When we look at God, then look at ourselves, we sometimes question how God can delight in us. But He does. This devotion looks at how that can be.
Nuggets
- There are many verses in the Bible that tell us God will never leave us.
- God’s power ensure victories that will further His kingdom.
- God delights in us because we praise Him.
- Because of God’s love for us, He devised the plan of salvation to restore our relationship with Him.
- God sings a song of joy over us.
When we look at ourselves, it is easy to focus on what we see as negatives. When we look at God, we see His holiness.
That makes us wonder why God would delight in us. Zephaniah says that He does, though.
Let's Put It into Context
If you are like me, you have no clue who Zephaniah was. Zephaniah was royalty. He was the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah.
Zephaniah and Jeremiah prophesied at the same time. Israel had started worshipping Baal and Astarte. Josiah, the king at the time, wanted to turn the nation back to God.
Still, Zephaniah prophesied destruction because of Israel’s unfaithfulness. Not only that, but Scythian immigrants were coming and overwhelming the Israelites.
Zephaniah told the Israelites about the “day of the Lord.” They — and the nations around them — would be punished for disobedience. As always, though, God gave them an opportunity to repent. In the end, God would draw the nation back to Himself.
Since this is a small, three-chapter book, Zephaniah 3: 17 comes almost at the end of the book. What a wonderful way to end this prophecy! Let’s look at each phrase in the verse.
God, Where Are You?
“The LORD your God is with you …” (Zeph. 3: 17 NIV).
Yes, we’ve talked about this before. God will never leave us.
God must think we are a little hard-headed because He tells us this in several verses. These are just some of them:
Deuteronomy 31: 8 says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (ESV).
Psalm 94: 14 says, “For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage” (ESV).
Isaiah 41: 10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (ESV).
Matthew 28: 20 says, “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (ESV).
Psalm 118: 6 says, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (ESV).
And that is just some of the verses showing God will never leave us! Let’s get it through our thick skulls (mine included) that God isn’t going anywhere.
When we think God isn’t around, it is because we are not around. We moved away from God, not the other way around.
Victory Ensured
“… the Mighty Warrior who saves …” (Zeph. 3: 17 NIV).
Since God is always with us and God is all-powerful, victory is secured.
Deuteronomy 20: 4 says, “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory (NIV)”
First Corinthians 10: 13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (NIV).
Psalm 3: 8 says, “From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people” (NIV).
First John 5: 4 says, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith” (ESV).
First Corinthians 15: 57 says, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV).
No, this doesn’t mean success as in this world’s definition. It doesn’t mean the nicest car, the biggest house, the prestigious job [keep naming what you can think of]. God’s victory doesn’t give us worldly spoils.
God’s victory furthers His kingdom. It isn’t about us; its about God.
God Really Delights in Us?
“… He will take great delight in you …” (Zeph. 3: 17 GNT)
Does it amaze us that God can delight in us? I mean, we are so entrenched in this world sometimes. We are still trapped in our sinful bodies — and sin we do.
We see ourselves as imperfect creatures. How can He possibly delight in us?
Psalm 18: 19 says, “He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me” (ESV).
Okay. He does delight in us. Why?
Psalm 147:11 says, “But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love” (ESV).
Psalm 70:4, “May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, ‘God is great!’” (ESV).
God delights in us because we praise Him. We are doing what we should be doing — genuinely giving Him the glory.
Love Gives Life
“… in his love he will no longer rebuke you …” (Zeph. 3:1 7 NIV).
Since God is love (I Jn. 4: 8), He loves us. He has called us as His people.
Deuteronomy 33: 3 says, “Yes, He loves the people; All His saints are in Your hand; They sit down at Your feet; Everyone receives Your words” (NKJV).
Psalms, 63: 3 says, “Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise you” (GNT).
Because God loves us, He will give us life — this life and everlasting life.
John 3: 16 says, “For God so loves the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (KJV).
