The God Who Sings While You Sleep

It is not hard to picture God tolerating you. With enough effort you can imagine him forgiving you, perhaps sternly. What almost no man in this fight can picture is God being glad about him, actually delighting in his presence. And yet the prophet describes God in exactly those terms. Zephaniah writes, 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. Read that again slowly. He rejoices over you. He sings. This is not the language of a disappointed employer; it is the language of a father over a child he adores. The line about quieting you by his love is tender in a way we hardly let ourselves feel. God knows the noise inside you, the accusations, the restlessness, the shame that will not settle, and his way of dealing with it is not to shout you down but to quiet you with love. You are not merely permitted in his presence. You are enjoyed there. Tonight, when your own thoughts are loud, let this picture sit with you: God near, God saving, God singing over you, and let his gladness be the last thing you hear.