Lizel was driving us into town and I noticed her handmade earrings. I commented on how unique they were. She took them off and showed me how they actually fit inside one another like a puzzle piece. She said the woman who made it, had them attached to a card that had Zephaniah 3:17 written on it. My eyes widened in disbelief and she said, “What?!” I said, “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.” She said, “Yes!! But why did you look at me like that?”
I told her it’s one of my more recent memorized scriptures, but one that keeps coming up. It’s not a very commonly known or spoken about verse, which make me more curious about it coming up so much recently.
As I sit here doing my Bible study, I am in Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42:1 says, “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him.” I know the writer is speaking of Jesus but what stood out to me is that is said God delights in Him.
I think we are invited to see ourselves in this passage. We are God’s servants in the world, His chosen ones, a source of delight for God. God places His Spirit upon His children so that we can be a light, open blind eyes and bring out prisoners (Isaiah 42:6-7).
This Old Testament lesson and Matthew 3 echo one another. When Jesus is baptized, God’s Spirit likewise descends upon Him and God delights in Him. I find it not coincidence that I am reading this, on the day leading up to the anniversary of my baptism. Think about it- Jesus didn’t start His ministry until after He was baptized.
How do we take up the mission of the servant and live out our baptismal vows? As a church, God’s community, we are God’s servants to the world and participate in this “new thing” (Isaiah 42:9), the present day exodus out of exile and brokenness.
Isaiah 42:9 says, “Behold, the former things have come to pass and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
This reminds me of Isaiah 43:18, which for those of you who have been following my blog from the very beginning, know that Isaiah 43:18-19 is very symbolic for me. It was the verse highlighted in the Afrikaan Bible I found back in March during my mission trip to SA. That also has been coming up frequently.
The first week of December I used to celebrate my birthday, but this is the 3rd year that I will be spending it differently. I was baptized in the Gulf of Mexico on my birthday and now I see the week of my birthday as a reminder of the commitment I made on that day. The decision to give my life to Christ and live differently. The declaration of being God’s child and the embrace of being delighted in by my Heavenly Father.
The first verse I recite, of my memorized scriptures, is Psalm 37:4. “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” It’s full-circle, like two puzzle pieces coming together. I take delight in Him and He takes delight in me. Prior to my baptism, I had thought my heart’s desire was in earthy things, especially in the hope of a future healthy, fruitful marriage. But the week leading up to my baptism I realized that my heart’s desire was not in a relationship with a man, but a relationship with God. That’s all I want, to be closer to Him.
Just like a marriage, you want to take delight in your spouse and be delighted in by your spouse in return– that’s what God wants from us too, a mutually loving relationship.
I think God wants me to know that He takes delight in me. I don’t think I’ve believed that up until recently. He’s had to tell me over and over, by bringing up Zephaniah 3:17 to me. If He even went so far to have a South African, over eight thousand miles away confirm it- what won’t He do?
