods character, which the teaching of Christ and His apostles fully confirms.
I. Gods work upon the earth. This is one of the fundamental facts of our religion,--God is in our very midst. Think of the unworthy conceptions the heathen formed of God, and the imperfect conceptions Jews formed. Christianity brought God in Christ to the homes of men, to the workshops; God became God with us in the very breath we breathe. But Christianity is more than teaching. It is not a school; it is a Church. Doctrine by itself might enlighten mens minds; the doctrine and Christs presence together will conquer the heart. God is great in salvation; God is mighty to save.
II. How does God think about His work? What is His attitude in it, His personal interest in it? The activities of man go into two great divisions--
1. Those who labour for bread.
2. Those who find their wages in the work itself.
The one is the labourer, the other the artist. God takes delight in His work. (William Pierce.)
The connection existing between God and His people
In religious concerns men are always prone to run into the opposite extremes of presumption and despair. Both these mistakes arise from defective or partial views of the character and design of Jehovah.
I. What does the text say concerning Gods relation to us? The Lord thy God. He is our Maker; the former of our bodies; and the former of our spirits within us. But as far as we are sinners we are not the work of His own hands.
II. What does the text tell us concerning His residence? In the midst of thee. God is everywhere, but not everywhere as Friend and Saviour.
II. What says our text concerning His sufficiency? Is mighty. Is anything too hard for the Lord?
IV. What says our text concerning his work? He will save. Save from what?--From our supreme calamity and peril. But some may say, We are saved already. But you may know more of this salvation, feel more of it, rejoice more in it, and communicate it more to others.
V. What does the text tell us concerning His heart? Here is a love accompanied with three characters.
1. A character of Divine delight.
2. A character of Divine permanency.
3. A character of Divine expression. With singing. (Willlam Jay.)
The presence of God in the midst of His Church
A revelation of the Divine goodness is essential, in proportion, to human affliction and sorrow This is true in personal and individual experience, and also in the general history of the Church. Where affliction is found, there consolation is found.
I. God is in the midst of the church. He is in the midst of them for gracious purposes. There He is to record His name; there He is by the sweet experience of His promises and there He is by the most abundant communications, beyond all they ask, of that grace which is requisite for their comfort.
II. God is in thy midst of his people to save them. There He communicates the immense blessings of salvation. So gracious is God, so dependent and necessitous is man, that everything may be considered as coming to us in the way of salvation. All that we receive we receive from the hand of God freely. It is one thing to find a Helper, but another thing to find a Saviour.
III. He is mighty to accomplish that salvation. It is not every effort in favour of another that can be considered as salvation. Wherever salvation is wrought by one individual in favour of another it implies weakness on the part of the one, and power on the part of the other. Consider the mightiness of the Son of God as essential to qualify Him to become a Saviour. He must be mighty to save, so as to overcome the defects in our own strength, to satisfy the outstanding claims of justice against the sinner, to bring us with Divine approbation before God.
IV. He is resolved on that salvation. He will save. The declaration is so put as to pledge the will of God to the accomplishment of the work. It is not on our determination and resolves that the work is suspended, but on the resolution, the determination of Christ.
V. Christ our Saviour delights in our salvation. Though it has cost Him so much, there is nothing gives Him half the pleasure. He is said to rest in His love. Infer from this subject two things--
1. The nature of sin.
2. The danger of an unconverted state. (Andrew Reed, B. A.)
God and His people
God is everywhere. His special presence in His Church is the present theme.
I. Gods dwelling among his people.
1. Under the former dispensations of mercy.
2. Under the present administration of the kingdom of God, the dispensation of the fulness of times; the ministration of the Spirit.
3. In the heavenly world.
II. Gods deliverance of His people.
1. The power of God. Including physical power, mental power, moral power.
2. God is mighty in the use of intellectual power to save His people.
3. God is mighty in moral and spiritual power to save His people. God is mighty--
(1) To convert.
(2) To pardon.
(3) To make His people holy.
(4) To protect and secure His people.
(5) To make, His people peaceful, joyful, and happy.
