Zephaniah 3:12 I will also leave in the middle of you an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. I. THE CONDITION OF GOD'S PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD. "An afflicted and poor people." "A remnant." Though trouble, vanity, and vexation of spirit attend upon believers as the children of this world, yet there are trials, difficulties, and woes of a far more grievous nature, peculiar to them as the people of God. Sin is the greatest of the great troubles of the righteous. Then there is what Scripture calls, "the hiding of God's countenance." They are "poor" in the sense of being "poor in spirit." And the true Church of Christ has ever been a protesting, minority. II. THEIR HOPE AND CHARACTER. Their hope is "a good hope." "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." As to their character, God calls them to holiness, to purity, to love, to peace. The most devoted Christian cannot hope to be entirely free from sin until "mortality, is swallowed up of life." But the believer does not love sin, or anew it to reign over him. III. THEIR PRIVILEGES. 1. Their wants shall he supplied. 2. They shall be free from terror and danger. (C. Arthur Maginn, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. |
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