1. Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What allows us to see that there is to be a mutual love and rejoicing between God and his people?

Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)

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.

That there is to be a mutual love and rejoicing between God and his people is seen by the correspondences between Zephaniah 3:17 and Zephaniah 3:14. Some of the terms used in verse 14 where God exhorts his people are now used to describe God’s actions toward his people. The Lord called Zion to sing (רָנִּי); he exults over them with loud singing (רִנָּה). The Lord exhorted Jerusalem to rejoice (שִׂמְחִי); he rejoices over her with gladness (שִׂמְחָה). “The whole scene depicts a grand oratorio as God and his people mutually rejoice in their love for one another.1