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The Scriptorium

Who Is Wise?

Not those who turn from God, that's for sure. Jeremiah 9.12-26

Lying Words: Jeremiah 7-10 (5)

Pray Psalm 102.1-4.
Hear my prayer, O LORD,
And let my cry come to You.
Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.
For my days are consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.

Sing Psalm 102.1-4.
(Leominster: Not What My Hands Have Done)
Lord, hear my prayer and cry; hide not Your face from me!
In my distress and tears I sigh – Lord, hear my earnest plea!
My days like smoke blow past; my bones are scorched with sin.
My heart, like wilted, withered grass bends low to earth again.

Read and meditate on Jeremiah 9.12-26.

Prepare.
1. The “wise man” is mentioned twice in this passage, at the beginning and the end. What do we learn about wisdom?

2. What step did God take in these verses to heighten His people’s awareness of the coming judgment?

Meditate.
These verses make up a kind of inclusio, which is a literary device employed for emphasis. Note that the passage begins by asking a question: “Who is the wise man?” (v. 12) It ends with a word of counsel: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom” (v. 23). The focus of this passage is on wisdom, which comes with understanding (v. 12) and redounds to the knowledge and glory of God (v. 24). Jeremiah appeals to the sense of wisdom among the people, that they might desire to be wise and do the wise thing, before the judgment of God falls on them all.

The people have not acted wisely thus far, because they have left off God’s Law and given their hearts and minds to the false gods of the pagan nations (vv. 13, 14). That choice will lead to bitterness and destruction, unless the people repent (vv. 15, 16).

God commands Jeremiah to dramatize the urgency of this situation by hiring “mourning women” to lament the coming judgment (vv. 17-22). The mourning women were a kind of guild of professional mourners, who would weep and mourn and cry out in lamentation as they accompanied a funeral. Their purpose was both to empathize with those suffering a loss, and to call the community to join in that loss as well. Mourning women apparently passed their skills on to their daughters, to ensure continuity to their guild (v. 20). God instructed Jeremiah to hire this troupe of women (v. 17) to heighten and dramatize the severity of his preaching. He even gave them the script they were to use in their “skillful wailing” (vv. 18-22).

God wanted to make sure He had done everything possible to get the attention of His people, so that they would come to their senses, understand and be wise, and repent of their sinful ways. Then they would be truly wise, because they would know the Lord and give Him thanks and praise for His lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness (v. 24).

But the pericope ends on the same drumbeat of judgment, heightened once again by the inclusion of all the other peoples around Judah in the outpouring of God’s wrath (vv. 25, 26). The call in the passage is for wisdom, but wisdom is not forthcoming. Therefore, judgment is sure.

We are not wise when we turn aside from God’s Law and Word to our own best ideas about the way things ought to be (vv. 12-14). We should be warned, that God will no more sit by and watch us rob Him of His glory than He did with the people of Judah. If we do not want to come under the discipline of the Lord, we need to repent and return to the wise and righteous paths of the Lord (Heb. 12.3-11).

Reflect.
1. How can we grow in wisdom? Why should we want to grow in wisdom?

2. Why do we sometimes prefer our own best thoughts and judgments to the plain teaching of God’s Word? How can we know when we’re doing this?

3. What does it mean to “glory” in understanding and knowing the Lord?

Our turning away from God is our own act, and this is evil will. But our turning to God is not possible, except he rouses and helps us, and this is good will. What do we have that we have not received? But if we received, why do we glory as if we had not received? Therefore, “he that glories must glory in the Lord.” Augustine (354-430), On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins and on Infant Baptism 2.31

Lead me in the wise path today, O Lord, so that I…

Pray Psalm 102.12-28.

Call on the Lord to revive you and all His people, to draw you deeper in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (Jn. 17.3), and to use you to encourage your fellow believers in seeking the Lord.

Sing Psalm 102.12-28.
Psalm 102.12-28 (Leominster: Not What My Hands Have Done)
But You, O Lord, abide forever in Your place.
Arise and stand on Zion’s side and lavish us with grace!
Revive Your Church, O Lord! Let all her dust and stones
be strengthened by Your mighty Word, and compact be as one.

Then let the nations fear the glory of the Lord!
For He shall in His Church appear to heed our sighing words.
Then let our children learn to praise the Lord above.
He hears their groans and knows they yearn to dwell within His love.

Yet let us tell God’s Name and praise His glorious grace;
let all as one His love proclaim together in this place.
Though now our strength is low; though shortened grow our days,
our God will not forsake us so, but keep us in His ways!

Of old You made the earth and heavens by Your hand.
Though they shall perish You endure; forever shall You stand.
They change, yet You remain the same, without an end.
Our children shall Your favor gain, and theirs shall be Your friend.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from
Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
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