Zephaniah 3:17
New Living Translation (NLT)
17 For the LORD your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.[a]
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
Footnotes:
a. Zephaniah 3:17 Or He will be silent in his love. Greek and Syriac versions read He will renew you with his love.
In the beginning of our diagnosis, we had t-shirts made with this verse on it because it was the first song we sang in church after our world had been forever changed. Jut and I hugged as we tried to sing, “Mighty to Save” and balled. Everyone around us, and a few even on stage, tried to contain tears as they watched us. So, we claimed Zep 3:17 as a verse that spoke to us in that time. However, I always wanted to leave off the last line, “he will rejoice over you with singing”. Because, I thought, “well, I don’t sing…so I don’t get it…”
But, I had a moment a few weeks ago, that hit me like a ton of bricks. It is God singing-rejoicing over me. Not my crappy voice singing to Him. Wow. God sings over me. Then I started to think about my kids. Singing is the only thing that will calm them down. We sing during doctors procedures, we sing when they are hurt, we sing when they are bored, we sing when they are happy. We sing before we eat, we sing in the car, we sing in the bath, and we sing before we sleep. We are always singing to our kids. We rejoice over them and they love singing.
Or, have you ever heard the translation, be silent with his love? That one has been so true in our journey as well. Even, being renewed with His love. So amazing.
All that to say, this is the perfect verse for our family.
