Zephaniah 3:14-17 — Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. 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.

I’m back! I said this week promised to be tough, and it certainly fulfilled it’s promise! So much so that when this thought filled my mind and heart yesterday, I was just too tired to write about it. Today though, I have had time to breathe.
Zephaniah 3:17 has always been a “slip over” verse to me. My eyes have usually “slipped over” it. Yesterday, though, it jumped out at me. Imagine, the Lord rejoices over His people! I tried to imagine what that’s like. Honestly, I really can’t, but I have this notion of wonderful surges of energy pulsing out from the throne and filling God’s Angels and His people with joy. Can I really find that in the Bible? Not quite … but I can find clues.
Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep. How did it finish? “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7). The way I look at it, there’s a lot of sinners getting saved — so that’s a lot of joy!
As I was contemplating this, another phrase came to mind — “the joy of the Lord is my strength”. I’ve heard it so often, but I couldn’t place it. So I hunted, and tracked it down:

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

What a great idea. The joy of the Lord is our strength. With all that joy, that has to be a lot of strength.
This is one of those circular ideas that I love. Wonderful things flow from the Lord through to His people … and then from His people right back to Him!