Zephaniah 3:1-8 God's Judgment of God's City

Come ye thirsty, come and welcome, God's free bounty glorify; True belief, and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh. —Joseph Hart In the first two chapters of Zephaniah, the prophet paints a portrait of universal judgment, followed by specific woes for the wicked nations surrounding the people of God. But here in the beginning of chapter 3, we see the Lord's judgment brought to bear on His own house. The Lord's righteousness requires that He deals with our sins just as He deals with those of our enemies. Because of this, most of the music we sing this morning takes a posture of repentance. After acknowledging God's pure righteousness (Holy, Holy, Holy) and justice (Arise, O God—Psalm 82), we respond to God's Word by calling ourselves penitents and confessing our sin before Him (Not All The Blood Of Beasts). Even after being assured by Isaiah to "weep no more," our eyes melt in tears considering our own wickedness, and the price Christ had to pay on the cross (Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed). We call out from the psalter "cleanse me from my sin" (God Be Merciful To Me—Psalm 51), and we rest in the promise that the Lord "hides and cancels all [our] sins" (Blest Is The Man—Psalm 32). Our service concludes on a hopeful note from the hymn Come Ye Sinners, Poor And Needy: though we are lost and ruined by the fall, our dear Savior stands ready to embrace us in His arms. —Henry C. Haffner Key Words: Rebellious, Listen, Correction, Trust, Draw Near, Just, Fear, Wait, Anger Keystone Verses: The Lord within her is righteous; He does no injustice; every morning He shows forth His justice; each dawn He does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame. (Zephaniah 3:5) Bulletin Zephaniah 3:1-8 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! 2She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord; she does not draw near to her God. 3Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning. 4Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law. 5The Lord within her is righteous; He does no injustice; every morning He shows forth His justice; each dawn He does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame. 6"I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant. 7I said, 'Surely you will fear Me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.' But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt. 8"Therefore wait for Me," declares the Lord, "for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation, all My burning anger; for in the fire of My jealousy all the earth shall be consumed."