17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
    a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV)

Really take a moment to read and unpack our scripture today. There is much to be learned from this simple verse.

The Lord your God is in your midst. We do not have a distant God who we have to search for. No, our God is with us, His nearness felt in both little ways and in great movements in our lives. As has been said many times, when we feel distant it is most often us who is distant.

A mighty one who will save. Our God is not a passive God, no, He seeks us eagerly so that none may go unsaved. His desire is that we come willingly, but He also pursues us to make sure that no lamb is lost. He seeks the lost and the prodigals.

He will rejoice over you with gladness. Our God is one who experiences our life with us, not one who has no insight into our lives. He lived it in Jesus. He knows all about life here on earth and He rejoices with us in our joy and in our sadness. He created emotion, how can we think He does not understand us?

He will quiet you by his love. God’s love is this peace and security that we are invited to find our deepest comfort in. He desires that we put so much faith in Him that we let nothing here on earth concern us because His love is so deep and so personal.

He will exult over you with loud singing. This tells us how much joy God takes in His sheep. That He looks down upon us and exults over us. What does this mean? It means He feels triumphant elation and jubilation over us in every state we are in, whether we feel it or not. He smiles down upon us, a loving father.

Our God is a very personal God.