Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is with you,
He delights in 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.
1: a high degree of gratification : joy; also : extreme satisfaction
2: something that gives great pleasure <her performance was a delight>
3: archaic : the power of affording pleasure
When was the last time you were delighted?
I think the last time I was delighted was a few days ago when I asked my boys (currently 13) where they thought they might like to go to college, they both responded with the names of Christian colleges. I was delighted. I had a high degree of gratification that they wanted to go to school where they felt they would be taught more about God and be accepted with their belief system.
He will take great delight in you
God delights in you. I’m guessing for some of you this is not news. You know that the Lord loves you and wants what’s best for you. There are others who may like me not always find it easy to think about the Lord delighting in us. I have a tendency towards self loathing. I’m a sort of perfectionist. Anything short of perfect can be a true disappointment. I have often not tried very hard at things, because I was afraid of just doing alright. But doing alright is fine if you weren’t really trying. So with all of my self loathing and self disappointment, it is hard for me to think about God being able to delight in me. He’s the only other person who can see into my heart and know for sure what a louse I am. But God doesn’t linger on the bad stuff I’ve done.
God delights in you. I’m guessing for some of you this is not news. You know that the Lord loves you and wants what’s best for you. There are others who may like me not always find it easy to think about the Lord delighting in us. I have a tendency towards self loathing. I’m a sort of perfectionist. Anything short of perfect can be a true disappointment. I have often not tried very hard at things, because I was afraid of just doing alright. But doing alright is fine if you weren’t really trying. So with all of my self loathing and self disappointment, it is hard for me to think about God being able to delight in me. He’s the only other person who can see into my heart and know for sure what a louse I am. But God doesn’t linger on the bad stuff I’ve done.
In His love He will no longer rebuke you
Before Jesus, we were held up to a pretty high standard. We were to try to keep the commandments and keep them perfectly. While we’re still called to keep them, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, it is no longer how we get into heaven. We are no longer rebuked. We are no longer loathed for our imperfections. Instead, in God’s love, He delights in us.
He will rejoice over you with singing
Do you ever get so happy your words come out in song? OK maybe that’s just me, but sometimes I get excited and I my words come out to a tune. That’s what I think of when I read this part of the verse. I can hear God saying, “Go Jill, I adore you” to the sound of “Go Jill, It’s your birthday”. He delights in me so much that he rejoices over me with singing. I know I don’t deserve it, but what an amazing thing. That He would not only know me, but rejoice over me with singing. For me I guess I can only compare it to my love for my boys, and how I rejoice over them. Do I always love what they do? No. I can assure you I don’t, but I still delight over them on a regular basis. Praise God we’re so blessed to have a Lord and Savior who delights over us.
Are you delighted?
God is... 
Diane
November 28, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Jill,
I have just gone through and deleted over 3,000 e-mails, but held onto the idea of reading your blog. I have so enjoyed the entries I’ve read. This is a particularly special verse to me for just the reasons you mention. I had to chuckle at the idea of the Lord singing to the tune of, “It’s your birthday,” but I will adopt that idea!
Thanks for focusing my thoughts.
Love and miss you,
D
Jill Richard Internet Marketing
November 28, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Thank you so much Diane – That means a lot to me and I appreciate you reading my blog. I know that if anyone gets something out of my blog it is because I am using scripture, and His word will not come back void. (Isaiah 55:10-12 my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.)