”The righteous Lord is in her; he does no wrong. He applies his justice morning by morning; he does not fail at dawn, yet the one who does wrong knows no shame….
For I will then restore pure speech to the peoples so that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with a single purpose.“
Zephaniah 3:5, 9 CSB
Israel is described here as doing wrong things, and feeling no shame about it. They have decided that they know better than God, that their sin is actually not a big deal. That idea is put into contrast with God being just, right and near…while never failing!
That is quite the stark contrast:
- saying that truth is a lie …compared to justice
- actively participating in sin …rather than doing righteousness
- fleeing from God …as opposed to drawing near
- being characterized as a failure …vs never failing
It really doesn’t get more opposite than that! Which of course makes the next verse even more amazing: God says, even though you are the opposite of Me, I will restore you, and transform you to be like Me!
Wow, I don’t deserve that, in fact all the evidence points to the reality that I deserve eternal separation from God. What a blessing that He allows us to be transformed, to put our trust in Him and gain the ability to obey.
Lord help me to live like this is true! Help me to see my failures and lay them at Your feet. I pray that your grace would give me confidence to bring it to you rather than try to hide it. I ask that you would help me experience your presence, so that I am less tempted to chase after the brief and fleeting moments of pleasure found in sin.
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