“We could pick a different verse for each baby we have!” I exclaimed as I scrolled through pictures of Scripture wall decals on my computer. I imagined what we might pray for our future family as I pressed my hands against my growing pregnant belly.
“Or we could make Zephaniah 3:17 the words we pray over each child God gives us,” my husband gently replied. I was unconvinced.
Indecision hung in the place of nursery decorations, and it was not long after that unresolved nesting session that I found myself whisked away in an ambulance while on an out-of-state visit to family. I was only 31 weeks pregnant and in labor with our first child.
“The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love; he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph. 3:17 NIV).
These were the words we prayed on repeat during those late nights with our early baby in the NICU. In the dark fog of difficult days, the Lord’s actions in Zephaniah 3:17 were a light to me. They sank deeply into me, saturating my stressful circumstance as a new mom with comforting truth.
Life felt out of my control, yet the Lord was over us. He was with us, strong in his saving, delighting, quieting, loving, rejoicing, singing. And our baby boy? He was the tiny recipient of this big love, unable to offer up anything in return. I emerged from that experience with a deepened desire to highlight this verse for my family.
In his Old Testament book, Zephaniah prophesies in the midst of some dark days. He tells the nations they will be punished for their actions. He urges God’s people to come together and seek the Lord. He describes how to repent and persevere. There are lessons in love, pushes for patience, and encouragements to embrace humility. Yet through all of the failing and striving of God’s people, Zephaniah 3:17 spotlights the life-giving work of a God who loves his people so much that he is willing to take sacrificial action on their behalf.
When we read Zephaniah 3:17 to our children today, we can do so in light of the good news of Jesus. And in our house, this is what we do. Every night before bed we end our prayer time with Zephaniah 3:17, reciting it out loud together with our five children.
Sometimes we go on autopilot with this liturgy, speaking it from memory without much extra thought. Yet there are many nights that present opportunities to linger with the words from this verse. Parents of adolescents know the emotion and exhaustion of the teen years often emerges at bedtime. Fears, failures, and frustrations tend to be realized right when it is time to turn off the lights. Needs rise to the surface, and we fall on our knees to pray.
On these nights, the Zephaniah prayer permeates the air. No matter what my children did or left undone that day, I long for the Zephaniah 3:17 love of their gracious God to hover over them, seep into them, and send them off to sleep.
Children need to be reminded that our God is a God who moves towards sinners. They need to be reassured by his presence, find solace in his saving, and be brightened by his delight. When pressure to perform seems to come from every corner, they need to know that God is for them (Psalm 56:9), singing a love song over them even when they fail. When their day or their behavior is not good, they have this verse to remind them of the goodness of God in their lives.
I can now tell that same son, once tiny and struggling in the NICU, now thirteen and navigating middle school, the Lord your God longed to be with you so much that he sent his Son to this earth to live as a person. Jesus became the object of God’s wrath, knowing you could not save yourself, because he is mighty to save. And while he knows of your great sin, he chooses to take great delight in you because you are his precious child. His deep love for you has the power to quiet and comfort all that is stirred up within you right now. No matter how you are feeling about yourself or your day when your head hits the pillow at night, God is rejoicing over you with singing. Take heart and have faith in the God who will never leave you.
For a family, there is a unifying element to the rhythm of reciting this same verse, a built-in time to acknowledge together that we are all in need of Jesus. The time of tucking children in is fleeting, so we can pray for God’s lasting truth to be tucked into their hearts.
As a parent, emphasizing Zephaniah 3:17 has allowed me to lean into the good work of my Father instead of fixating on what needs to improve with my children or with my parenting. Imagining God singing shouts of joy over my sons and daughters gladdens my heart toward our gracious God who is mighty to save.
For more gospel-centered parenting resources, be sure to check out Rooted’s Family Discipleship Curriculum.
