Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund

Week 16: Chapter 15 — The Emotional Life of the Father

Read Chapter 15 of Gentle and Lowly. Primary Scripture: Zephaniah 3:17; Isaiah 62:4–5.

We have seen that the Son has an emotional life. What about the Father? This chapter argues that the Father, too, has a passionate, tender, even exultant heart toward his people — and that this changes everything about how we relate to him.

Discussion Questions

7 questions

1.Zephaniah 3:17 says God "will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." This is one of the most startling verses in the Old Testament. What is your initial, honest reaction to the image of God singing over you with joy?

2.Ortlund notes that the God of the Old Testament is sometimes portrayed as emotionally distant or predominantly wrathful in popular Christian imagination. How does Zephaniah 3:17, Isaiah 62, and the trajectory of Old Testament passages in this chapter challenge that caricature?

3.Isaiah 62:5 says God rejoices over his people "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride." This is the Father using romantic joy as the closest available metaphor for his feeling toward his people. What does this metaphor add to your understanding of the Father's heart that more formal or legal language cannot convey?

a.Think of a moment of profound human joy — a wedding, a reunion, a birth. God is using that level of joy as a comparison point. Does that feel too intimate? Too presumptuous? Or exactly right?

b.How does this image connect to the New Testament's portrayal of the church as the Bride of Christ?

4.Ortlund is careful to note that the Father's emotional life is not like ours — God does not move from one emotional state to another as circumstances change. Yet Scripture uses emotional language to describe him. What is the relationship between God's impassibility (not being subject to passions as we are) and the genuine emotional language the Bible uses for him?

5.The chapter argues that the Father's delight in his people is not earned by their performance but flows from his own nature and from their union with Christ. Do you find it easier to believe the Father delights in you when you are doing well spiritually? What does the chapter say to correct that instinct?

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Closing Prayer

Full guide

Father, you sing over us. Not reluctantly, not quietly, but with exulting, with loud singing. Forgive us for imagining you as perpetually stern, as withholding your warmth until we deserve it. In Christ, we are beloved — and your songs over your Son become songs over us. Quiet our anxious hearts with your love. Let us learn to live as people who are sung over, not merely tolerated. Let us rest in the gladness you have over us today. Amen.

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Week 16: Chapter 15 — The Emotional Life of the Father

Discussion Questions

Closing Prayer

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