Zephaniah's Song Series

Aurlette Driver was playing Christmas carols on the piano for her 4-year-old great-granddaughter, Natalie. When Aurlette played “Away in a Manger,” she thought Natalie would enjoy hearing the words, so she started to sing as she played. After just a few words, Aurlette felt Natalie’s hand on her arm, and as she looked down at her, Natalie said, “Just let the piano sing it, Grandma.” (Aurlette Driver, Christian Reader, November/ December 2003, p. 11; www.PreachingToday.com)

Natalie didn’t appreciate her great-grandmother’s singing; although, she enjoyed the song.

This is the season for singing, but sometimes you don’t feel like singing. So what do you do in those times? What do you do when life overwhelms you? What do you do when you’re too afraid or too ashamed to sing? Well, you do what Zephaniah did.

He was a prophet during Josiah’s reign in Jerusalem. Josiah had instituted some spiritual reforms, but they were too little too late. Zephaniah had to pronounce judgment on his own nation, because many of his own people refused to turn from their idols and trust in the Living God. He foresaw “a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom” (Zephaniah 1:15).

Even so, he finds a way to sing, and he encourages all of God’s people to sing with him. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Zephaniah 3, Zephaniah 3, where we find reason to sing even when the future looks bleak.

Zephaniah 3:14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! (ESV)

Zephaniah piles one word for praise upon another – sing, shout, rejoice, and exult. Why? Because despite the bleak future, there are still many reasons to praise God! So sing and rejoice! Shout out loud His praise. Don’t keep silent. Instead, boast as loud as you can about God’s grace and goodness.

Gordon MacDonald talks about the day he and his wife took their grandson (age 3 at the time) to Chuck E. Cheese's for pizza and noisy rides. When the evening ended, his grandmother buckled him into his car seat and said, “Now be sure you say thank you to your Papa.”

Silence. No reaction. She said again, “Did you hear me? Be sure you say thank you to Papa.” Again, silence.

At first grandpa ignored this backseat conversation. But then he changed my mind and said, “You know, Papa enjoys doing nice things for his grandchildren, especially when they say thank you.” More silence.

“Did you hear Papa?” he asked, now just a little irritated.

“Uh huh,” his little grandson replied.

But there was still no thank you. And now grandpa was getting more upset. “Are you ignoring me?” the volume of his voice amped up.

Then this response: “I'm thankful, Papa; I just don't want to say it.” (Gordon MacDonald, "The Thankful Exchange," Leadership Journal, Fall 2013; www.PreachingToday.com)

Well, if you don’t want to say it, you must not be very thankful. God’s goodness and grace demands that you shout His praise.

Why? Because among other things He is with you! The Lord is in your midst.

Verse 15: The King of Israel, the LORD is in your midst. And verse 17: The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save – a warrior, a hero, a champion – who will deliver you from all your enemies. You see…

The coming day of distress and anguish is not the end of the story. Israel’s King is coming, the LORD Himself, and He will save His people from their sins and from all those who oppose.

That’s what Christmas is all about. It’s the story of Immanuel, the story of “God with us.” The great Champion from Heaven has come, and that gives us a tremendous reason to shout His praise. So, despite your distress…

SING AND REJOICE IN GOD’S PRESENCE.

Shout and praise Him with all your heart.

Dorothy Sayers, a famous British novelist, wrote a series of detective stories in the 1930’s focused on an aristocratic detective, who solved all kinds of crimes. She named him Lord Peter Wimsey and described him as an unhappy, broken bachelor. Then about halfway through the series, a woman shows up in his life. Her name is Harriet Vane, who is a mystery writer and one of the very first women to graduate from Oxford. Harriet and Peter fall in love and his broken soul starts to heal.

Dorothy Sayers herself was a mystery writer and one of the first women to graduate from Oxford. What happened? She fell in love with Lord Peter Wimsey, her chief character, and wrote herself into her own story so she could heal his broken heart. (Tim Keller, Dorothy Sayers Story, 2011 Advance Conference; www. youtube.com/watch?v=iq2YCU3tONY; www.PreachingToday.com)