30 Days of Truth: He will rejoice over you with singing.

Truth #12:  He will rejoice over you with singing.  

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

I remember reading this verse and I loved the thought of God taking great delight in me and rejoicing over me with singing.  But, what did that really look like?  At the time, I thought maybe it meant when I was on my best behavior and checking off my spiritual to-do list,  then the Lord would delight in me and rejoice over me. Considering how much I struggled with being bad and not worthy, the image of God rejoicing over me with singing did not come easy.  But it did come.

Music has been a huge part of my healing journey. When I first heard the song, “Take Me To The King” by Tamela Mann – it made such an impact on me that I had it on repeat for weeks. I still love that song. When I found out a play called “Take Me To The King” would be at a nearby church, I made plans to go.

At one point in the play, the Mom came home weary, exhausted and upset because there were dark spiritual forces at work to harm her children. The song “Take Me To The King” started playing as she went into her house and fell asleep. While the evil forces were still at work outside in her son’s life, she was unaware of the angels of the Lord dancing and rejoicing over her while she slept. When she woke up, her circumstances had not changed but she had the peace and strength to get through another day.

That powerful image and song will be forever etched in my mind.  He does not rejoice over me with singing because of ME.  He does not rejoice over me because of my circumstances. He does not rejoice over me because of my accomplishments. He does not rejoice over me when all is right in my life.

He rejoices over me with singing because I am His daughter. He loves me and delights in me. He rejoices over me with singing in the midst of good times and bad times, in laughter and heartache, in joy and pain.

He rejoices over me with singing because I am His.

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

April is #SAAM (Sexual Assault Awareness Month) and for thirty days I will share the lies I believed and the truth that I discovered in my healing from childhood sexual abuse. To start at the beginning and read the first post click here —> 30 Days of Truth – I am a Masterpiece