The God Who Sings

And the me who needs the music

If you’re like me, you almost constantly listen to music. There’s just something inspiring and soothing about it. There’s something about music that understands me when people don’t. It’s beautiful and better than all the other noise that’s harsh and impersonal.

If you’re like me, sometimes you need music. Because there’s so much here that’s forgetful and uncaring. There’s so much here that’s rushing and there’s not much reflecting here. But music isn’t like that. Music is like love. Music is like rest.

If you’re like me, sometimes you need music. Because music is like a hug that you sometimes need but can’t get or won’t ask for. Because sometimes you’re not very good, but, really, you’re never good enough. And sometimes people are too much. And sometimes you feel abandoned. And really, you’re never understood.

If you’re like me, you have a lot of songs you listen to, or you have songs that you listen to a lot. But there’s one song that better than all the others.

God’s Song

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

Even if you’re bad, wrong, unfaithful, unworthy, misunderstood and inadequate, God has a song; he’s singing loudly and it’s for you. God’s a mighty and terrible warrior, but when he comes to you he doesn’t have a weapon, he has a song; he’s the warrior who saves. This is the best kind of music, the best kind of love, the best kind of rest.

Resting Love

From the Hebrew, a line in this verse is translated in the ESV as “he will quiet you by his love.” The NASB reads “He will be quiet in His love” and the KJV reads “he will rest in his love.” The reasons for this are technical and esoteric, but each of these translations is revealing. The question to ask here is, why is God quiet, why does he rest? There’s a good indication in verse 15.

The LORD has removed the judgment against you; he has turned back your enemy. Israel’s king, the LORD, is in your midst! You no longer need to fear disaster.

~ Zephaniah 3:15 NET

God is quiet because he’s taken judgment away. In his court, when he sits in the seat of the one who condemns us, he has nothing to say. Not because of our righteousness, but because of his forgiveness (cf John 8:7-11).

In Christ (Romans 8:1-4), in the presence of God, we do not need to argue our case, we don’t need to make ourselves look good and downplay our weaknesses and faults, because God is not fighting against us. In Christ, in the presence of God, we can be quite, we can be safe. Because of his love, it’s the resting kind. So we can put down our defenses and abandon loves that are weaker and harsher, for this one.