The LORD your God is in your midst, a hero who brings salvation. He rejoices and exults over you, he is silent (silent is the Hebrew meaning) in his love, he exults and rejoices over you as one rejoices on a feast day. I will put an end to your misfortune.
Zeph 3:17-18b
During a hard and difficult time, the inhabitants of Jerusalem hear this joyful message. “The Lord your God is in your midst”, in other words: you are not alone in your distress and affliction. “I will put an end to your misfortune” God is there, he brings you salvation.
Surprising now the statement of the prophet Zephaniah: “God rejoices and exults over you, he is silent (see above) in his love, he exults and rejoices over you.”
There is not only talk of joy, but even of rejoicing and God’s rejoicing over his creature; the human being. These are quite new and moving words. They sound different from the worn-out “God loves you”. A different “string” is touched in us and made to vibrate. A new image of God and of human beings opens up here.
We can only marvel at this our God who dwells in our midst, in our hearts; we can only rejoice, exult and jubilate.
God himself invites us to discover his liberating and joyful love, to live out of it and to share it gratefully with others.
Yes, God is a surprising God, always entering our lives anew.
Am I awake to this encounter?
Sr. Ursula
Photo: Provincial Archive Limburg
