Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Ah Friends, what a heartfelt cry from poor Jeremiah; and me too Friends, yes me too! (smile) I’m also crying out for healing, from the physical ravages associated with maturity. Note, I didn’t say old age. Unlike Jeremiah though, no also like Jeremiah, I’m trying to convince a stubborn and recalcitrant people to return to their God, whom they’ve been deserting in huge numbers. They didn’t listen to Jeremiah, so who knows if anyone’s listening to me? I’m no prophet, just a concerned believer trying to pick some sense from nonsense. However, when Judah’s sin is about to be punished, like ours is now, Jeremiah cried out to the God of his fathers. ‘Heal me O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.’ Friends, it’s a plea that conveys absolute faith and trust. He’s sure that if the Lord so desires, He can do those things. Why? ‘For thou art my praise.’ Yes people, the Most High God Jehovah has been our praise from everlasting, and will be to everlasting. Bruh David declared it. ‘Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise.’ (Ps.109:1) Moses also pointed it out to the hard-headed Israelites when they came up out of Egypt and rebelled against the Lord. ‘He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible (awesome) things which thine eyes have seen. Thy father’s went down into Egypt with three score and ten persons: and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of the heaven for multitude.’ (Deut.10:21-22) But that obviously only lasted so long, eventually they rebelled again…and again… Each time the Lord punished them, they repented and returned to His fold, only to rebel once more, after they became strong and prosperous. How many centuries passed between Moses and Jeremiah, and they still never learned? Now, poor Jerry is at his wits end. He’s mentally and emotionally distressed, also afraid of physical harm. He’s praying for vindication, cause he’s been taunted and threatened by the people. ‘Behold, they say unto me, where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.’ (vs.15) All he could do was state his claim of righteousness. ‘As for me I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest that which came out of my lips was right before thee. Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.’ (vs.16-17) Oh people, can we make that plea? As believers and followers of Jesus, we ought to. Remember Jesus said that it’s what comes out of a man that defiles him, not what goes in. A salty spring can’t produce fresh water. Friends, it’s imperative that we have a right heart if we intend to call on the Lord with any measure of success. We can’t say He’s our hope in evil times and expect help when we’re numbered amongst the evil. ‘Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let me not be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.’ (vs.18) Yes my brethren, only if we’ve been obedient to the Lord’s will can we pray that kind of prayer and hope to get a positive response. Even in the tough times, Jeremiah isn’t praying so much to be rescued from the persecution, but more to be delivered from it; that he come through it unscathed; that the Lord shows up with punishment and proves him right in the eyes of the people. Oh Friends, please, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that the Lord’s hand is not implicated in our current spate of problems. He’s said it and done it often enough; if you’re disobedient to my will, turn to other gods and set your hearts on the wickedness of this world, then I’ll punish you. And even a blind man could see that in this last meeting, we’ve been very ungodly and wicked, and getting worse too. So why should we escape His punishment eh? If we expect to receive the good promises, then we’ve got to expect the bad too. As Job said to his wife when she said to him, ‘Dost thou still retain thy integrity? curse God and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh, What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?’ (Job 2:9-10) Please people, let’s concentrate on getting our hearts right, and obeying His will, cause if we continue the ungodly, evil cycle we’re currently in, who knows, the Lord might just get fed up with the same thing happening over and over; obedience, disobedience, punishment, obedience…and decide to break it and instead institute total destruction…the fire next time. Much LOVE!…foresight is always better than hindsight…
Ah Friends, what a heartfelt cry from poor Jeremiah; and me too Friends, yes me too! (smile) I’m also crying out for healing, from the physical ravages associated with maturity. Note, I didn’t say old age. Unlike Jeremiah though, no also like Jeremiah, I’m trying to convince a stubborn and recalcitrant people to return to their God, whom they’ve been deserting in huge numbers. They didn’t listen to Jeremiah, so who knows if anyone’s listening to me? I’m no prophet, just a concerned believer trying to pick some sense from nonsense. However, when Judah’s sin is about to be punished, like ours is now, Jeremiah cried out to the God of his fathers. ‘Heal me O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.’ Friends, it’s a plea that conveys absolute faith and trust. He’s sure that if the Lord so desires, He can do those things. Why? ‘For thou art my praise.’ Yes people, the Most High God Jehovah has been our praise from everlasting, and will be to everlasting. Bruh David declared it. ‘Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise.’ (Ps.109:1) Moses also pointed it out to the hard-headed Israelites when they came up out of Egypt and rebelled against the Lord. ‘He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible (awesome) things which thine eyes have seen. Thy father’s went down into Egypt with three score and ten persons: and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of the heaven for multitude.’ (Deut.10:21-22) But that obviously only lasted so long, eventually they rebelled again…and again… Each time the Lord punished them, they repented and returned to His fold, only to rebel once more, after they became strong and prosperous. How many centuries passed between Moses and Jeremiah, and they still never learned? Now, poor Jerry is at his wits end. He’s mentally and emotionally distressed, also afraid of physical harm. He’s praying for vindication, cause he’s been taunted and threatened by the people. ‘Behold, they say unto me, where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.’ (vs.15) All he could do was state his claim of righteousness. ‘As for me I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest that which came out of my lips was right before thee. Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.’ (vs.16-17) Oh people, can we make that plea? As believers and followers of Jesus, we ought to. Remember Jesus said that it’s what comes out of a man that defiles him, not what goes in. A salty spring can’t produce fresh water. Friends, it’s imperative that we have a right heart if we intend to call on the Lord with any measure of success. We can’t say He’s our hope in evil times and expect help when we’re numbered amongst the evil. ‘Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let me not be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.’ (vs.18) Yes my brethren, only if we’ve been obedient to the Lord’s will can we pray that kind of prayer and hope to get a positive response. Even in the tough times, Jeremiah isn’t praying so much to be rescued from the persecution, but more to be delivered from it; that he come through it unscathed; that the Lord shows up with punishment and proves him right in the eyes of the people. Oh Friends, please, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that the Lord’s hand is not implicated in our current spate of problems. He’s said it and done it often enough; if you’re disobedient to my will, turn to other gods and set your hearts on the wickedness of this world, then I’ll punish you. And even a blind man could see that in this last meeting, we’ve been very ungodly and wicked, and getting worse too. So why should we escape His punishment eh? If we expect to receive the good promises, then we’ve got to expect the bad too. As Job said to his wife when she said to him, ‘Dost thou still retain thy integrity? curse God and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh, What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?’ (Job 2:9-10) Please people, let’s concentrate on getting our hearts right, and obeying His will, cause if we continue the ungodly, evil cycle we’re currently in, who knows, the Lord might just get fed up with the same thing happening over and over; obedience, disobedience, punishment, obedience…and decide to break it and instead institute total destruction…the fire next time. Much LOVE!…foresight is always better than hindsight…
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