Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 15:18

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 15:18. Wilt thou be altogether unto me as - waters that fail? — Meaning either springs, which in the height of summer grow dry; or, like that phenomenon in the sandy desert, where, by a peculiar action of the air on the rising vapours, the resemblance of water is produced, so that the traveller, deceived, rejoices that he is come, in the sandy desert, to the verge of a beautiful lake; but the farther he travels, it is still at the same distance, and at last vanishes; and he finds the whole was an illusion, for the waters have failed. Nothing can exceed the disappointment of the farmer whose subsistence absolutely depends on the periodical rains, when these fail, or fall short of their usual quantity. Some times the rice is sown and springs up in the most promising manner; but the latter rains fail, and whole fields of young rice wither and perish.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jeremiah’s anguish; God’s comfort (15:10-21)

The prophet again complains to God because of the unjust treatment he suffers. He has done no harm to the people, and in fact has pleaded on their behalf for God’s mercy upon them, yet they hate him. They are angered at his attacks on their sin and his forecasts of judgment. Their hearts are as hard as iron (10-12). God’s word is that the Judeans will be invaded, plundered and taken captive (13-14).
Knowing that God is understanding, Jeremiah asks that he will protect him from death and deal with his persecutors (15). He was glad to be God’s representative, to receive God’s message and pass it on to the people; but when they heard that message and knew that the prophet was angry with them because of their sin, they cut themselves off from him. Lonely and discouraged, Jeremiah feels that even God has failed him. He feels like a thirsty person who has come to a stream, only to find that the stream has dried up (16-18).
In response God tells Jeremiah that he must stop speaking idle words of self-pity, and speak useful words as a true servant of God should. He must not copy the people and their worthless attitudes; they must copy him. If they continue to oppose him, God will protect him (19-21).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JEREMIAH RENOUNCES HIS COMMISSION

"O Jehovah, thou knowest; remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual? and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?"

Jeremiah here fell into a distressing pit of self-pity. He had succumbed to the "me" virus, for he used the personal pronoun of himself no less than sixteen times in these four verses. It appears that the great prophet was almost totally discouraged about the seeming failure of his mission.

Green pointed out that Jeremiah's appeal to God has the following: (1) he appeals to God to remember him; he feels forsaken, and checkmated by his enemies; (2) he reminds God of his love and respect for the divine word; (3) he protests his loneliness and his being left out of the assemblies of the people; (4) and he even echoed the sentiments of Christ on Calvary, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"; and (5) finally, in Jeremiah 15:18 he seemed to hit the very depths of despair, "The figure of the deceitful brook is devastating."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 95. It appears that Jeremiah was even tempted to believe that God had become to him a lying water hole, that promised refreshment but failed to give it.

The so-called "weeping prophet" came near to deserving the title here. Halley noted that there is a grotto called Jeremiah's Grotto which is located at the foot of the very hill where the Cross of Jesus would be raised some 600 years later. "Jeremiah is said to have retired there to weep."Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House) , p. 287.

"Jeremiah had expected that, called to a high office, there would be a perpetual interference upon his behalf; but instead everything seemed to be taking its natural course."Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898), p. 411.

Jeremiah 15:18, here "is certainly a cry of distrust and despair by Jeremiah."WR, p. 483. God's dramatic answer came in the next verses.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

This is the prayer of a man in bitter grief, whose human nature cannot at present submit to the divine will. God’s long-suffering toward the wicked seemed to the prophet to be the abandonment of himself to death; justice itself required that one who was suffering contumely for God’s sake should be delivered.

Rebuke - i. e., reproach, contumely.

Jeremiah 15:16

Thy words were found - Jeremiah’s summons to the prophetic office had not been expected or sought for by him.

I did eat them - i. e., I received them with joy. This eating of the divine words expresses also the close union between that which came from God and the prophet’s own being.

I am called by thy name - i. e., I am consecrated to Thy service, am ordained to be Thy prophet.

