A Message of Hope

Worship Wednesday with Pastor Edith
February 4, 2026
Zephaniah 3:17

My journal scripture, our study text, for today is very familiar to me. This was the bible verse for an Emmaus Walk that I attended with the clergy team nearly 9 years ago. My timing was a bit off to leave for a ministry event when the birth of my youngest granddaughter was supposed to be approximately that same week. Sometimes making choices when it comes to service opportunities gets tricky when you have a precious family that also needs to be a priority. God was gracious and our sweet Isabelle was born the day before I was to go out of town. Hence, the verse on my Emmaus gift bag was this very Zephaniah 3:17 and became Isabelle’s life verse. She thrills me every time she recites it with her big, missing a few teeth, smile.

The verse is a beautiful reminder of how much God loves his children, but it is good to take a look at the original context which will make this verse even more wonderful. Zephaniah was a prophet of God during the reign of Judah’s King Josiah during the 7th century BCE. It was at this time that a very Godly and righteous King Josiah, who, at the age of 8 had become king after his evil father, Amon, was assassinated by his own people. (boy, he must have been a real piece of work). For 31 years King Josiah endeavored to bring the people back to God with proper worship, and righteous living. He tore down the pagan shrines and symbols, he ordered the restoration of the temple which had been left to deteriorate. However, the sins of his predecessors had not gone unnoticed by God, and keeping his promise to punish the people for years of disobedience and following after other gods, well, let’s just say, payday was coming.

The punishment had previously been at the hand of the Assyrians and soon the Babylonians would conquer and deport the people of Judah. It seems that the books of the law of God had been hidden in the temple, perhaps to save them from the wicked kings or the onslaught of their enemies, either way, when Josiah demanded the temple be restored and the scrolls of the Pentateuch/Law were discovered, things were about to change dramatically. When Josiah heard God’s law read out loud, he mourned the neglect of the people to obey God and realized that there would come a day when they would have to pay for their unfaithfulness. This is where Zephaniah comes in to tell the king and the people what God called them to do, here’s an example from Zephaniah 3:7; “Of Jerusalem I thought, surely you will fear me and accept correction! Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did”. My study bible notes say this; “Judgment implies a necessary purification process. You can’t get the impurities out without first identifying their presence…Once judgment is accepted and the proper response is made, we fully experience God’s grace” (Halley’s Study Bible 2020 edition, pg. 1123).

Now we can see our verse for today in the context of a prophecy that even though God’s people had forsaken Him, no matter how many prophets had warned them of God’s wrath to come, God still did not forget or forsake them. As you read our verse for today, try to picture a time when you felt far away from God, or perhaps you know someone that is really going through the wringer of life. Read and hear these words from God as a message of the hope that can be found when we renew our desire to be at one with Him, and to know His peace; “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” (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV 1990).

AMEN and Pray on!