Saturday after the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 16, 2021 by under
Scripture: Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NKJV)
3:14 Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.
17 The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, who are among you, to whom its reproach is a burden.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time I will bring you back, even at the time I gather you; For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes,” says the Lord.
Devotion
Much of what is recorded in Zephaniah is the prophet warning the Israelites of their impending doom, should they not repent of their idolatrous behavior. Sadly, the nation of Israel did not repent; they were overrun by the Babylonians, and taken captive.
What is oft times forgotten is that there were faithful people in the nation of Israel who had not bowed down to idols. These faithful people clung in faith to the promise of the Messiah and the forgiveness of sins for His sake. Much like a classroom of rowdy children wherein a few children are behaving themselves, the entire class is punished. So it was with the nation of Israel. The entire nation, faithless and faithful alike, were taken into captivity. This brings to mind the familiar exclamation, “It’s just not fair!”
In the Divine Service we confess that we “justly deserved Thy temporal and eternal punishment.” The faithful are still sinful like the faithless, and being faithful does not absolve us from the temporal consequences of our sins, nor from the consequences of the sins of those around us. “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Your joy in the midst of all life’s problems is knowing what the prophet Zephaniah proclaimed, “The Lord has taken away
your judgments.”
Prayer: O Almighty and most Merciful God, of Thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech Thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready, both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that Thou wouldest have done; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