(6) To glorify His people.
III. Gods delight in His people. He fills Himself with joy over His redeemed Church.
1. The presence of God in His Church is its glory.
2. The power of God is the strength of His people (T. E. Thoresby.)
A transfiguring presence
One of Goethes tales is of a rude fishermans hut which was changed to silver by the setting in it of a little silver lamp. The logs of which the hut was built, its floors, its doors, its roof, its furniture--all were changed to sider by this magic lamp. The story illustrates what takes place in the life when Christ comes into it. The character is transformed, but not the character only; all life is made new when one becomes -a child of God. Everything after that is different. The outward conditions and circumstances may be the same, but they shine now with a new beauty.
He will save.
Mighty to save
These words are full of encouragement.
I. The exhortation which god here addresses to his people. They are called upon--
1. To banish every alarming apprehension. There is much to excite their anxiety.
2. To prevent faint-heartedness and lukewarmness. They were to be up and doing.
II. The grounds on which the above exhortation rests.
1. The deliverance they were to experience. Regarding the passage as applicable to our great and glorious salvation, we are shown--
(1) His ability to save.
(2) His purpose to save.
(3) The feelings with which He saves.
2. The consolations they were to realise.
3. The honour they were to receive. It is only for the heirs of salvation that this honour is reserved, and it is by them alone that true consolation is enjoyed. (Author of Footsteps of Jesus.)
He will rejoice over thee with joy.--
Gods joy in salvation
It is obvious, He can save--for He is in the midst of them, and mighty. Here is nearness and power. But He will save--He is inclined, He is engaged. He will save, He will rejoice over them with joy. What is this salvation? It does not exclude temporal preservation and deliverance. We are not to look for miracles, but we may look for Him who performed them. Temporal deliverances are promised conditionally. Salvation includes redemption from the curse of the law, deliverance from the powers of darkness, freedom from the sting of death, release from the dominion and being of sin. This salvation is ensured. This salvation is begun. (William Jay.)
Christs joy in His people:--In the time of Zephaniah the iniquity of the Jews was very great, and as a nation they were fast ripening for punishment. Battle and defeat, exile and slavery, were in store for them, but these would pass away, and days of rejoicing would come again. Referring to that time, the prophet calls for songs of hope.
I. The Lord God in the midst of thee is mighty. He doeth what He will with His own, and all things are His. The greatest feel His power, and the least are not exempt from His care.
II. He will save--From all useless dread and alarm, from all unnecessary trials and assaults. There is no promise that a believer shall be saved from suffering and sorrow and temptation; what is promised is, that he shall not be overcome of these. Christ will show Himself as Saviour in the days to come, as truly as in days past. He has saved. He will save.
III. He will rejoice over thee with joy. His people are His by creation, purchase, adoption, and by a begun and progressive sanctification. There is nought in the contemplation of the natural man to call forth the joy of the Saviour.
IV. He will rest in His love. Margin, He will be silent, or keep silence in His love. This suggests the idea of a love too great for utterance.
V. He will joy over thee with singing. If this is not an amplification of the preceding promises, rather than a new promise, it speaks of a time when the watchful care of the Saviour will be followed by a feeling of ecstatic joy--of a time when the silence of unutterable emotion will be broken in upon by the triumphant voice of Him whose voice is as the sound of many waters. Then, if these things be so, let me say, What manner of persons ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness? (J. B. Omond.)
Gods delight in saving souls
A knowledge of ourselves will show us how much need we have of repentance; and a knowledge of God will encourage us to repent.
I. Gods power to save. We shall not speak of Gods power in general, but as it is manifested in the salvation of His Church and people.
II. His determination to save. If He should leave us to ourselves none of us would be saved. He takes the matter into His own hands, and determines to save those whom He has given to His Son. He does not destroy our free agency; but He overcomes our reluctance, and draws us to Himself by an operation no less powerful than that which He exerted in raising His Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead.
III. His delight to save. Not merely will He feel an inward pleasure; but as a man, overjoyed at any event, involuntarily expresses his joy by singing, or some other outward token, so will God manifest His pleasure to the returning soul.
