“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 , KJV
Each morning, I am confronted anew with the astonishing love I have for my three-week old son. No matter how fussy he was in the night, no matter how many diapers he went through during the wee hours (pun intended), and no matter how exhausted and generally disgusting I feel, I cannot help but greet him in song. I see his sleepy little face, messy mop of hair, and footie pajamas, and I rejoice over him in sweet rhyming nonsense. I can’t stop myself from singing, even in the face of spit-up.
I am reminded of Zephaniah 3:17, where God rejoices over Israel, his restored Bride and redeemed children. Spurgeon writes of this passage, “God is so happy in the love he bears to his people that he breaks the eternal silence, and sun and moon and stars with astonishment hear God chanting a hymn of joy.”
Here, the Lord rejoices over a people that, previously, brought him immense grief. His love is that deep. He does not tolerate them in stony silence or accept them with a begrudging grunt or sigh. He welcomes them into his very presence with jubilant, unrestrained song.
Motherhood is giving me a glimpse—a mere glimpse, mind you—of such love. Can you imagine it in full? How marvelous. How truly astonishing.
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Ryanne Molinari 