Be Joyful and Sing
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Over the last couple of weeks in our scriptures and in our lessons, we have been looking at how the past is prelude to the future. How God dealt with the disobedience of His children but in the end sent them messages of hope and love through the prophets Jeremiah and Malachi. Today we look at the message that God sent to his people through another prophet, this time Zephaniah. All of these prophets were sent with Godly messages to the Israelites despite what they had done, promising that He would reconcile with them.
As we come to the third week of Advent, to Gaudete Sunday or Joy Sunday, there is a strong presence of joy in our scripture readings for today. In our Old Testament lesson Isaiah encourages us to Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done glorious things for us; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud, Be Joyful and Sing, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. In our epistle lesson Paul tells us to ‘Rejoice, Be Joyful in the Lord always; again, I will say, Be Joyful.
And in our Message lesson today we hear Zephaniah, a prophet who for most of his book has been foretelling judgment against Jerusalem in the same way as Jeremiah and Malachi before him, and yet suddenly, like them, he switches gears and finishes his prophecy with a declaration for jubilation: ‘Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Be Joyful and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!’ (Zephaniah 3:14).
As we light the Joy Candle, it is altogether fitting and proper, that as we draw nearer to Christmas, that we consider all that we have to Be Joyful about, and Zephaniah gives us a hand by reminding us for what we should Be Joyful.
First, we can Be Joyful because we have been forgiven. Imagine yourself as a condemned criminal coming into the courtroom to hear your sentence passed by a judge. In your mind, there is no doubt about your guilt, and you expect a punishment which will be swift and sure which is likely to change the rest of your life. There is no hope of any relief, and you have resigned yourself to your fate.
You take your place, and the judge asks you to stand, here it comes. Then to your absolute amazement the judge says, “A royal pardon for this crime has been received. You are free to go, and your record is clear”. That is the message that Zephaniah declaring, a message that is at the heart of the message found of the Advent story.
That is what Zephaniah is saying. At Christmas God sends a Warrior to save you from the clutches of sin and death. Since you have experienced it then you have great reason to Be Joyful today. We Rejoice because we have been forgiven.
Secondly, we can Be Joyful because God lives among us still. Look at Zephaniah 3:15: The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. In the time of Zephaniah, the people had a strong sense of God’s presence with Israel, especially when they came to the Temple and saw the flames of the sacrifices glowing. Since God was there in the midst of his people, they felt safe and secure because He would protect them from their enemies and from disasters of various kinds. But when the Babylonians came and destroyed the Temple, they wondered what had happened to God’s presence among his people.
They came to believe that God was no longer with them, that God had abandoned them and that their sins had caused this terrible situation. For those people, these words from Zephaniah were very good news indeed because the words reassured them that God once again come and live among them. God had forgiven their sins and was willing to start again with them.
For us as Christians, the good news is even better than that. The traditional gospel reading for Christmas Day tells us that ‘the Word became flesh and lived among us’ (John 1:14), His gift of the Holy Spirit means that he is still with us today, we can Be Joyful because God is in our midst!
We can also Be Joyful because God is bringing us back home again. Look at verse 20, ‘At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you. I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes’.
God will always accomplish his purposes with His people. This promise is the basis for our joy and rejoicing. We were made for something better; we were made for eternity. The kingdom of God is our real home, and on the day when it comes in all its fullness, that’s when we’ll find pure, unadulterated joy forevermore. We Be Joyful because God has promised to bring us home. Indeed, what a blessed promise that is.
Finally, we can Be Joyful because God himself rejoices over us. This is perhaps the most powerful image on this Sunday devoted to Joy! It depicts the God of the Universe, creator of all things, as the one who bursts into song with joy over reconciliation with His beloved children. Zephaniah tell us that “God will Be Joyful over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. His joy is not subdued or muted but full-throated and employs the voices of His host of angels to join in song.
We are accustomed to images of God as judge. We are accustomed to images of God as shepherd, gathering the flock into the fold. But how often do we imagine God, as the one who rejoices, as the one who sings, as the one who is Joyful and Joyful because of us! That He will Be Joyful over us with gladness? That God exults over us with loud singing? Really? This is truly an amazing notion!
John Piper asks the question; Can you imagine what it would be like if you could hear God singing? Now remember, it was merely spoken words, Let There be Light, that He brought the universe into existence. After six days of work, He simply speaks three words, It Is Good and all of Creation was finished and His plans for Eternity were set into motion. Imagine then, what would happen if God lifted up his voice and sang joyfully!
When we imagine the voice of God singing, we might hear the booming of Niagara Falls mingled with the trickle of a mossy mountain stream. We might hear the blast of an exploding volcano paired together with a kitten’s purr. Might we hear the powerful din of a hurricane and the barely audible puff of a night snow in the woods.
We might hear the unimaginable thunder of the multitude of the angelic hosts announcing the arrival of the co-creator of the universe laced with the soft first whimpers of Mary’s baby, the one sent to save us all, as he nurses at Mary’s bosom. We would sense that all of Creation is singing in harmony because of us. God did not burst out in song at His works of all Creation, but He is compelled to sing for love of us, you and me. When we hear this Divinely righteous singing all around, we must stand dumbfounded, astonished and speechless that He is singing over us!
Yet here, in our text, God and God’s people alike are caught up in a joy that overflows into song, a joy that springs from love renewed, relationship restored. This joy is not one-sided. It is not simply God’s people who rejoice because God has forgiven and restored them. That would be understandable reaction to God’s redemption. But Zephaniah is telling us that the singing is coming from God, too!
Hear the Good News my friends………
Zephaniah’s prophecy of the restoration of joy for the people of God was fulfilled when the great company of heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those whom his favor rests.” The Joy of restoration also came to pass as the shepherds returned from Bethlehem glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.
This is why the Advent and Christmas season is a time of joy and celebration. We sing praises and carols to God because his presence is with us once again. God became human flesh to liberate our souls from sin and deliver us from spiritual exile! He comes to restore us to a right relationship with the Father.
Be Joyful and Sing, God’s people, he will take your sadness away! Be Joyful Christians, your conflicts will cease, your diseases will be healed, your needs will be met, your fears will fade, and your worries will be washed away! And at that time, He will bring you home. This is the joy of restoration found at Advent! Therefore we can Be Joyful and Sing!
So let us now obey Paul’s exhortation: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice (Philippians 4:4). As we’ve seen, there’s already plenty for us to Be Joyful about. But let us also remember that this is only the beginning. Let us look forward to the day of our great homecoming, when we together with all God’s people will know fullness of joy forever. And what a day of rejoicing that will be! I leave you with these song lyrics:
At this time of grace and longed-for blessing, love faithfully offers a song of Joy. God is made human in this wonderful birth: the world is cleansed through the rule of Christ. The gate of heaven now opens which to us was closed, sending forth transforming light through which holiness is found.
Dear Ones, we meet in songs of pure joy, we bless the Lord, King of our salvation. Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice; give ye heed to what we say: News, news! Jesus Christ is born to save! God sings and shouts with joy over His people restored. The divine heart overflows with jubilation and breaks out in Song! We can be, we must Be Joyful and Sing with Him because God sings with us and for us! Amen!