Delight Yourself in the Lord Devotionals

Sing Over Me - Zephaniah 3:17

Music fascinates me. It always has. God and I have had many conversations about music. For as long as I can remember, my desire has been to sing in a band and write music. Unfortunately, my gifts and talents do not lie in that realm. However, this lack does not lessen my enjoyment and appreciation of music.

There is such power in music. You can be transported to many places in time by a familiar song tied to a memory. This is usually a good thing, but it can also be a sad memory or a reminder of a difficult time in one's life. The fact that music can brighten one's mood when they are feeling down or remind them of love once treasured or bring them to a place of celebration, repentance, or worship, is a testimony to the power of music.

The angels know the power of music, as well, and worship God in songs. I can not even fathom the wondrous music that exists in Heaven. It is such a powerful way of expression and is so various in its sound and creativity. When one considers the wonder of God Himself and being in His presence singing, well, you can imagine (or not!) the beauty and power that exists in every single note.

One of my favorite Scriptures is Zephaniah 3:17, because it opens us up to a whole new view of our God and His amazing love for us. In this single verse, we see that God is in our midst, which means that He is here with us, walking among us, sitting beside us, just being present. There is much to be said about being present with the Lord...and a great deal more when considering Him being present with us. This is the God of all creation and He wants to sit with you and be with you every moment. We can see His desire to be with throughout the Bible and His constant seeking, redeeming, healing, refining, correcting, directing, saving...and on and on...of individuals and nations. We can read the Psalms, such as Psalms 8, 23, 27, and 139, to see His love for us and throughout the Psalms we see His greatness. To know that this very God calls Himself our Father and is with us is a staggering thing to know!

Zephaniah 3:17 also tells us that our God is mighty to save...which means that no one and nothing can thwart His salvation, that no man, principality, army, government, or agency can overcome His might and power, that He can do anything He desires to do in and through us and that there is nothing that can stop His will from happening. We know that the Bible tells us that we shouldn't fear (Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 41:10, Joshua 1:9, John 14:27, 2 Timothy 1:7, John 16:33, 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5) and that He will do all that He has set out to accomplish. We know from Romans 8 that there is nothing that can separate us from His love and John 10 tells us that no one can pluck us from His hand. There is confidence in knowing that God dwells with us, in the very midst of us, with a mighty strength that no one and nothing can overwhelm.

And, finally, Zephaniah 3:17 says that He rejoices over us with singing. God sings over you! Wow. That should give us pause and send our hearts racing every time we read that. These songs He sings over us are not commercialized and they are not for anyone else...they are specific to the individual. He sings songs to soothe and songs to excite and songs to heal and songs to invigorate. He comes near and sings over us and the songs are unique to the relationship we each individually have with Him. I once said that God doesn't sing Hillsong, He sings His song. This isn't a negative statement against Hillsong, who sing amazing and powerful worship songs. What it is saying is that these songs aren't like the songs we sing to praise Him. These songs are meant to reach deep into our hearts from His heart to enact change.

We don't worship God to get Him to do something for us. While our songs are a blessing to Him, rising like sweet incense to His throne, they aren't for Him, in truth, because He doesn't need our worship. No. Our songs are for us, to draw us closer to Him, to focus our attention on Him, for us to tell Him just how much we love and need and adore Him. We sing our songs of praise in order for us to enter a new area of relationship with Him. This is why we need to worship unashamed and openly, because we need to be able to let our hearts flow and our words be heard as we lift our voices and hands to Heaven to celebrate who Jesus and God are in our lives.

And God uses His songs to celebrate who we are to Him! I love the fact that my God sings over me. I love it because that means that no matter where we are, in His banquet hall or in a field, in a battle or in a garden, He can sing His songs over me and I am safe. We will all face trials and tribulations in our lives, but the God of all creation, mighty in power, comes and is present with us, singing His songs. And that is a beautiful thing to know when the storms come and the battle wages. God sings over you!

Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.
-Zephaniah 3:17, MSG