The God Who Rejoices Over You

Scripture — Zephaniah 3:17-18; Isaiah 62:5 (NRSV)

The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
as on a day of festival.

For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.

Devotion

In yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I reflected on an amazing teaching of Jesus. In Luke 15:3-7, he tells a parable about a lost and found sheep. Then, he adds this observation: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (v. 7). It is amazing to consider that, by turning away from our sin and turning to God, we can give God joy, abundant joy.

Two passages from the Old Testament prophets provide additional pictures of the God who rejoices over us. First, the prophet Zephaniah reveals that God will rejoice over the people of God with gladness (Zeph 3:17). Even more strikingly, Zephaniah pictures God as exulting over the people “with loud singing as on a day of festival.”

I can’t even begin to imagine what that would sound like! Sometimes people talk about God’s speaking as the sound of thunder. This is based on passages like Exodus 19:19, where God speaks to Moses in thunder. (See also John 12:28-29; Job 37:2-5; Psalm 29:3-4.) So, I wonder, what would it be like to hear the thunderous voice of God singing over us with joy? This, I suggest, is truly beyond our capacity to understand. But it is surely wonderful, don’t you think?

The prophet Isaiah uses another analogy to depict God’s joy over God’s people. Isaiah says, “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Is 62:5). This image of God’s joy is something many of us have experienced, either personally or by observation. I certainly rejoiced on the day Linda and I were married, though I didn’t express my joy as openly as I might do so today. But, as a pastor officiating at weddings, I have seen exceptional expressions of joy. For example, years ago, I performed a wedding for a sweet couple from my church. The groom was an impressive man, a former Marine who loved his fiancée dearly, but tended to keep his feelings to himself.

On the day of his wedding, he was surprisingly nervous. I knew something was stirring inside of him. As we stood in front of the church, he seemed unusually excited. Finally, as his bride appeared at the end of the aisle, ready to process forward, this man smiled with the biggest smile I had ever seen. Then, he started to cry. I’m not talking about a few discreet tears. Rather, he started bawling with joy. Giant tears ran down his face. He could not contain himself. He was so overwhelmed with joy over his beloved that he didn’t even feel embarrassed (well, until later). It was a deeply moving expression of joy, the joy of a bridegroom over his bride. I will never forget it.

This, I believe, is like how the prophets envision God’s joy over the people of God. It’s not the kind of polite, discrete gladness that many of us feel comfortable expressing. Rather, it’s the joy of victory, the joy of the festival, the joy of a groom gazing upon his bride. That’s how God rejoices over us. Even more to the point, that’s how God rejoices over you.

Now, if you’re like me, you may want to object: “But God sees all of my weaknesses and inadequacies. God knows all of my sins. How could God ever rejoice over me?” If God were like us, there might be a limit to divine joy over us. But God is so much greater than we are, so much more gracious, so much more understanding, so much more joyful.

Plus, though God knows our sinfulness, God sees us as we are in Christ. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” God sees us as new in Christ! Or as it says in Galatians 3:27, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” This truth is captured in the hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less,” where it says, “When he shall come with trumpet sound, / O may I then in him be found: / dressed in his righteousness alone, / faultless to stand before the throne.” Actually, we are already “dressed” in the righteousness of Christ, and therefore can stand before God’s throne without shame or fear.

As I have said before, I have a hard time thinking of God as rejoicing over me. I know God loves me, forgives me, and values me. But rejoices over me?? That is a stretch. Yet, when I think of my experience as a father, God’s joy over me begins to make sense.

On the day my first child, Nathan, was born, I was surprised by the power of my love for him from the moment I first laid eyes on him. My feelings for him were unlike anything I had ever known. For the first time in my life, I knew I would give my life for something other than myself.

After being present for Nathan’s birth and figuring out how I could support Linda, I finally felt free to go home to take a shower and change my clothes. As I drove home, I was praying, telling God just how much I loved my son. As I did this, I sensed God’s voice speaking to me. It was almost audible. I heard God “say,” “The way you feel about Nathan, that’s how I feel about you.” I was not expecting that! In fact, I had to pull over because I was so surprised and so filled with gratitude and joy. It took me several minutes to get calm enough to drive home safely.

As we reflect upon the fullness of joy, we must remember that we are not the only beings in the universe who experience profound, exuberant joy. Yes, the Christmas story in Luke 2 reveals the joy of the angels over the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:13-14). But, even more astonishing, several passages of Scripture reveal the joy of God over the people of God, including you.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Confessions of Fall and Redemption in Work.