“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

What wonderful words of encouragement to the sheep of God in this world of adversity! No matter what His good Providence holds for us we are never alone. He is always present with us in great love and power, and delighted to be there. Our Lord saves us to manifest the glory of His grace. He brings us into trials and difficulty so that we may experience His love for us in His deliverance, and that we will glorify Him in the accomplishment of that deliverance. There is nothing negative in this verse. Look at these profound, positive, declarations of God to His people - He said, “I am The LORD thy God” . He is His people’s God in a special relationship. He is our God by His sovereign love, will and pleasure, and by vital union in His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ - “I will give them an heart to know Me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God” Jer 24:7 . He is “in the midst of thee” . He is ever present with His church. This is more than omnipresence. He is with us as He is one with us in Christ our Redeemer - “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us” John 17:21. He is “Mighty”. He is mighty in all His glorious attributes. This is more that omnipotence. God in all His wondrous Being is mighty for His people. God, in Christ, directs all of His infinite omnipotence to the salvation and good of those whom He has loved with an everlasting love and called unto Himself - “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28. “He will save”. This is a Divine promise. God The Father purposed to save. God The Son came to seek and to save. God The Holy Spirit imparts salvation effectually to all those who were ordained unto eternal life - “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” John 6:37. The rest of this verse is utterly incomprehensible. This much I do know, The Father rejoices in the Son and the great work of redemption accomplished for His people, and therefore He rejoices over all those that are in His Son as they are His workmanship. -