Zephaniah has three chapters mainly speaking about ‘the day of the Lord‘ when the Lord pours out His fierce anger and wrath on those who worship other gods, those that don’t seek Him, those that place their wealth in material things, the proud and arrogant and haughty, those that falsely represent Him, those that refuse to accept His correction, etc.
And then He says this in Zephaniah 3:17 to His people…
“The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
The Lord’s whole ‘mood’ swings (if you would allow me to crudely put it this way) from fierce anger and wrath to great love and tenderness and delight.
You see, here is the Lord’s great desire. He wants to to be close to us and save us. He wants to take great delight in us. He wants to quiet us with His love And He wants to rejoice over us with singing! Say what? He wants to rejoice over us with singing! This is His hearts desire!
The only thing that gets in the way of the Lord singing over us is US.
‘Even now,’ declares the LORD,
‘return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.’
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
Joel 2:12-13
Enlightened Hope 
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