IV. His immutability towards those whom He intends to save. Man is often alienated from the object of his affections, either by means of some unexpected evil He has discovered, or through his own fickleness and inconstancy. But God changeth not. In this glorious character of God we may see--
1. The evil of sin. Under whatever circumstances it may be committed, sin is directly levelled against Him.
2. The danger of dying in an unconverted state. Will it be no aggravation of our guilt in the day of judgment to have despised such a loving and gracious God?
3. The obligation that lies upon believers to serve the Lord. What should you render unto the Lord for all His benefits? Have no end, no aim, no wish, but to please and honour the God of your salvation. (Skeletons of Sermons.)
The joy of God over His own
This is one of those revelations of the character of God which are sometimes called anthropomorphic. And it is argued that to ascribe human attributes to God is to limit Him. But we may fearlessly rejoice in the inspiring revelation of the text, that society is necessary to the fulness of the Divine nature. God cannot do without His children; He finds His joy in them.
I. It is the joy of a strong being. The Lord thy God is mighty. Little natures are capable of little happiness. In our gladdest hours we can but dimly guess what is the bliss of an infinite Being. This joy God found in creation, in which His might was revealed.
II. It is the joy of a helpful presence. In the midst of thee. There is delight in being with and doing for those we love. This is Gods joy in His providence.
III. It is the joy of giving. He will save. Not in receiving, but in giving, is found the highest and deepest joy. God finds this blessedness in the work of redemption. The incarnation and atonement are but the self-giving of God.
IV. It is a silent joy. He will rest in His love; literally, He will be silent in His love. Sometimes joy is too deep for speech. It is the unheard running of the still waters.
V. It is an excellent joy. He will joy over thee with singing. Not silent all the time. Sometimes He sings. What are some of the notes of Gods song? We may make God glad. The sweetest words that can climb to heaven are, God be merciful to me a sinner. He will stop the music of glory, and hush the converse of the angels, to hear it stealing up to His throne. (George Elliott.)
He will rest in His love.--
The Almighty resting in His love
God rules in an unquiet world. Yet is He ever at rest. He will rest in His love. The idea in the text is of Deity in repose--silent--looking calmly on all the disorders of the Church and the world, as knowing that there is one attribute of His nature which will suffice to rectify all things for the deliverance of His people.
I. The nature of this rest.
1. It is the rest of a moral satisfaction with all the arrangements He had made for mans spiritual and everlasting happiness. In this sense God rested from His work of creation. But this contentment of God with the results of His own doings was to receive a yet higher illustration. It was great to make a soul like ours; how much greater to redeem! The Almighty has delight in the provisions made for the spiritual recovery of our race. Behold, then, the great Father of spirits reposing with delighted tranquillity on the appointments and provisions of Messiahs kingdom.
2. It is the rest of a Divine foreknowledge and purpose. The quietness of an Omniscient mind which, seeing the end from the beginning, will not allow itself to be moved from the fixed order of its determinations. This abstaining from interference is observable in the general order of earthly affairs, and in the lot of individual believers. To all human seeming things are left to take their course. This resting of God in His own moral determination is often remarkably illustrated in Scriptures as in our Lords delay in going to sick Lazarus.
II. It is descriptive of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ resting in His love as the great means for the salvation of mankind. It must be a sight of the goodness of God, if anything, that will lead a man to repentance. Then if God so rest in His love, how should we rest in it. How assured and tranquil should we feel in this, God loves me. There is always a firm footing there. (Daniel Moore, M. A.)
The unchangeable nature of Gods love to man
God is not only lovely and loving, He is pure unmixed love itself. This love has numerous objects. Among these His own perfection is the chief. This is a theme so sublime that we are scarcely able to form any conception of it. A number taken from two classes of His own rational creatures are distinguished as the objects of His love,--elect angels and elect men. In what of His love does God rest?
