“The LORD your God is among you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will greatly delight in you. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Abba, Father, you know I love this passage, and I’ll never worry about speaking, quoting, pondering, reveling in it too much. By it you raised my heart from death to life. Through it you taught me there are 1000 more verses to the Gospel that I never sang. You turned up the volume on the music of the Gospel in my heart from a faint 2 to a heart-palpitating 11. You got me, a non-dancer, onto the dance floor of your welcome, love, and delight. Thank you!
Do it again, Father—again and again and again. Refresh, restore, and renew me and my friends to Gospel-astonishment. Give us fresh experiences of your unfiltered, undiluted, unleashed delight. Assure us all the images in Zeph.3:17 (and scores of others passages just like it) aren’t mere poetry, hyperbole, similes, and metaphors.
By the Holy Spirit, make your unwavering, present, and eternal affection for us more real than regrets behind us, shame in us, and crazy around us. Abba, In the coming hours and days, quiet us with your love—settle, center, hush, and put a huge smile in our hearts.
Re-convince us you love us as much as you love Jesus. Turn down the noise of the devil’s lies, our own unbelief, and whoever’s voice has more sway over our hearts than you do. Let us hear you singing over us today in the Gospel, Abba. Teach us new verses and new dance steps, all the way Home. So Very Amen.