Worship for Today: God's judgment brings fulfillment of his love.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Zephaniah 3:20,

 

"'At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,' says the Lord."

 

The message of Zephaniah is one of judgment. The Lord is going to judge Judah for her rebellion against him, as expressed in her idolatry. The Lord will be bringing the Babylonians against Jerusalem and they will eventually overrun the city and destroy it.

 

Here in this passage the Lord speaks of a later time when he will gather the remnant of Israel together. "I will bring you home." He says he will restore the fortunes of the Israelites and he speaks of a time when Israel will "be glad and rejoice with all your heart..."

 

Such is the nature of the Lord. His judgments have purpose. Horrific and painful, those judgments bring about what the Lord desires and what we learn here is of his love expressed to those who will turn to him following his judgment. God's judgment, his sense of justice works in tandem with his boundless love. The outworking of his justice bring about the fulfillment his heart desires for us.

 

No where is this clearer than in the gospel message. We are all condemned to die and die physically we all will, except for those who are alive and remain until the Lord comes. Nonetheless, the Lord offers us escape from eternal death through the message of his love, mercy and kindness, expressed in the substitutionary death of his Son on our behalf. The Lord uses our physical death to get our attention and offers us eternal life following our death. It all hangs on the choice we make before our physical death.

 

It is then he will gather us together, "at that time I will bring you home." How wonderful that must have been for the returning captives from Babylon. How absolutely fantastic and awesome it will be for us when he raises us from the dead into his eternal kingdom!

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com