I. In the principle of His love. It is as impossible that this love in itself, or in the essence of it, can ever be anything different from what it is, or hath been, as it is that God Himself can ever be anything different from what He is now, or hath been from eternity. Love, as it exists in Himself, is unchanging and ever-during
II. In the objects of His love. God knows not only how many He has chosen, but knows also every individual object of His choice. There will be no voluntary transference of Divine love from one object, or one class of objects, to another.
III. He will rest in the degree of His will. As Gods love always has been, so it will always continue to be, of the same extent and dimensions. God loves not His people more or less at one time than another.
IV. In the fruits of His love cannot speak of the fruits of His love in detail. They embrace a mighty compass. They include everything, from the first particle of imparted grace to a seat with God the Lamb on His throne. Learn--
1. That believers ought to love their God with the greatest ardour and constancy of which they are capable.
2. In whatever manner God may act by them, His love is neither changed nor diminished.
3. Believers may be encouraged to smile defiance at every attempt to separate them from the love of God. (Robert Muter.)
Gods people comforted
No sooner had Zephaniah laid open the abounding wickedness of Judah than he pointed forward to brighter scenes--to the returning suppliants, under the power of the Spirit, ashamed of their doings, to the remnant of Israel, which shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies. The text is consolatory.
1. The consolation is addressed only to true Christians. No encouragement is therefore given here to open transgressors, or to persistent backsliders. It is necessary to make this distinction, because none are so prone to take to themselves the promises of the Gospel as those to whom they clearly do not belong.
2. The text is spoken on the supposition that the people of God will often be overwhelmed with anxiety--that they shall fear, and their hands shall be slack. No greater mistake can be made than that of supposing a Christians life is a period of continual sunshine. Now illustrate the grounds of confidence which all Christians may have in the unchanging love of their Almighty Redeemer.
I. What are the marks of love?
1. Our love toward an object may be known by the direction of our thoughts; for on the beloved object our thoughts chiefly dwell.
2. By our anxiety in regard to its welfare.
3. By the extent of suffering which we are willing to undergo for the person beloved.
4. By the prominence given to the object beloved.
II. This love, and the relationships implied in it. There is a close relationship between God and His people. He is their God in a peculiar sense. Consider by what names He is called. Mediator, Advocate, Captain, Surety, Head, King of Saints, etc.
III. Consider what Christ has already done for His people. They are His by choice, by purchase, by a new creation, by covenant. And we have the whole past experience of the Christian Church to prove the truth of the text. (James Begg, D. D.)
A duster of grapes
These words were primarily addressed to the daughter of Zion, to Israel the chosen people; and they undoubtedly foreshadow blessings which are yet to be realised. Ten times over in this chapter God assures His people of what He will most certainly do on their behalf. But a much wider circle than the chosen race may appropriate the blessed comfort of these words. Twice over in this paragraph we are told that the Lord, the King of Israel, is in the midst of His people. This is an indisputable fact. He is in the midst of His Church, so that it shall not be moved. Well would it be if each Christian were to devote some portion, however brief, in each day, to meditation upon this marvellous fact. The mighty God, the King, is in the midst of me. I am God-tenanted, God-possessed. The High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity has taken up His abode in my heart. And this marvellous indwelling--more wonderful than if an angel were to indwell an emmet or a humming-bird--is not dependent on frames or feelings or aught in us; but endures through all our changes and fluctuations unto the eternal ages. But if the mighty God is indeed in us, why is there so much weakness and failure in our lives? Alas, the answer is not far to seek--we have limited the Holy One of Israel. What now shall hinder us ridding ourselves of all which has hindered Him from doing His mighty works, so that He may do that which He so much loves, and which we so much need? Then we may expect Him to accomplish the four blessed I wills of this precious verse.
I. He will save. As God took the side of His people against their foes, and will do so again in the final struggle, when His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, so will He take our side against our sins. He has saved us from the penalty of sin. He will also save us from its power. Your foes may be numerous as the devils in hell, strong and wily; but He will save. Your temperament may be as susceptible to temptation as an aspen leaf is to the wind; but He will save. Your past years, by repeated acts of indulgence, may have formed habits strong as iron bands; but He will save. Your circumstances and companions may be most unfavourable to a life of victory; but He will save. Difficulties are nought to Him; the darkness shineth as the day.
