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 Zephaniah 3:17
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
In this passage the Lord is speaking through the prophet Zephaniah about an unrepentant Israel that He intends to restore. There is an unusual line in this passage that begs to be understood on a deeper level. The line is “quiet in His love.” The word “quiet” comes from the Hebrew word ya•cha•rish. Ya•cha•rish means to be silent, speechless and deaf. This does not mean that was not going to speak to them. In fact in the same sentence he says that “he will rejoice over his people with shouts of joy.” What “quiet in His love” means is that the Lord with be content and comfortable in His love for his people. This kind of satisfaction and ease in relationships is what I call “quiet love.”
I think back to the time when my husband and I were first married. I remember going to a restaurant with him and viewing an older couple who were enjoying their meal together in silence. I remember thinking at the time that I hoped that would never happen to us because I wanted us to always have things to talk about. Now that we have been married for over six years I am starting to understand “quiet love”. “Quiet love” is a result of individuals knowing one another so well that they are very comfortable and satisfied in their relationship. For example it’s when one knows what the other is thinking without asking, its doing something for the other without being asked, it is having no complaints and it is having said all that needs to be said.
“Quiet love” is what God wants with his people. He wants us to be so close that we “know” each other. He wants to be satisfied in his relationship with us and us with him. Take the time to get to “know” God and let him into the deepest parts of your heart. When you do this over time you too will experience a “quiet love” with Him.
Genevieve Gardner
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