Rejoice! The King is Here Zephaniah 3:14-20 Introduction Purpose of the Text To call the remnant of Jew to worship the Lord for all that He has done for them Purpose of the Sermon To call the people of FBCC to worship Christ for all that He has done for them M.P.S. Because of the incredible love that God has demonstrated toward us in Jesus Christ, we ought to worship Him with all of our heart! Zephaniah 3:14-20 14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. 18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LORD.
Background Many of the Jews in Zephaniah s audience had recently lived through a difficult time under a wicked king. The king, Manasseh, and his son, Ammon, were wicked men who promoted idol worship among God s people. Eventually, the impact of Manasseh s sin would lead to Judah being taken into Babylonian captivity. However, in the mercy of God, before the Jews entered into captivity, God gave them Josiah the king and Zephaniah the prophet to warn them about the judgments of their sin and to remind them that the only way to know God s blessing was to trust and obey Him. The first few chapters of Zephaniah are very grim and rather full of hard truths about the future judgment that was coming for those who abandoned the Lord. Yet, the book the begins to harshly ends with an incredible message of God s mercy and love for those who call upon His name in faith. Exposition Zephaniah 3:14-20 teaches us that the nearness of God is a good thing for those who have called upon His name. His nearness demands a response of rejoicing with songs and shouts with all of our hearts. But why is this the case? Why should we rejoice that God has come near to those who call upon His name (Zeph. 3:9)? Because the God draws near to us I. To Drive Out Our Fear Fear not, O Zion (Vs. 16) The King arrives to drive away the fear of His people. In this case of Zephaniah s audience, the people were fearful about the prospects of God s judgments against them for the rebellion of their kings. They knew that God would not bless or continue to protect a nation who turned away from Him to idolatry. The uncertainty provoked fear within them. The Lord God, thus, reminds them that there was no need to fear when God was near to them. We, like Zephaniah s audience, are prone to fear. We worry about so much. In his book, Worry Less, Live More, Robert Morgan highlights this point well. He notes that Amazon keeps track of the things that we highlight in our e-books and e-readers. Morgan noted that of all the verses of Scripture that he imagined would have been highlighted the most, he was surprised that it was not John 3:16 or Matthew 6:9-13, but instead, Philippians 4:6-7, which states, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Obviously, people are struggling to deal with their anxiety and fear. And our passage tells us that the presence of God in our midst is our hope of living without fear. God draws near to us to drive out our fear. T.S. God not only drives out our fear, but he draws near to us II. To Comfort Us with His Love quiet you by his love (Vs. 17) Zephaniah 3:17 is one of the most staggeringly beautiful statements in all of Scripture. I have to confess that I have not gotten over this verse since reading it earlier this week. Look at the statements: He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love; He will exult
over you with loud singing. What a comfort to imagine the Lord of the Universe, the One who created and sustains all things by the word of His power, the One whom angels worship day and night, this God rejoices over you with gladness. He comforts us with His love. He exults over us with loud songs. Can you imagine how comforting it would be to hear God singing over you? This reminds me of a quote from Robert Murray M Cheyne. In speaking of Jesus intercessory ministry on behalf of believers, M Cheyne wrote, If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. In like manner, while we cannot hear God singing over us, we can be sure that He is doing so. Our inability to hear His song over His people makes it no less true. God is pleased with those who have called upon His name. God is full of joy toward those who have trusted in Him. And when we contemplate the reality of God s song of love over us, we should be comforted. God s intention is still to prosper us, to care for us, to watch over us. And this has been revealed to us in His Word that we might not fret but be comforted by His great love toward us. T.S. But what if we are exceedingly broken? What if we obviously need to be mended? How could God s nearness to us ever be a comfort to broken people? Well, it is because God draws near to us III. To Mend Our Brokenness save the lame (Vs. 19) God does not draw near to us only to drive away fear and comfort us while leaving us the same. God also intends to transform us. For Zephaniah s audience, the consequence of their sin had left them broken. They were lame, as verse 19 tells us. God promised that when He drew near to His people, He would bind up the wounded, the lame, and the weak. He would care for and tend to them as a shepherd cares for and tends His flock of sheep. And He would do this even if the injuries were self-inflicted. At times, I fear that many professing Christians are reluctant to draw near to God because of their brokenness. They feel like they are unable to participate in the church because they will be judged or ostracized for their brokenness. And, if we are honest, at times, we can make people feel this way. We all have those messy people in our lives. Those people that, when their number pops up on your phone, you think to yourself, Oh great, what do they want again? What s wrong this time? But do you know who never thinks like that? God never thinks that way of His children, and some of us are a mess. In fact, as C.H. Spurgeon once said, If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be. Yet, God does not love us because we aren t brokenness. No, He loves us in spite of our brokenness. In fact, His love for us, compels him to mend our brokenness. T.S. And part of mending our brokenness is found in delivering us from shame IV. To Deliver Us from Shame change their shame (Vs. 19) What good news? As verse 19 says, He changes their shame. Have you ever felt shame? Shame is the humiliation or distress that we feel when we do something that is wrong or simply foolish. Shame is what we feel when we know we have offended God and wronged others.