II. He will rejoice over thee with joy. The great evangelic prophet gives the key to understand this promise when he says, As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Plato held that love is the attraction to each other of twin souls, made each for the other, and moving towards each other; until each finds in the other the complement and supply of the needs of its own nature. As we need God, so does God need us. There is something in us which satisfies Him, and without which His nature would not be perfectly content. We should have thought that our sin would alienate Him from us for ever. But His yearning for us is greater than His hatred of our sin.
III. He will rest in His love. The margin suggests an exquisite alternative, He will be silent in His love. Of old the Psalmist said that his soul was silent in its calm expectancy for Gods salvation. Here we are told that God is silent in His brooding tenderness. All the deepest emotion is silent. When we are told, then, that Gods love will be a silent one, we know that it is too intense, too deep, too infinite to find expression. It will break silence presently; but in the meanwhile be still, and know that God is love.
IV. he will joy over thee with singing. It is much to hear a lark sing, as if its throat must be torn by the torrent of melody; more to hear a child sing as it comes down a woodland path in spring, chequered with sunlight falling on blue hyacinths and yellow primroses; more still to hear an angel sing, as the lone messenger of God breaks into melody to cheer himself on some distant journey from the Home of Song; more still to have heard our Saviour sing in the days of His earthly ministry, when He joined His disciples in the Jewish Hallel: but what will it not be when the great God Himself breaks into song, to celebrate an accomplished work, an emancipated world, a redeemed race, a Bride won for His Son! (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Zep 3:14, Zep 3:17.
Zephaniah
ZION’S JOY AND GOD’S
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Zep 3:14, Zep 3:17.
What a wonderful rush of exuberant gladness there is in these words! The swift, short clauses, the triple invocation in the former verse, the triple promise in the latter, the heaped together synonyms, all help the impression. The very words seem to dance with joy. But more remarkable than this is the parallelism between the two verses. Zion is called to rejoice in God because God rejoices in her. She is to shout for joy and sing because God’s joy too has a voice, and breaks out into singing. For every throb of joy in man’s heart, there is a wave of gladness in God’s. The notes of our praise are at once the echoes and the occasions of His. We are to be glad because He is glad: He is glad because we are so. We sing for joy, and He joys over us with singing because we do.
I. God’s joy over Zion.
It is to be noticed that the former verse of our text is followed by the assurance: ‘The Lord is in the midst of thee’; and that the latter verse is preceded by the same assurance. So, then, intimate fellowship and communion between God and Israel lies at the root both of God’s joy in man and man’s joy in God.
We are solemnly warned by ‘profound thinkers’ of letting the shadow of our emotions fall upon God. No doubt there is a real danger there; but there is a worse danger, that of conceiving of a God who has no life and heart; and it is better to hold fast by this-that in Him is that which corresponds to what in us is gladness. We are often told, too, that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is a stern and repellent God, and the religion of the Old Testament is gloomy and servile. But such a misconception is hard to maintain in the face of such words as these. Zephaniah, of whom we know little, and whose words are mainly forecasts of judgments and woes pronounced against Zion that was rebellious and polluted, ends his prophecy with these companion pictures, like a gleam of sunshine which often streams out at the close of a dark winter’s day. To him the judgments which he prophesied were no contradiction of the love and gladness of God. The thought of a glad God might be a very awful thought; such an insight as this prophet had gives a blessed meaning to it. We may think of the joy that belongs to the divine nature as coming from the completeness of His being, which is raised far above all that makes of sorrow. But it is not in Himself alone that He is glad; but it is because He loves. The exercise of love is ever blessedness. His joy is in self-impartation; His delights are in the sons of men: ‘As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.’ His gladness is in His children when they let Him love them, and do not throw back His love on itself. As in man’s physical frame it is pain to have secretions dammed up, so when God’s love is forced back upon itself and prevented from flowing out in blessing, some shadow of suffering cannot but pass across that calm sky. He is glad when His face is mirrored in ours, and the rays from Him are reflected from us.
