Contentment

Contentment

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

Mighty to save.

In the language of motherhood, mighty to save reminds me of a nursing mom. I’ve heard nursing called a mother’s “secret weapon.” Those of you who have nursed your children understand. My baby could have been screaming at full volume, but if I picked him up and began nursing him, he stopped crying. That was immensely satisfying to me; I was saving my baby from his distress.

As wonderful as it feels for us to save our babies from hunger and tears, God sent Jesus to save us from much more than that. Jesus means “the Lord saves,” and only he can save us from sin. Jesus did not come to help us save ourselves—he came to be our Savior by dying on the cross for us.

He will take great delight in you.

While my baby nursed for as long as a feeding took (and some seemed to take forever), I delighted in him. It was not unusual for me to rub my baby’s head or feet during the process. I enjoyed the opportunity to study my little one’s face, and I loved the eyeball-to-eyeball contact we experienced. Every now and then, my baby would stop nursing and break into a wide smile before going back to eating. What a picture of contentment!

What does it mean for God to delight in us? It means that he takes pleasure in us. He appreciates us, cherishes us, and enjoys us. Not only is that how a nursing mother feels toward her baby, but—according to this verse—it’s how God feels toward us!

Father,

Thank you that you sent Jesus to save us from eternal death. Thank you that even though you are holy and we are sinful, you actually delight in us. In the name of Jesus, amen.