Saturday after the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 21, 2023 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
Our God restores and makes whole those who were broken. Not only does our God do this in His restoring the children of Israel in their land after the Babylonian captivity, but he does it ultimately for His Church. Israel was the shadow. The Church is the fulfillment. Zephaniah says, “The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.” And again he says, “The Lord your God in your midst.” This is not just in a general way in the Old Testament, but most fully in the incarnation of the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, revealed in His Church of the New Testament.
Christ is in our midst in a very real, sacramental way, bringing blessing, joy, and restoration. All the Scriptures speak of Christ. Even this shout of joy in Zephaniah points us to the coming Christ. Christ comes into our midst bringing gifts with Him. When we think of our Lord in our midst, our minds should immediately be drawn to the chalice and the font. We should overflow with joy and thanksgiving when we think on the fact that our Lord God has condescended to be in our midst. He loves us so much that He wants to come to us and dwell with us. Praise God, our Immanuel!
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.