But there is another wonderfully bold and beautiful thought in this representation of the gladness of God. Note the double form which it assumes: ‘He will rest’-literally, be silent-’in His love; He will joy over thee with singing.’ As to the former, loving hearts on earth know that the deepest love knows no utterance, and can find none. A heart full of love rests as having attained its desire and accomplished its purpose. It keeps a perpetual Sabbath, and is content to be silent.
But side by side with this picture of the repose of God’s joy is set with great poetic insight the precisely opposite image of a love which delights in expression, and rejoices over its object with singing. The combination of the two helps to express the depth and intensity of the one love, which like a song-bird rises with quivering delight and pours out as it rises an ever louder and more joyous note, and then drops, composed and still, to its nest upon the dewy ground.
II. Zion’s joy in God.
To the Prophet, the fact that ‘the Lord is in the midst of thee’ was the guarantee for the confident assurance ‘Thou shalt not fear any more’; and this assurance was to be the occasion of exuberant gladness, which ripples over in the very words of our first text. That great thought of ‘God dwelling in the midst’ is rightly a pain and a terror to rebellious wills and alienated hearts. It needs some preparation of mind and spirit to be glad because God is near; and they who find their satisfaction in earthly sources, and those who seek for it in these, see no word of good news, but rather a ‘fearful looking for of judgment’ in the thought that God is in their midst. The word rendered ‘rejoices’ in the first verse of our text is not the same as that so translated in the second. The latter means literally, to move in a circle; while the former literally means, to leap for joy. Thus the gladness of God is thought of as expressing itself in dignified, calm movements, whilst Zion’s joy is likened in its expression to the more violent movements of the dance. True human joy is like God’s, in that He delights in us and we in Him, and in that both He and we delight in the exercise of love. But we are never to forget that the differences are real as the resemblances, and that it is reserved for the higher form of our experiences in a future life to ‘enter into the joy of the Lord.’
It becomes us to see to it that our religion is a religion of joy. Our text is an authoritative command as well as a joyful exhortation, and we do not fairly represent the facts of Christian faith if we do not ‘rejoice in the Lord always.’ In all the sadness and troubles which necessarily accompany us, as they do all men, we ought by the effort of faith to set the Lord always before us that we be not moved. The secret of stable and perpetual joy still lies where Zephaniah found it-in the assurance that the Lord is with us, and in the vision of His love resting upon us, and rejoicing over us with singing. If thus our love clasps His, and His joy finds its way into our hearts, it will remain with us that our ‘joy may be full’; and being guarded by Him whilst still there is fear of stumbling, He will set us at last ‘before the presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
In verses Zep 3:14-20, Zephaniah tells the remnant of Israel who survived the judgment that they should rejoice.
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a mighty one to save you
"he is mighty and will save you." Yahweh is spoken of as a mighty warrior. AT: "he is a mighty warrior and will give you victory" (See: Metaphor)
He will celebrate over you with joy ... he will be glad over you with a shout for joy
These two phrases mean the same thing and are repeated to emphasize Yahweh's joy that the remnant is restored to him. (See: Parallelism)
he will be silent over you in his love
Possible meanings are 1) "he will quiet you by his love for you" or 2) "he will renew you because he loves you."
no longer bear any shame for it
Here shame is spoken of as if it was a heavy thing that a person had to carry. AT: "no longer be ashamed because of it" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
might
save
joy
love
feast
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:17 a mighty savior: God was Israel’s Divine Warrior…
3:17 a mighty savior: God was Israel’s Divine Warrior and Redeemer (see Ps 24:8-10; Isa 42:13; Hab 3:8-15). One of God’s titles is “the Mighty God” (Isa 10:21). This title also applies to the Messiah (Isa 9:6). • He will rejoice over you: Not only will Jerusalem and all Israel rejoice in God (Zeph 3:14) but God will also rejoice over them as a purified and faithful people (see 3:12-13).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.