written by David Dorricott
The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it.
I will deal with all your oppressors at that time.
And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
[Zephaniah 3 New Revised Standard Version]
It is so easy to pick up a false image of God from popular culture – one that depicts Him as some sort of grumpy, grudging killjoy for whom nothing is good enough. This not-very-interested strict school-master image of a scowling face could not be further from the truth.
In a wonderful insight, Zephaniah puts paid to any idea that God is half-hearted about me or His people. He doesn’t just put up with me grudgingly, grumbling about me as never-quite-good-enough.
No, God does not hold anything back about his delight about me – he sings loudly, shouts at the top of his voice, dances-a-jig, whoops-with-pleasure over each of his uniquely created people. It is almost unseemly – and would be quite out of place in some of our strait-laced modern-day gatherings!
We are reminded that Jesus, God become man, wasn’t a party-pooper either! On the contrary He was in demand, incredibly popular – and got invited to all those parties – you know, the ones that sinners go to – much to the annoyance of the straight-laced authorities! People wanted to be with Him, to listen to His stories, to know and feel His touch on their lives. Our God is intensely passionate and involved.
He is still super-passionate about all his Creation, and that includes me and it includes you too: we are His crowning glory, made in His image. Doesn’t that make you want to join in God’s dance of joy? Whatever regrets or shame we carry, God’s promise is to turn it into praise and renown in all the Earth… why not join the dance?