Jeremiah 15:17

Rather, “I sat not in the assembly of the laughers, and was merry.” From the time God’s words came to Jeremiah he abstained from things innocent, and a gravity came over him beyond his years.

I sat alone because of thy hand - As a person consecrated to God he would also be “separated.” See Jeremiah 1:5; compare Acts 13:2.

With indignation - The prophet thus taught of God sees the sins of the people as offences against God, and as involving the ruin of His Church.

Jeremiah 15:18

Why is my pain perpetual - i. e., Are all my labors to be in vain?

As a liar ... - Really, “as a deceitful brook,” a brook which flows only in the winter, the opposite of the “perennial stream” of Amos 5:24. Jeremiah had expected that there would be a perpetual interference of Providence in his behalf, instead whereof things seemed to take only their natural course.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Before we proceed, we shall shortly refer to the meaning of the passage. Jeremiah has before shewn that he possessed an heroic courage in despising all the splendor of the world, and in regarding as nothing those proud men who boasted that they were the rulers of the Church: but he now confesses his infirmity; and there is no doubt but that he was often agitated by different thoughts and feelings; and this necessarily happens to us, because the flesh always fights against the spirit. For though the Prophet announced nothing human when he declared the truth of God, yet he was not wholly exempt from sorrow and fear and other feelings of the flesh. For we must always distinguish, when we speak of the prophets and the apostles, between the truth, which was pure, free from every imperfection, and their own persons, as they commonly say, or themselves. Nor were, they so perfectly renewed but that some remnant of the flesh still continued in them. So then Jeremiah was in himself disturbed with anxiety and fear, and affected with weariness, and wished to shake off the burden which he felt so heavy on his shoulders. He was then subject to these feelings, that is, as to himself; yet his doctrine was free from every defect, for the Holy Spirit guided his mind, his thoughts, and his tongue, so that there was in it nothing human. The Prophet then has hitherto testified that he was called from above, and that he had cordially undertaken the office deputed to him by God, and had faithfully obeyed him: but now he comes to himself, and confesses that he was agitated by many thoughts, which betokened the infirmity of the flesh, and were not free from blame. This then is the meaning.

He says, Why is my grief strong, or hard? He intimates that his grief could not be eased by any soothing remedy. He alludes to ulcers, which by their hardness repel all emollients. And for the same purpose he adds, And my wound weak, as some render it, for it is from אנש anesh, to be feeble; and hence is אנוש anush, which means man; and it expresses his weakness, as אדם adam, shews his origin, and איש aish, intimates his strength and courage. Others render the words, “and my wound full of pain;” and others, “strong,” as he had before called his grief strong. He afterwards thus explains what he meant by the terms he used, It refuses to be healed There is no doubt, as I have already intimated, but that the Prophet here honestly expresses the perturbations of his own mind, and shews that he in a manner vacinated; the wickedness of the people was so great, that he could not so perseveringly execute his office as he ought to have done. ⁽¹⁵⁰⁾

He adds, Thou wilt be to me as the deception of inconstant waters I wonder why some render the words, “Thou wilt be to me deceptive as inconstant waters.” The word may indeed be an adjective, but it is doubtless to be rendered as a substantive, “Thou wilt be to me as the deception,” and then, “of unfaithful waters.” that is, of such as flow not continually: for faithful or constant waters are those which never fail; as the Latins call a fountain inexhaustible whose spring never dries; so the Hebrews call a fountain faithful or constant which never fails either in summer or in drought. On the contrary, they call waters unfaithful which become dry, as when a well, which has no perennial veins, is made dry by great heat; and such also is often the case with large streams. ⁽¹⁵¹⁾