Ephesians 2: 4-5 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved” (ESV).
Romans 5: 8 says, “But God has shown us how much he loves us — it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!” (GNT).
God loves us so much that He would sacrifice His only Son to die a horrible death so He would be the sacrifice to pay for our sins.
God the Vocalist
“… but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph. 3: 17 NIV).
Being a singer, you would have thought I would have found this verse long before now. God will sing over us!
What my research said was this singing was equated to God’s joy. But it isn’t necessarily singing — it is a shout of joy.
Psalm 42: 8 says, “By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life” (ESV).
We’ve kind of come full circle. God loves us and will never leave us. He loves us so much, He has given us the gift of eternal life — if we accept it.
Making the Connections
Why do we work ourselves up into a tizzy? If anyone has left, it isn’t God. He still loves us.
Yes, Paul told us in II Corinthians 13: 11 to “… Strive for perfection …” (GNT). God knows we won’t attain that until we hit the pearly gates.
But we are working toward perfection. If we aren’t working to be more like God, we aren’t trying to cut sin out of our lives. We aren’t trying to turn from Satan.
We don’t have a license to sin. We have to turn away from the sin.
We can be assured that, if we ask forgiveness, God will forgive us.
Think about it. God gave the ultimate sacrifice — His only Son, Jesus — to restore our relationship with Him. He is not going to give up on us that easily.
If He is not going to leave us, I think God would make us so He would enjoy spending time with us.
I think God really does delight in us. I think He enjoys our sense of humor and our quirkiness. I think He enjoys seeing us smile and leans extra close when we cry.
If only we could see ourselves as God sees us! We would see why He delights in us.
If we think about how God loves us — even with our imperfections — we would praise Him even louder. Let’s commit to doing that today.
Father. You delight in us. You don’t see our imperfections. You see Jesus’ blood covering the ones we have confessed. Help us to not doubt You when life gets hard. Hold us in the palm of Your hand. Amen
What do you think? I didn’t have a How Do We Apply this time because each of us struggle in our own way with this. How has this devotion shown you that God does delight in you? What can you do to help embed that thought in you for when the trials come?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who had been doing a little research on this. And he in fact ordered me breakfast due to the fact that I discovered it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to discuss this topic here on your website.
You are more than welcome! Food is great. Caring for your coworker is better. Living your disciple’s job description is the best! Blessings.
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Thank you! I needed all of this tonight because some times the struggle is real in seeing ourselves through our Heavenly Father’s eyes of love and delight instead of our own.
Yes, it is hard seeing ourselves the way He sees us, isn’t it? He sees us the way we should strive to be. Thanks for the encouragement. I needed that tonight. Elaine
Deep rooted spiritual thoughts.Let God enable you to bring out more juicy fruits .
Thank you for the encouragement. That is the plan — let God use me in whatever way He sees fit to help others understand His Word. Elaine
Thank you Elaine for sharing on His delight in us.
I will cherish these nuggets. My eyes are open to His delight and now I can delight in Him all my life long.
Denise, I am glad God used these words to talk to You. He is an unfailing God that loves us even when we feel unlovable. Blessings. Elaine
This beautiful piece inspired by God just confirmed everything about God to me and I am so blessed to know this much about God
Thank you so much for the kind words. Elaine
Just a small note: your scripture reference of II Corinthians 31:11 is transposed as it should be II Corinthians 13:11.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! That has been corrected.
I googled verses about God delighting in us. God brought me to your blog. As someone whom God has heard my cry and keeps healing the land of my wretchedly sinful heart, it’s reassuring, strengthening, to be refreshed daily in the truth of God’s delight in us, in me, to help flee the lies of worldly “delights”. The blog this morning has been God’s answer to prayer. Thanks Lord.
God is good! He knows exactly what we need. He gave me the words two years ago, knowing you needed them today. That is the awesome God we serve! Thank you for encouraging me. Elaine.