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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 130

"I would comfort myself in sorrow"

Text: Jeremiah 8:18

A PARADOX OF COMFORT

Once again, Jeremiah writes to share a personal response. He sought comfort as he grappled with thoughts of the imminent invasion of the Babylonians.

“I would comfort myself in sorrow;
My heart is faint in me.
Listen! The voice,
The cry of the daughter of my people
From a far country:
‘Is not the LORD in Zion?
Is not her King in her?’
‘Why have they provoked Me to anger
With their carved images—
With foreign idols?'”
Jeremiah 8:18-19

1. “I would comfort myself in sorrow; my heart is faint in me.”

a) Comfort myself
i) Jeremiah did not have a lot of friends or followers.
ii) He has only himself, if we speak of human friends.
b) His heart
i) It was faint.
ii) There were obvious fears.
c) Comfort in sorrow
i) This was a paradox.
ii) Sorrow does not usually bring comfort.
iii) Yet, sorrow itself, somehow brought a measure of comfort.

2. “Listen! The voice, the cry of the daughter of my people from a far country:
‘Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her?'”

a) In a prophetic understanding, Jeremiah heard:
i) The cry of the daughter of my people.
ii) But the cry was not from within Jerusalem.
iii) They were in a far country.
iv) They were in exile.
b) Their cry: “Is not the LORD in Zion?”
i) They had not understood the Lord much.
ii) They thought that if the LORD was in Zion, then they would not be defeated.
iii) They had failed to see that their sins had brought about this calamity.
c) The second cry: “Is not her King in her?”
i) The same misunderstanding had persisted.
ii) Their focus was wrong! The presence of the King in Zion was not the point!
iii) The blame on the Lord was uncalled for.

3. “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images – with foreign idols?”

a) The LORD did not have to reply.
b) He had forewarned many times over.
c) The LORD repeated His message.
i) Why had the people made Him angry?
ii) What caused this anger was their “foreign idols”.