We now see the import of this comparison: but the words are apparently very singular; for the Prophet expostulates with God as though he had been deceived by him, “Thou wilt be to me,” he says, “as a vain hope, and as deceptive waters, which fail during great heat, when they are mostly wanted.” If we take the words as they appear to mean, they seem to border on blasphemy; for God had not without reason testified before, that he is the Fountain of living water; and he had condemned the Jews for having dug for themselves broken cisterns, and for having forsaken him, the Fountain of living water. Such, no doubt, had He been found by all who trusted in him. What then does Jeremiah mean here by saying, that God was to him as a vain hope, and as waters which continue not to flow? The Prophet, no doubt, referred to others rather than to himself; for his faith had never been shaken nor removed from his heart. He then knew that he could never be deceived; for relying on God’s word he greatly magnified his calling, not only before the world, but also with regard to himself: and his glorytug, which we have already seen, did not proceed except from the inward feeling of his heart. The Prophet then was ever fully confident, because he relied on God, that he could not be made ashamed; but here, as I have said, he had regard to others. And we have already seen similar passages, and the like expressions will hereafter follow.

There is no doubt but that it was often exultingly alleged that the Prophet was a deceiver: “Let him go on and set before us the words of his God; it has already appeared that his boasting is vain in saying that he has hitherto spoken as a prophet.” Since then the ungodly thus harassed the Prophet, he might have justly complained that God was not to him like perennial springs, because they all thought that he was deceived. And we must always bear in mind what I said yesterday, — that the Prophet does not speak here for his own sake, but raffler that he might reprove the impiety of the people. It therefore follows —

(150) It is better to retain throughout the figurative language, —

Why has my sore become perpetual, And my stroke incurable, refusing to be healed?

He mentions “sore” first, the effect; then the “stroke” which casued it. He refers doubtless to the state of his mind: therefor “the sore” and “the stroke” were the sorrow and the grief which he experienced. — Ed.

(151) The Septuagint and the Vulgate strangely refer to this stroke or the wound in the previous clause, “It has become like the deception of inconstant water:” but the gender of the infinitive added to the verb will not admit of this rendering. It is literally as follows, —

Becoming thou hast become like a deceiveer, Like waters which are not constant.

The word אכזכ is not substantive, but an adjective, formed like אכזר, violent. The quotation from Chardin, made by Blayney, respecting an illusion in the deserts of Arabia, occasioned by the sun’s rays on the sand, by which a vast lake appears, is here out of place, as unfaithful or inconstant waters, not unreal, is what is expressed. Calvin’s view is no doubt correct. — Ed

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 15

Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go foRuth ( Jeremiah 15:1 ).

Now it is interesting that when God chooses examples of men of great intercessory prayer, He chooses Moses and Samuel. There is an interesting characteristic about both Moses and Samuel and they were men who had the ear for God. You remember Moses was out in the wilderness and he saw the burning bush and he approached it and God spoke to him out of the burning bush. He heard the voice of God. He had the ear tuned to God's voice. Men of prayer, powerful men of prayer, are men who are tuned to the voice of God. Because the purpose of prayer is to get God's will done always. The purpose of prayer is never to get your will done. Prayer is not...God is not a genie. Though so many times we sort of approach Him as that. "God, I've got three wishes. Please grant them to me, you know."

You heard about the three fellows who were on the deserted island and about ready to die. A bottle came floating up on the beach. One guy went down and got it and rubbed it and genie popped out and says grant you three wishes. First fellow said, "I wish I was back in London now. Just to be in London again. Back in my own bed." Back in his own bed. Second fellow said, "Oh, if I was only back in Italy sipping coffee. Once more, just on the streets there in Rome. Oh, to be in Rome sipping coffee." Back in Rome sipping coffee. Third fellow says, "Oh, I'm so lonely without my two friends I wish they were back here with me."

You see what we could do with wishes? We could really mess up the world. So prayer is not to get our will done. It isn't that God is just going to grant our wishes.

