My Dear Friend, 

Our title sums up the great lesson hidden in Zephaniah 3:14 and 17. There God urges Israel's hidden remnant to "Sing, O daughter of Zion," comforting her by promising He will sing love songs to her in the day He releases her from captivity at the end of the Great Tribulation.

In that day, “He will joy over thee with singing,” or “rejoice over you with singing” (NIV), or "delight you with His songs" (MESS), as a groom would his bride at their wedding or when they are alone. It will be a song for her alone, not for others; sung in private, not public; full of personal love, not impersonal chatter or religious jargon.

There is a life-changing lesson here for overcoming Christians, since we too may in our own time and way experience our Beloved's affectionate singing.

Our lesson is this: if we sing love songs to Christ, He will sing love songs to us. In the Millennial Kingdom, as Zephaniah's text describes? Yes, we will experience this since we are now in the beloved company of the redeemed along with Israel's faithful believers. But we need to understand Jesus wants to do this now in this time. Want to hear Jesus "sing" to you figuratively? Or, when He so chooses, literally?

Then sing to Him! Not just in church worship but privately, regularly, with rejoicing, with love, from the heart, with thoughtful praises, and unfettered by religious rigidity, sing to Jesus! If you can't sing well, don't stop singing. The Lord's command is, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord" (Psalm 100:1). Not everyone can sing beautifully but anyone can make a "joyful noise"! If they're willing.

As Psalm 100 instructs, "enter His gates" with hearty songs of thanksgiving, praise, and adoration. Sing sweetly to Him. As Paul exhorts us in Colossians 3:16, sing "psalms," sing "hymns," sing "spiritual songs," or songs expressing spiritual thoughts and purposes, and sing them "to the Lord," as if He were as present physically as He is spiritually. And sing excellent contemporary worship songs also. Remember, all sacred music was originally contemporary worship. And don't stop there.

Sing with others in small Bible study or prayer groups. And as Paul did, sing in the Spirit, if you have been introduced to this experience (1 Corinthians 14:15). Furthermore, personalize songs: sing your own spontaneous words of adoration along with melodies with which you are already familiar. But sing to your beloved!

He will hear you and, thanks to the unfailing spiritual law of sowing and reaping, He will sing back to you in His own time and way. He may by His Spirit bring songs to mind during the night or the early morning or even in the middle of your most hectic, frustrating afternoons. When you least expect it, verses and choruses will come to mind expressing exactly your present need, fear, desire, hope, or challenging situation.

For instance, I know of one brother to whom the Lord made an ordinary, regularly scheduled broadcast of the classic hymn, "Be Still My Soul," over the radio an extraordinary, personally timed message of reassure on the very day he began a challenging test of faith.

I know of a Christian who awoke during the night with the chorus to well-known hymn of victory ("To God be the glory, great things He has done...") on his mind just after an important breakthrough had occurred earlier that evening. Chance? Coincidence?

No, these are instances of Christ by His Spirit "sending" a song - through a human mouthpiece or by His "still, small voice" singing in our hearts - to those beloved by Him who have formed a habit of singing to Him in worship daily. Thus, they reaped what they sowed, and experienced personally what God promised Jewish believers in Zephaniah 3:14 and 17.

If you, too, trust and obey Jesus, you are among His beloved sons and daughters of Zion. Then sing to Him daily and watch for Him to "sing" to you when He chooses, which is often when you need it most. This simple lesson can be life-changing. Jesus can turn your life into one long, sweet, joyful song of love between you and Him in the inner sanctum of your personal fellowship with Him in the "secret place" where you read your Bible, pray, and worship Him in song. No matter how many troubles clang and bang outside, His sweet songs abide and comfort you within!

Whatever troubles would stop your song - injustice, betrayal, failure, financial need, health issues, stubborn hindrances, imposing fears, implacable adversaries - determine to defy them by refusing to be offended with your divine Lover and choosing to continue trusting His faithful love and obeying His Word and guidance no matter what. And why?

You do so because you want to please your divine Lover and prompt His sweet, reassuring singing when you need it in your life! So, today, let the everlasting song of the Lord begin - or extend - in your life. Sing, and He will sing to you!

Singing to Him,

Greg Hinnant
Greg Hinnant Ministries