Yahweh your God is in your midst;
a mighty warrior who saves.
He shall rejoice over you with joy;
he renews you in his love;
he will exult over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17, LEB

This verse awes me. Think about it for a moment: sure, we sing with delight for our God—how can we not? But, look at it again: God will express His joy in us by singing! Over me? Really?!

Too often, we myopically view eternal life as one of those things where we are grateful to be allowed to just get through the door, so that we do not suffer the eternal torment of being left alone in the darkness. As I read this verse, I get a sense that the new heaven and the new earth just might be like the jolly mirth of a Tolkien tavern with camaraderie, dance and song—I dunno, think dancing hobbits and dwarves whom throw down!

I do not merely slip unnoticed to enter inside this great hall. It is more than my escape from a life that would otherwise be a walk forever alone, a cursed existence of trembling deep in the valley of Gehenna amidst a hellish mass of hate, a crowd that only knows pain, despair and anger. No, THAT PLACE is for those who are among us RIGHT NOW who live out Judges 21:25; those people love the darkness. They want ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with God, for "they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25, ESV).

Rather, not only will God bring those who love Him through the doors, He will even sing for us, the kids He has adopted. Our inclusion was not a last second thought; He had planned this party from BEFORE the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4)! Oh, how I have NOTHING to give in return! TRULY, this is the most wonderful gift: to know and enjoy my Heavenly Dad...to have this body of mine restored to a glorious state along with the rest of creation...to spar with the mightiest version of my earthly father—("Hey, I'm ready now to take over the family business, Dad")...to play rummy 500 with my Mom for she is restored to an incorruptible vitality AND to hear her uncontrollably cackle in victory again!

And how COOL will it be to meet Paul? His work has shaped SO MUCH of what I presently know about God. And let us not forget David and the other Psalmists, writings where I feel emotionally the closest to God; I forget how the authors of the Scriptures, while directed to create a singular narrative spanning thousands of years, were REAL people who loved God; real people who are my brothers; real people who are available for a game of Ultimate Frisbee (I know I can beat Paul, but those Sons of Thunder, well, there's a reason my MMORPG character across platforms was named Thundercast. "Let's do this!")

And YOU KNOW I'm gonna be at Jesus' fishfry à la the post-resurrected breakfast in John 21:9-14! I mean, C'MON if there was EVER something listed in the Visitor's Guide to the Afterlife! Truly, seeing Him for the first time is larger than my heart can process.

Oh, perfect community!

And how WONDERFUL will it be to see the first passage God spoke to me play out before my very own eyes:

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalm 37:10-11

There are all sorts of fun and beautiful places on this Earth for us to visit despite their present state possessing only a shadowy glimpse of their once and future glories: what will they be like restored? And think for a moment: it is presently estimated that there are hundreds of BILLIONS of galaxies in the Universe; multiply that with how there are at least a BILLION planets in our own galaxy, well—hey, we'll have the time! Who is up for an intergalactic roadtrip?! THAT's gonna need a whole library of cassette tapes to tote along! Our God loves Him some music!

Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre;
with a harp of ten strings play to him.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully with jubilant shout.

Psalm 33:2-3, LEB

Think about it further, who invented all of the awesome things in this present world? And what will those things be in a glorified context?

Truly, God's Universe seems like an infinite playground for exploration. And while considering the One who has created this seemingly infinite Universe, I cannot fathom how sins are seen by Him, for He is INFINITELY holy and INFINITELY good, which underscores the magnitude of God the Son's death on the cross of how it satisfies the justice required of my past, present and future sins, where any one of them would cast me outside to live in Gehenna.

And why does He show so much love for me? I have done nothing nor can I do anything infinite to atone for even a single sin against an infinite God. All of this, everything He has done—my salvation, sanctification and future glorification—is ALL for His glory alone. It shows how AMAZING...MAGNIFICIENT...WONDEROUS...GLORIOUS He is, doesn't it? For look at me, I was dead in my sin; He chose me and opened my eyes. And once I could see, how can I not choose Him? And because of this, sin has no power over me (Romans 6:14) I am a slave to righteousness. And yes, OF COURSE, I still sin, but I cannot practice evil—it's not even possible! Time and time again in my life when I start to go wayward, I gravitate toward Him for restoration. It weirdly reminds me that I belong to Him.

All of this aside, I have a question: what does an infinite being sing? Stay tuned and find out!

(Well, I intended to write about other things tonight, but found myself writing on something entirely different.)