Samuel, when as a little boy, brought by his mother to Eli, and there as he was sleeping he heard the voice, "Samuel, Samuel." He went running into Eli. Said, "Did you call me?" "No, I didn't call you. Go back to bed." Got back in bed and he heard, "Samuel, Samuel." Went running into Eli again and said, "You called me." "No, I didn't call you. Go back to bed." And again he heard this voice, "Samuel, Samuel." Went running in and Eli said, "Look, if you hear the voice again, just say, 'Speak, Lord, Your servant hears.'" So he got back into bed again and hears, "Samuel, Samuel." And he says, "Speak, Lord, Your servant hears." And God began to tell him all about the sins of Eli the priest. And so Eli the next morning said, "Well, what happened?" He had a tough time. But he heard the voice of God. He was tuned in. His ear was tuned. Men of prayer are always men who are tuned to the voice of God.

So God uses two examples-Moses and Samuel. But they are men who had the listening ear. And the listening ear always precedes the life of prayer, of powerful prayer. Hearing the voice of God. Knowing the will of God makes for powerful prayer. So though Moses and Samuel, God said, these two shining examples of men of intercessory prayer capacities. You remember Moses said, "Lord, forgive their iniquities. And if not, then I pray You'll blot my name out of Your book of remembrance." Intercessor before God. "But though Moses stood before Me," God said, "My heart can't be towards them. Though Samuel stood before Me, My heart can't be towards them. Cast them out of my sight. Let them go forth."

And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: there will be the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the eaRuth ( Jeremiah 15:2-4 ),

And God goes back now.

because of Manasseh ( Jeremiah 15:4 )

That horrible, wicked son of Hezekiah that introduced these people to this pagan idolatry.

the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how you are doing? Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, you are gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with changing ( Jeremiah 15:4-6 ).

Now an interesting verse, because we know that God does not change. God does not repent. "God is not a man, that He should repent; nor the son of man, that He should change" ( Numbers 23:19 ). But we are limited in talking about God to human terminology. So we have to describe God's actions in human terms. So we are faced with the dilemma how do you describe what apparently is a change of attitude by God. It would from my end look like God has changed His attitude. Not so. God has already, always known from the beginning. God doesn't change. He knows. His foreknowledge. So from my standpoint it looks like God has changed. He has pronounced judgment is going to come. The people pray. They repent and so God forestalls the judgment. You say, "Oh, God changed." No, He always knew that He was going to forestall the judgment. He really didn't change, but it would appear that He changed but I have to describe it in human language. We don't have divine language with which to speak of God.

And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; and I will bereave them of children, and I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways. Their widows are increased to me above the sands of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. She that hath borne seven is languishing: she hath given up the ghost ( Jeremiah 15:7-9 );

Or she has died.

her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she has been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD. Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet they are all cursing me ( Jeremiah 15:9-10 ).

Of course, Jeremiah was not saying things that were very pleasant. They were being angered by what this prophet had to tell them from God. Oftentimes a true prophet of God is not a popular man. They do generate a lot... people don't want to hear the truth. People want to hear a lie. When people come in for counseling, so often they want to hear a lie. They want to hear you say, "Well, it's just all right. Go ahead and do it. God doesn't care." "Oh, you're a great counselor. Oh, love you, brother." If they come and you say, "Look man, you persist in that and you're going to hell. That's a part of the works of the flesh and we know that they who do those things will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. You better get right with God." They go out angry, cursing, kicking. "Horrible counselor. He told me the truth. I don't want to hear the truth. I want to hear pleasant words." Jeremiah was telling them the truth. They had other prophets who were telling them lies. They were popular men. Jeremiah was unpopular.

The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with the remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction ( Jeremiah 15:11 ).

Though the people are going to be destroyed, there will be a remnant that will be saved. They'll be taken captive to Babylon and they're going to do well in Babylon. Well, they did. They prospered in Babylon. In fact, the Jews were so prosperous in Babylon. They were basically farmers. But when they got into business they were fantastic. And soon they were running the best operations in all of Babylon, becoming very wealthy men. So that when they were able to go back from the Babylonian captivity, some of them were so prosperous they didn't even want to go back. "Why should we go back to that hard life in Jerusalem? We got it made here." And so a lot of them did not return because they had become so prosperous.

