Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words Lord and you.
Reading
Zephaniah 3:14-20—Sing and Rejoice, People of God!
Keys for kids
- The end of this book of judgment is unbelievably joyful.
- God’s people are told to sing and rejoice.
- God rejoices and sings over his people.
Questions
- What is much of Zephaniah about?
- How does it end?
- Why would God sing and rejoice over you?
Notes
(See below for all authors. )
God’s people are often called to sing and rejoice. Finding singing and rejoicing here at the end of this book of judgment might surprise us. But it really shouldn’t. From Genesis to Revelation God has revealed Himself to be a just judge. Even more, as Paul reminds the Romans, God is both the just judge and also the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom 3:26). And the reality that God has justified us should cause us to burst out in singing and rejoicing if we have faith in Jesus our Savior as a gift of God, not of our own works, Eph 3:8-9!
What might legitimately surprise us, though, is that God rejoices over us and God sings loudly over us! Fries and his co-authors state that this chapter, and the book, now closes with what is one of the most stunningly beautiful passages in all of Scripture. In fact, even as I write, I struggle to describe adequately the breathtaking beauty of this passage. … On the heels of that [certain promised judgment] comes the end of the book, particularly verses 17 and following. God is with them. God is for them. God is celebrating over them.
God is celebrating over them! God is celebrating over us! God sings loudly over His beloved people.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 149a, 57b
Prayer
- Rejoice that God rejoices over you.
- Pray for the reading and preaching of God’s word tomorrow.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.