Verse of the Day 9/7

Verse of the Day 9/7

Zephaniah 3:17   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.    English Standard Version (ESV)

How many of you, when you read this verse, thought of the song "Mighty to Save".  The song proclaims how God, through Jesus, conquered the grave showing that He is mighty to save, He is the author of salvation, He is the "author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).  But don't stop there, it says He will quiet us when our hearts are troubled (John 14).    We can expand on this.  He is mighty to save, to deliver, to redeem, refresh, restore, renew and redirect our lives when we put our faith and trust in Him, when we put our hand in His.      John Piper in "Desiring God" writes, "God is not looking for people to work for Him, so much as He is looking for people who will let Him work for them…. The gospel commands us to give up and hang out a help-wanted sign (this is the basic meaning of prayer). Then the gospel promises that God will work for us if we do. He will not surrender the glory of being the Giver."  Think about that, He wants to work in us and He will rejoice over us and exult over us when we do put our hand in His, realistically when He takes our hand.      Those thoughts led my mind to the old chorus "Put Your Hand in the Hand".  We can put our hand, our lives in the hands of the One who stilled the waters, who can calm our troubled seas and will see us through all the storms of life.     I'll close with a couple of verses from Isaiah.  May we remember that He is the One who helps us, our Redeemer.  

Isaiah 41:13-14  For I, the Lord your God,

    hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, "Fear not,
    I am the one who helps you."

¹⁴ Fear not, you worm Jacob,
    you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
    your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.    English Standard Version (ESV)

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Zephaniah 3:14-17 The Message (MSG)

^14-15 So sing, Daughter Zion!
    Raise the rafters, Israel!
Daughter Jerusalem,
    be happy! celebrate!
God has reversed his judgments against you
    and sent your enemies off chasing their tails.
From now on, God is Israel's king,
    in charge at the center.
There's nothing to fear from evil
    ever again!

God Is Present Among You

^16-17 Jerusalem will be told:
    "Don't be afraid.
Dear Zion,
    don't despair.
Your God is present among you,
    a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love
    and delight you with his songs.