So God here declares that it's going to be well with the remnant though they are in captivity in the time of their affliction.

Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all of your sins, even in all of your borders. And I will make you to pass with your enemies into a land which you know not: for a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn upon you ( Jeremiah 15:12-14 ).

He's predicting the Babylon captivity. Jeremiah responds.

O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in your long-suffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke ( Jeremiah 15:15 ).

Well, that's good. Jesus said, "Blessed are ye, when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for so persecuted they the prophets before you" ( Matthew 5:11-12 ). He's referring to Jeremiah. He says, "Lord, for Your name's sake, because I have spoken in Your name's sake they're persecuting me. They're rebuking me."

For thy words were found, and I did eat them; and the word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart ( Jeremiah 15:16 ):

Can you say that of God's Word? To me it is the joy and rejoicing. How I love the Word of God! How I enjoy finding beautiful truths in God's Word that minister to my spirit and my soul. It's the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Just to get into the Word and to read and study it, sort of devour it. And here's Jeremiah saying, "I found Your Word and I devoured it and it was the joy and the rejoicing of my heart."

for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand: for you have filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? Therefore thus saith the LORD, If you return, then will I bring you again, and you will stand before me: and if you will take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brass wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the awesome ( Jeremiah 15:16-21 ).

So God's promise to His prophet. "You go out to them, they will come to you again and I'll make you like a brass wall. I will be like a brass wall around you and though they will come against you to fight against you, they will not prevail because I am with you." So God's promise of the future, His sustaining of His prophet as he speaks forth the word of the Lord in the name of the Lord.

Shall we pray.

Father, we thank You tonight for the opportunity that You have given to us to again study Your Word. O Lord, may we devour Thy Word. May it be the joy and rejoicing of our hearts that we learn of Thee and we walk according to all that You have commanded. God, help us to hearken unto Your Word and to do it. May we not be hearers only, living in deception. But may we be doers of that which is right. God, help us that in these desperate days we might become desperate before Thee and in prayer. Make of us, Lord, men of prayer, women of prayer. Men and women of Your Word. In these last days, O God, help us that we might be able to lift others from the destruction that is coming upon the earth. That they might walk with You in Your kingdom. God, use us as Your instruments to speak Your truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The prophet’s inner struggles and Yahweh’s responses 15:10-21

This pericope contains two instances in which Jeremiah faced crushing discouragement in his ministry (Jeremiah 15:10-21). He confessed his frustration to the Lord, and the Lord responded with encouragement.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The prophet asked God why his broken heart refused to heal (cf. Jeremiah 6:14). The Lord promised refreshment to His people, even Himself (Jeremiah 2:13), but this had not been Jeremiah’s personal experience. God seemed like an unreliable wadi (stream bed) to Jeremiah. It promised water but was completely dry for most of the year (cf. Job 6:15-20).

"The prophet Jeremiah found himself in a situation of conflict, conflict with his people and conflict with his God. He was at conflict with his people because of the message of judgment he proclaimed to them. He was at conflict with his God because he considered it unjust that he should suffer as a result of proclaiming God’s message. He consequently complained to the Lord about his situation." [Note: Kelley, p. 212.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Why is my pain perpetual,.... The pain of his mind; his uneasiness for the good of his people, which was likely to last, having no hope of a change for the better: or it may design the pain which they gave him by their reproaches and persecutions of him, which seemed as if they would have no end:

and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? the same thing is meant as before. The allusion is to an old ulcer, or obstinate wound, which no medicine can affect, is desperate and deadly; and such the prophet reckoned his case to be, or however deprecates it, and expostulates with God why it should be so:

wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? such God cannot be, nor did the prophet think he was; he knew that he was God that could not lie, and that he was faithful to his promises, and would not disappoint the faith, hope, and expectations of his people; but he feared he would be thought to be so by others, by his enemies, who would triumph over him, and say, where is thy God? did he not promise to make thee a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brasen walls? is he as good as his word? is he not like a dry brook, whose waters fail? are not thy hope and expectation in vain, who hast been trusting to him, and depending on him? and it is as if the prophet should say, Lord, let them have no occasion to speak after this manner; nor suffer my faith in thy promises to fail; show thyself to be as thou art, a covenant keeping God, and whose faithfulness never fails: to which an answer is returned in the following verses.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.   16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.   17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.   18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?   19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.   20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.   21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

