THE MAIN IDEA
The Lord will delight in us, so that we might delight in Him. 

The “doom and gloom” of the OT shows us that the world stands condemned because of the  curse of sin. But it only serves to highlight the glorious message of hope we receive as well. And  that message is that the Lord delights in us and loves us in three ways, in particular. 

JESUS WILL FORGIVE YOU
In the context of the certainty of God’s judgment upon the  people of Judah because of King Manasseh’s sins, God reveals that He will also forgive them  (verses 15, 17). Of course, humanity has always rebelled against God and continues to do so. We  are all sinners to the core (Romans 3:23). It is not surprising that this whole world stands  condemned before our holy God. However, it is shocking that God would send His one and only  Son to suffer His wrath on the cross for the forgiveness of all of the sins of all of humanity across  all of time. Jesus Christ has paid the penalty in full. None of us deserves such mercy and grace.  To fully receive such grace, we must understand it. And the closest we can come to  understanding His mercy toward us is when we forgive others who have done wrong to us (Matthew 6:14). His mercy toward us should give us power to forgive others. 

JESUS WILL SAVE YOU
The LORD has “turned back your enemy” (verse 15), and He is  the “Mighty Warrior who saves” (verse 17). The enemy is the devil (Ephesians 6:12), and also  death (1 Corinthians 15:26). But Jesus will not only save us from the devil and death, He will  also save us from the challenges and struggles we face in this world in the here and now. But we  need to have the right mindset about how Jesus saves us. Sometimes we want God to rescue us  with a miracle. However, God’s supernatural and miraculous intervention is all around us,  through our circumstances and especially through our relationships. Sometimes those challenges  and struggles are simply the consequences of our own sin, in which case, we must repent. Other  times, they come because of the curse of sin that has broken this world. Even then, our hope is  found in Christ. He will return and make all things right. And there will be a great reward for  those who persevere to the end. 

JESUS WILL BLESS YOU
God’s singular purpose for us is to fill the earth with His glory in  Jesus’s name by building up God-fearing, God-honoring, God-worshiping, God-loving  communities and families, which is the church. God does not desire to accomplish that by  making His people miserable. Our God desires that we sing and shout aloud, be glad and rejoice  with all our hearts in declaring His praises—not out of compulsion, but in response to His love. And that is not prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel treats God like a magic genie. The true  gospel says that through Jesus Christ, we have eternal life and abundant life, and because He is  Lord, we worship Him, we pray to Him, and we get to experience the blessings of His kingdom. And that is simply the outworking of God’s covenant given to His people throughout Scripture (Genesis 1:28; 12:2-3; Galatians 3:14). Jesus will bless you through faith in Him. But the  blessing of Christ must come on His terms and not my own. We must make our relationship with  Him and our obedience to Him our priority (Matthew 6:33). And that is the key to happiness— which is the literal translation of “blessing” in both the Old and New Testaments. 

DISCUSSION QUESTION
How have you been rescued from calamity in your life? In what ways are you blessed?