For Zephaniah s audience, they were laden with the shame of their idolatry. We, not too unlike the Israelites to whom this prophecy was delivered, are often laden with shame of our own. It probably doesn t take much to think back to your young years when you did or said things that you would never want anyone to know about because you are ashamed of them. But verse 19 offers us good news. God delivers us from the shame. T.S. But not just our shame, but also our suffering V. To Redeem Our Suffering no longer suffer reproach (Vs. 18) Verse 18 reminded the Israelites that their suffering was not in vain nor was it permanent. God would redeem his people from their suffering, that they might no longer bear the reproach of their sins or their circumstances. God, in His goodness drew near to His people to show them mercy in their trials and tribulation. And isn t this what we long for in the midst of our trials? We want someone who is powerful enough and wise enough to guide us out of the trials and keep us secure, which is the next point that we find T.S. God draws near to us VI. To Make Us Secure gather the outcast (Vs. 19) It is not enough to simply be rescued if you are not also made secure. God draws the outcast home. He gives them a place of identity and security. He places them back within the community of His people. He does not rescue them from drowning only to place them back on small life rack in the middle of the turbulent ocean. No! He brings them back home! But how can God do this? Aren t these people guilty of breaking His commandments? What will God do with His judgments? T.S. Our next point tells us: God draws near to us VII. To Save Us from Sin taken away the judgments against you (Vs. 15) For the Israelites, this would mean that God would restore and secure the people in the land with a new king and new priesthood in a new temple that would allow for the people to keep the terms of the covenant. However, a greater removal of God s judgment was coming for His people. God himself would intervene in the future and fully take way the judgment that were against His people because of their sin. God would save them from the sin that had led to their separation from God. And in doing so, he would give his people hope, which is the final point that I want to make about God drawing near to us. T.S. God draws near to us VIII. To Give Us Hope restore your fortunes before your eyes (Vs. 20) Verse 20 is staggering. How would God restore the fortunes of Israelites before their eyes when they would be dead and gone? Wouldn t this restoration take place hundreds of years from the time of this prophecy?
The people are given hope because God has promised to do something great for them in the future. He will restore unto them the fortunes of their salvation. But how would he do all of these things? Conclusion So, how has God drawn near to us? How has God, as Zephaniah 3:14-20 tells us, come near to those who call upon His name? How has God come to be with us? You know the answer. God has come near to us in Christ the Son! We talk and sing about every year during the Advent season. What was one of the titles that Jesus would be called? Immanuel! Which means? God is with us! So, when Zephaniah 3:14-20 calls us to rejoice, and shout, and sing with loud voices and full hearts because the the King is here, we are obeying when we rejoice and sing and shout with joy in all our being because Christ has come near to us. God has come near to those who call upon Him by coming to us in the flesh. In Jesus Christ, who drives out our fears (Luke 12:4-5, 7, 32), comforts us with His love (John 14:27), mends our brokenness with his compassion (Matthew 9:36, 14:14), delivers us from shame by taking our shame upon himself (Hebrews 12:1-2), brings purpose to our suffering (James 1:2, 12), gathers us to Himself and keeps us secure (John 6:37), saves us from our sin by taking the judgment of God upon Himself in our place to set us free (Matthew 1:21), and gives us hope (Romans 5:2)! In all these things, Jesus, very God of very God, has come near to us as the King who is worthy of our shouts, our songs, and our all the joy that our hearts can express! Because of the incredible love that God has demonstrated toward us in Jesus Christ, we ought to worship Him with all of our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. The entirety of our being should be directed toward the praise of the King who is here!