      Here, as before, we have,

      I. The prophet's humble address to God, containing a representation both of his integrity and of the hardships he underwent notwithstanding. It is a matter of comfort to us that, whatever ails us, we have a God to go to, before whom we may spread our case and to whose omniscience we may appeal, as the prophet here, "O Lord! thou knowest; thou knowest my sincerity, which men are resolved they will not acknowledge; thou knowest my distress, which men disdain to take notice of." Observe here,

      1. What it is that the prophet prays for, Jeremiah 15:15; Jeremiah 15:15. (1.) That God would consider his case and be mindful of him: "O Lord! remember me; think upon me for good." (2.) That God would communicate strength and comfort to him: "Visit me; not only remember me, but let me know that thou rememberest me, that thou art nigh unto me." (3.) That he would appear for him against those that did him wrong: Revenge me of my persecutors, or rather, Vindicate me from my persecutors; give judgment against them, and let that judgment be executed so far as is necessary for my vindication and to compel them to acknowledge that they have done me wrong. Further than this a good man will not desire that God should avenge him. Let something be done to convince the world that (whatever blasphemers say to the contrary) Jeremiah is a righteous man and the God whom he serves is a righteous God. (4.) That he would yet spare him and continue him in the land of the living: "Take me not away by a sudden stroke, but in thy long-suffering lengthen out my days." The best men will own themselves so obnoxious to God's wrath that they are indebted to his patience for the continuance of their lives. Or, "While thou exercisest long-suffering towards my persecutors, let not them prevail to take me away." Though in a passion he complained of his birth (Jeremiah 15:10; Jeremiah 15:10), yet he desires here that his death might not be hastened; for life is sweet to nature, and the life of a useful man is so to grace. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world.

      2. What it is that he pleads with God for mercy and relief against his enemies, persecutors, and slanderers.

      (1.) That God's honour was interested in this case: Know, and make it known, that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. Those that lay themselves open to reproach by their own fault and folly have great reason to bear it patiently, but no reason to expect that God should appear for them. But if it is for doing well that we suffer ill, and for righteousness' sake that we have all manner of evil said against us, we may hope that God will vindicate our honour with his own. To the same purport (Jeremiah 15:16; Jeremiah 15:16), I am called by thy name, O Lord of hosts! It was for that reason that his enemies hated him, and therefore for that reason he promised himself that God would own him and stand by him.

      (2.) That the word of God, which he was employed to preach to others, he had experienced the power and pleasure of in his own soul, and therefore had the graces of the Spirit to qualify him for the divine favour, as well as his gifts. We find some rejected of God who yet could say, Lord, we have prophesied in thy name. But Jeremiah could say more (Jeremiah 15:16; Jeremiah 15:16): "Thy words were found, found by me" (he searched the scripture, diligently studied the law, and found that in it which was reviving to him: if we seek we shall find), "found for me" (the words which he was to deliver to others were laid ready to his hand, were brought to him by inspiration), "and I did not only taste them, but eat them, received them entirely, conversed with them intimately; they were welcome to me, as food to one that is hungry; I entertained them, digested them, turned them in succum et sanguinem--into blood and spirits, and was myself delivered into the mould of those truths which I was to deliver to others." The prophet was told to eat the roll,Ezekiel 2:8; Revelation 10:9. I did eat it--that is, as it follows, it was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, nothing could be more agreeable. Understand it, [1.] Of the message itself which he was to deliver. Though he was to foretel the ruin of his country, which was dear to him, and in the ruin of which he could not but have a deep share, yet all natural affections were swallowed up in zeal for God's glory, and even these messages of wrath, being divine messages, were a satisfaction to him. He also rejoiced, at first, in hope that the people would take warning and prevent the judgment. Or, [2.] Of the commission he received to deliver this message. Though the work he was called to was not attended with any secular advantages, but, on the contrary, exposed him to contempt and persecution, yet, because it put him in a way to serve God and do good, he took pleasure in it, was glad to be so employed, and it was his meat and drink to do the will of him that sent him,John 4:34. Or, [3.] Of the promise God gave him that he would assist and own him in his work (Jeremiah 1:18; Jeremiah 1:18); he was satisfied in that, and depended upon it, and therefore hoped it should not fail him.

