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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 216

"Save me, and I shall be saved"

Text: Jeremiah 17:14

JEREMIAH’S DILEMMA

Jeremiah, restored and renewed, did not have an easy ministry. There were many who resisted and challenged him. There were obvious dangers that he had to face!

“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;
Save me, and I shall be saved,
For You are my praise.
Indeed they say to me,
‘Where is the word of the LORD?
Let it come now!’
As for me, I have not hurried away
from being a shepherd who follows You,
Nor have I desired the woeful day;
You know what came out of my lips;
It was right there before You.”
Jeremiah 17:14-16

1. “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed”

a) There may have been times when he was ill.
b) Such occasions may have caused his detractors to taunt him.
c) Thus, he prayed that God would heal him and restore his health.

2. “Save me, and I shall be saved”

a) There may have been times when his life may have been in danger.
b) If God were to save him then he would be truly saved (delivered).

3. “For You are my praise”

a) Whatever circumstances Jeremiah may find himself in, he determined that God would be his praise.
b) Faith would be employed to enable him to focus on God in his life!

4. “Indeed they say to me, ‘Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!'”

a) Jeremiah brought one of the problems he faced to God.
b) The prophet had been warning people about God’s judgment.
c) Many rejected his prophetic ministry.
i) They demanded that he showed proof that his word was true.
ii) They demanded that God’s word be fulfilled immediately.
d) Jeremiah, of course, could not fulfil what they had demanded.
i) He was only a prophet of God.
ii) He had no power to bring to pass what he had spoken.
iii) Only God Himself could fulfil what He had warned.

5. “As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You, nor have I desired the woeful day; You know what came out of my lips; it was right there before You”

a) Jeremiah might have been sneered at:
i) For being a bad shepherd.
ii) For having desired doom to come to Jerusalem.
iii) For being a bad preacher and teacher.
b) The prophet appealed to God to vindicate him.
i) That he was a faithful shepherd who followed God closely.
ii) That he had never desired nor delighted in Jerusalem’s destruction.
iii) That what he had spoken was faithful and true.
iv) He called upon the Lord as his witness to his life and ministry.