The Joy of Glory

Zephaniah 3:9-13 (click here)
…for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD… (Zephaniah 3:11b-12)

Reflection
The prophet is crying out to God’s people about a coming day of salvation and restoration. Yet, not all who have labeled themselves as belonging to the Lord will experience this day the same.

There is a sharp contrast between the experience of the proud and the humble. James 4:6 tells us that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

That is exactly what we see here in Zephaniah’s words. The proud experience judgment, while the humble experience salvation. So my question is, “What’s the difference?…what makes someone proud or someone humble?…what guarantees salvation over judgment?”

On the surface, it may seem like the difference lies in our works. If we act in a humble way, verses acting in a prideful way…we will earn salvation. But, that is contrary to everything we know about the grace of God! Such earning would only serve to put me in a prideful place because I could boast about the salvation I had earned.

Zephaniah leaves no room for confusion over what it means to be prideful or humble. The proud are those who have been “haughty” in God’s holy mountain. In other words, they have trusted in themselves, even when proclaiming trust in the Lord. Zephaniah 1:8-13 describes these people as wealthy and trusting primarily in their own possessions and abilities.

The humble, on the other hand, are those who are “lowly” and seek refuge in the name of the LORD. In other words, they do not trust in themselves or rely on their own resources, but totally rely upon God.

The difference between the proud and the humble is not works-based but faith-based. The difference is where we place our trust. Do we admit our lowliness and our need for the Lord…or are we prideful and trusting in ourselves. The only people who can receive grace are those who first know they need it.

No matter how much we try to identify ourselves with God’s people, we are only truly one of those people if our trust is in him.

The difference between pride and humility is where one places their faith.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Micah 7:18-20
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

Reflection
Who pardons like our God? Who forgives like our God? Who relents from anger like our God? Who delights in steadfast love like our God? Who has compassion like our God? Who removes our sins forever like our God? Who shows faithfulness like our God? Who keeps their word like our God?

Who is a God like you?

The implied answer…the only true answer…is no one! No one is like our God! Do we ever stop to ponder just how incredible the Lord is? Do we ponder things like the fact he DELIGHTS in steadfast love? God doesn’t just forgive our sin, but he actually takes great joy in showing compassion toward us!

Do we ponder things like his treading our iniquities underfoot and casting them into the depths of the sea? In other words… he doesn’t just sweep our sin under the rug… he actually defeats it! He does a victory dance over it! He completely removes it and drowns it!

God kills the sin that would’ve killed us!

We take these things for granted. I take these things for granted! I fail to ponder the depth of their wonder. We act as though this is simple, and just what God is supposed to do… but the cross reveals that taking care of our sin was anything but simple… nor was it something God “had” to do.

Jesus was willingly killed in order to kill the sin that would have killed us!

What wondrous love is this? And he delights to do this??? Hebrews tells us that Jesus went to the cross for the JOY that was set before him. Ponder this today…Christ has not just killed your sin and lavished his love on you, but it has been his JOY, he has DELIGHTED to do so!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Isaiah 65:17-25 (click here)
But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. (Isaiah 65:18-19)

Reflection
Joy.

We thirst for it…long for it…seek it…yet it seemingly remains elusive.

All of life can seem like an unfulfilled hunt to satisfy our hunger for joy. Why? Why do we seek joy and why does it seemingly remain just out of our reach.

Scripture answers our questions with the claim that we were created for joy! We seek joy because that is what we were made to do. Yet, we do not find it because we fail to look for it in the one place it can be forever found…God.

We have an eternal thirst for joy, and there is only one eternally satisfying source.

We were created for joy in God.

However, our hunger has become twisted and seeks to be satisfied by anything other than the Lord. We need to be recreated with a hunger for God! We need this world, which tries to distract us with so many false joys, to be recreated in such a way that all things draw us toward the eternal fountain of joy…Jesus!

This is exactly what we have been promised. God will recreate all things to be a joy! All things will bring gladness to us, his people, for all things will perfectly point us to him!

No more weeping and crying in distress because we cannot find that which satisfies! No! He who satisfies will be ours forever and we will be his!

We fight toward that day! We fight right now to find our joy in Jesus, knowing the day will come when that fight will be won and we shall know perfect, eternal joy in him!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.