      (3.) That he had applied himself to the duty of his office with all possible gravity, seriousness, and self-denial, though he had had of late but little satisfaction in it, Jeremiah 15:17; Jeremiah 15:17. [1.] It was his comfort that he had given up himself wholly to the business of his office and had done nothing either to divert himself from it or disfit himself for it. He kept no unsuitable company, denied himself the use even of lawful recreations, abstained from every thing that looked like levity, lest thereby he should make himself mean and less regarded. He sat alone, spent a great deal of time in his closet, because of the hand of the Lord that was strong upon him to carry him on his work, Ezekiel 3:14. "For thou hast filled me with indignation, with such messages of wrath against this people as have made me always pensive." Note, It will be a comfort to God's ministers, when men despise them, if they have the testimony of their consciences for them that they have not by any vain foolish behaviour made themselves despicable, that they have been dead not only to the wealth of the world, as this prophet was (Jeremiah 15:10; Jeremiah 15:10), but to the pleasures of it too, as here. But, [2.] It is his complaint that he had had but little pleasure in his work. It was at first the rejoicing of his heart, but of late it had made him melancholy, so that he had no heart to sit in the meeting of those that make merry. He cared not for company, for indeed no company cared for him. He sat alone, fretting at the people's obstinacy and the little success of his labours among them. This filled him with a holy indignation. Note, It is the folly and infirmity of some good people that they lose much of the pleasantness of their religion by the fretfulness and uneasiness of their natural temper, which they humour and indulge, instead of mortifying it.

      (4.) He throws himself upon God's pity and promise in a very passionate expostulation (Jeremiah 15:18; Jeremiah 15:18): "Why is my pain perpetual, and nothing done to ease it? Why are the wounds which my enemies are continually giving both to my peace and to my reputation incurable, and nothing done to retrieve either my comfort or my credit? I once little thought that I should be thus neglected; will the God that has promised me his presence be to me as a liar, the God on whom I depend to be me as waters that fail?" We are willing to make the best we can of it, and to take it as an appeal, [1.] To the mercy of God: "I know he will not let the pain of his servant be perpetual, but he will ease it, will not let his wound be incurable, but he will heal it; and therefore I will not despair." [2.] To his faithfulness: "Wilt thou be to me as a liar? No; I know thou wilt not. God is not a man that he should lie. The fountain of life will never be to his people as waters that fail."

      II. God's gracious answer to this address, Jeremiah 15:19-21; Jeremiah 15:19-21. Though the prophet betrayed much human frailty in his address, yet God vouchsafed to answer him with good words and comfortable words; for he knows our frame. Observe,

