Threatened and Revived: Jeremiah 11-15 (6)

Pray Psalm 145.1-3.
I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

Sing Psalm 145.1-3.
(Brother James’ Air: The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want)
I will extol You, God, my King, and ever praise Your Name!
I bless You, Lord, for everything each day, and e’er the same!
Great are You, Lord, my praise I bring; unsearchable Your fame!

Read and meditate on Jeremiah 15.1-21.

Prepare.
1. Why was God going to bring such terrible judgment against His people?

2. What did God promise to Jeremiah?

Meditate.
Judah’s problems began with King Manasseh (2 Kgs. 21). He rebuilt the pagan worship centers, which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He worshiped as many pagan gods as he could, infested the temple courts with pagan idols, burned his son in the fire to Moloch, and “practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums” during his reign (2 Kgs. 21.6). The people went along with all this, as did the priests and prophets. So God swore to bring “such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle? (2 Kgs. 21.12).

In Jeremiah 15, God described in gory detail that judgment He had prepared for His rebellious people. Only a remnant would survive, as God had determined (2 Kgs. 21.14); but they would go into captivity to a foreign people (Jer. 15.11-14). The judgment would be swift, brutal, and thorough. And it made Jeremiah weep and wish he’d never been born to see it (v. 10). God comforted His prophet with the reminder of the remnant, and Jeremiah implored the Lord to remember and visit him with deliverance (v. 15). Jeremiah’s delight was in the Lord and His Word, and he had kept himself from all evil (vv. 16, 17). Surely God would spare him the violence and captivity threatened against the rest of the nation (v. 18).

God promised to keep and preserve Jeremiah through the coming judgment (vv. 19-21). He would know hardship, resistance, and sadness, but the comfort of the Lord would be with him through it all. The use of the words “deliver” and “redeem” in verse 21 were meant not only to comfort the beleaguered prophet, but to point forward to Israel’s return from captivity seventy years hence, and even further, to the time of the new covenant, which God will reveal to Jeremiah later on. Then a Deliverer would come to redeem all God’s chosen people, and to bring them into His comfort and joy forever.

Reflect.
1. Why was God just in bringing such terrible judgment against His people?

2. How can we, like Jeremiah, find in God’s Word the joy and rejoicing of our hearts?

3. How would you explain the promise of deliverance and redemption to an unbelieving friend?

The Prophet knew that nothing was better than to receive whatever proceeded from God; and he testifies that he found sweetness in God's word. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Jeremiah 15.16

I know there is nothing better for me, O Lord, than to feed with rejoicing on Your Word, so that I…

Pray Psalm 145.10-21
Believers know the hope of glory in Jesus Christ. Thank God for that hope. Pray about the day ahead, that you will bring hope and the joy of God’s Word to the people around you.

Sing Psalm 145.10-21.
Psalm 145.10-21 (Brother James’ Air: The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want)
Your works shall thank You; all Your saints shall bless and praise You, Lord.
Your reign we bless without restraint; Your power fills our words.
Our children we shall educate in all Your splendor, Lord.

Your Kingdom evermore shall be; You reign forever, Lord!
Your works You do so faithfully, according to Your Word.
The falling You uphold and the oppressed You rescue, Lord!

The eyes of all look up to You to meet our needs each day.
Open Your hand, provide the food we need, O Lord, we pray!
Kindness and righteousness You do, O Lord, in every way!

Be near to all who call on You; all those who fear You, bless.
Preserve all those whose love is true; save us in our distress.
Our mouths will speak with praise of You; Your holy Name we’ll bless!

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).