Scripture Devotion
Not God endured or appeased — God rejoicing over you, with singing.
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”
Reflection
This is one of the quiet astonishments of Scripture: a picture not of God being endured or appeased, but of God rejoicing — over you — with singing. The verse piles up the gladness: rejoice with joy, rest in his love, joy over thee with singing. It's not the posture most people unconsciously assign to God, which is closer to disappointment held in check. And notice the direction of the singing: over thee. You're the subject of the song, not the singer straining to be heard. There's a rest in that even God is described as taking — he will rest in his love — as though love itself were a place of rest for the one doing the loving. A Saturday is a fitting day to sit under that image: not laboring to earn a grudging acceptance, but resting under a God who sings over you.