      1. What God here requires of him as the condition of the further favours he designed him. Jeremiah had done and suffered much for God, yet God is no debtor to him, but he is still upon his good behaviour. God will own him. But, (1.) He must recover his temper, and be reconciled to his work, and friends with it again, and not quarrel with it any more as he had done. He must return, must shake off these distrustful discontented thoughts and passions, and not give way to them, must regain the peaceable possession and enjoyment of himself, and resolve to be easy. Note, When we have stepped aside into any disagreeable frame or way our care must be to return and compose ourselves into a right temper of mind again; and then we may expect God will help us, if thus we endeavour to help ourselves. (2.) He must resolve to be faithful in his work, for he could not expect the divine protection any longer than he did approve himself so. Though there was no cause at all to charge Jeremiah with unfaithfulness, and God knew his heart to be sincere, yet God saw fit to give him this caution. Those that do their duty must not take it ill to be told their duty. In two things he must be faithful:-- [1.] He must distinguish between some and others of those he preached to: Thou must take forth the precious from the vile. The righteous are the precious be they ever so mean and poor; the wicked are the vile be they ever so rich and great. In our congregations these are mixed, wheat and chaff in the same floor; we cannot distinguish them by name, but we must by character, and must give to each a portion, speaking comfort to precious saints and terror to vile sinners, neither making the heart of the righteous sad nor strengthening the hands of the wicked (Ezekiel 13:22), but rightly dividing the word of truth. Ministers must take those whom they see to be precious into their bosoms, and not sit alone as Jeremiah did, but keep up conversation with those they may do good to and get good by. [2.] He must closely adhere to his instructions, and not in the least vary from them: Let them return to thee, but return not thou to them, that is, he must do the utmost he can, in his preaching, to bring people up to the mind of God; he must tell them they must, at their peril, comply with that. Those that had flown off from him, that did not like the terms upon which God's favour was offered to them, "Let them return to thee, and, upon second thoughts, come up to the terms and strike the bargain; but do not thou return to them, do not compliment them, nor comply with them, nor think to make the matter easier to them than the word of God has made it." Men's hearts and lives must come up to God's law and comply with that, for God's law will never come down to them nor comply with them.

      2. What God here promises to him upon the performance of these conditions. If he approve himself well, (1.) God will tranquilize his mind and pacify the present tumult of his spirits: If thou return, I will bring thee again, will restore thy soul, as Psalms 23:3. The best and strongest saints, if at any time they have gone aside out of the right way, and are determined to return, need the grace of God to bring them again. (2.) God will employ him in his service as a prophet, whose work, even in those bad times, had comfort and honour enough in it to be its own wages: "Thou shalt stand before me, to receive instructions from me, as a servant from his master; and thou shalt be as my mouth to deliver my messages to the people, as an ambassador is the mouth of the prince that sends him." Note, Faithful ministers are God's mouth to us; they are so to look upon themselves, and to speak God's mind and as becomes the oracles of God; and we are so to look upon them, and to hear God speaking to us by them. Observe, If thou keep close to thy instructions, thou shalt be as my mouth, not otherwise; so far, and no further, God will stand by ministers, as they go by the written word. "Thou shalt be as my mouth, that is, what thou sayest shall be made good, as if I myself had said it." See Isaiah 44:26; 1 Samuel 3:19. (3.) He shall have strength and courage to face the many difficulties he meets with in his work, and his spirit shall not fail again as now it does (Jeremiah 15:20; Jeremiah 15:20): "I will make thee unto this people as a fenced brazen wall, which the storm batters and beats violently upon, but cannot shake. Return not thou to them by any sinful compliances, and then trust thy God to arm thee by his grace with holy resolutions. Be not cowardly, and God will make thee daring." He had complained that he was made a man of strife. "Expect to be so (says God); they will fight against thee, they will still continue their opposition, but they shall not prevail against thee to drive thee off from thy work nor to cut thee off from the land of the living." (4.) He shall have God for his protector and mighty deliverer: I am with thee to save thee. Those that have God with them have a Saviour with them who has wisdom and strength enough to deal with the most formidable enemy; and those that are with God, and faithful to him, he will deliver (Jeremiah 15:21; Jeremiah 15:21) either from trouble or through it. They may perhaps fall into the hand of the wicked, and they may appear terrible to them, but God will rescue them out of their hands. They shall not be able to kill them till they have finished their testimony; they shall not prevent their happiness. God will so deliver them as to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18), and that is deliverance enough. There are many things that appear very frightful that yet do not prove at all hurtful to a good man.