Surely he has done great things!
21     Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
    be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
22     Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
    for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
    the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
    both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
    the great locust and the young locust,
    the other locusts and the locust swarm—
my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
    and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

“Nothing in or of this world measures up to the simple pleasure of experiencing the presence of God.” ~ Aiden Wilson Tozer.

A chapter that begins with threat – a dark cloud hanging over the nation – culminates in glorious sunshine. The hinge point is somewhere in the middle where God’s people genuinely get right with Him and seek His face. Then He generously and abundantly pours out His blessing. Of all the wonderful blessings catalogued, surely the greatest is in verse 27: The knowledge of the Lord’s presence in the midst of His people.

The apostle Paul writes about a scenario where God’s Spirit is so powerfully at work in the church, and unbelievers come in and ‘…fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” ‘ (1 Cor.14:25).

“If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in. If the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.” ~ Charles Grandison Finney