To the Prophet, the fact that 'the Lord is in the midst of thee' was the
guarantee for the confident assurance 'Thou shalt not fear any more';
and this assurance was to be the occasion of exuberant gladness, which
ripples over in the very words of our first text. That great thought of
'God dwelling in the midst' is rightly a pain and a terror to rebellious
wills and alienated hearts. It needs some preparation of mind and spirit
to be glad because God is near; and they who find their satisfaction in
earthly sources, and those who seek for it in these, see no word of good
news, but rather a 'fearful looking for of judgment' in the thought that
God is in their midst. The word rendered 'rejoices' in the first verse
of our text is not the same as that so translated in the second. The
latter means literally, to move in a circle; while the former literally
means, to leap for joy. Thus the gladness of God is thought of as
expressing itself in dignified, calm movements, whilst Zion's joy is
likened in its expression to the more violent movements of the dance.
True human joy is like God's, in that He delights in us and we in Him,
and in that both He and we delight in the exercise of love. But we are
never to forget that the differences are real as the resemblances, and
that it is reserved for the higher form of our experiences in a future
life to 'enter into the joy of the Lord.'
It becomes us to see to it that our religion is a religion of joy. Our
text is an authoritative command as well as a joyful exhortation, and we
do not fairly represent the facts of Christian faith if we do not
'rejoice in the Lord always.' In all the sadness and troubles which
necessarily accompany us, as they do all men, we ought by the effort of
faith to set the Lord always before us that we be not moved. The secret
of stable and perpetual joy still lies where Zephaniah found it--in the
assurance that the Lord is with us, and in the vision of His love
resting upon us, and rejoicing over us with singing. If thus our love
clasps His, and His joy finds its way into our hearts, it will remain
with us that our 'joy may be full'; and being guarded by Him whilst
still there is fear of stumbling, He will set us at last 'before the
presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy.
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