Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 20:9

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 20:9. I wilt not make mention of him — I will renounce the prophetic office, and return to my house.

As a burning fire shut up in my bones — He felt stings of conscience for the hasty and disobedient resolution he had formed; he felt ashamed of his own weakness, that did not confide in the promise and strength of God; and God's word was in him as a strongly raging fire, and he was obliged to deliver it, in order to get rid of the tortures which he felt from suppressing the solemn message which God had given. It is as dangerous to refuse to go when called, as it is to run without a call. On this subject, Jeremiah 1:6.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jeremiah complains again (20:7-18)

The prophet feels that God has not been fair to him. God has called him to be a prophet against his personal wishes, then, when he faithfully announces God’s message, the people mock and curse him (7-8). If he decides to keep quiet he finds he cannot, for God’s word burns within him and he must proclaim it. Even his friends have turned against him and now treacherously plot his downfall (9-10). When he remembers that God is on his side, he is assured that his enemies will not overcome him (11-13); but when he thinks about his own bitter experience of life, he wishes he had never been born (14-18).

Jeremiah’s inner conflicts

An examination of the preceding chapters shows that Jeremiah was a true patriot who loved his people and his country dearly (8:18-9:1; 14:19-22). No one could honestly doubt his loyalty. He was filled with unspeakable sorrow when he had to announce his country’s overthrow and urge his fellow Judeans to submit to the enemy (4:19-22; 10:17-21; 14:17-18; 17:16-17). He was deeply hurt when accused of being a traitor (37:13; 38:1-6); he preferred rather that people heed his warnings and repent, and so avoid the threatened calamity (7:5-7; 13:15-17; 26:16-19; 36:1-3).
The false prophets, by contrast, assured the people of safety, victory and peace. They knew that as long as they spoke words that pleased the people, they would receive suitable financial rewards (6:13; 8:11). Jeremiah wished for peace too, but he knew that there could be no peace as long as the people continued in their stubborn rebellion against God. He became increasingly distressed as he saw that the people’s optimism, encouraged by the false prophets, would result in disappointment (7:1-15; 14:13-18; 23:9).
Much as it hurt him to announce these divine judgments to his people, Jeremiah did it faithfully as God’s messenger (20:8-10). How great, then, was his agony of spirit as the people turned against him (11:19; 18:18). In bitterness he turned to God, arguing with God because of the cruel reward he received in return for his devoted loyalty (12:1-4; 15:10-12,17-18; 20:14-18). God rebuked his servant for this self-pity, though at the same time he gave him added strength for the greater conflicts that lay ahead (12:5-6; 15:19-21).
These experiences of Jeremiah emphasized the reality and importance of an individual’s personal relationship with God. Those with no personal fellowship with God did not truly know God, even though they may have called themselves prophets (23:18,21-22). But those who sought God with the whole heart found him (29:13).
Jeremiah foresaw the day when this close relationship with God would be experienced by all God’s people. God would make a new covenant, one characterized not by a community’s conformity to a religious system, but by an individual’s personal relationship with himself (31:31-34).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JEREMIAH'S FINAL LAMENT

Some find two confessions or laments in this passage, but we can discover only one. The only basis for making two out of it is the unexpected appearance of the reassuring verses (Jeremiah 20:11-13), but we believe the latter verses (Jeremiah 20:14-18) are also built around and related to Jeremiah 20:11-13, giving only one confession and lament in this chapter. We shall assign further reasons for this understanding of the chapter in the discussion under Jeremiah 20:13-14.

"O Jehovah, thou has persuaded me, and I was persuaded; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, everyone mocketh me. For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction! because the word of Jehovah is made a reproach unto me, and a derision all the day. And if I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I cannot contain. For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, say all my familiar friends, they that watch for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him."

This is indeed a pitiful complaint on the part of Jeremiah. All of his close neighbors and friends preferred to believe the false prophets such as Pashhur rather than the terrible warnings of Jeremiah; and it appears here that they confidently expected him to be destroyed rather than themselves and their city. How wrong they were!

"This paragraph reveals at what terrible personal cost God's word was faithfully delivered by Jeremiah."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 671. Note that Jeremiah, on occasion, had tried to refrain from delivering such sorrowful news to his beloved people and their city; but he had found it impossible to hide God's message, unpopular as it surely was.

"The word of Jehovah is made a reproach unto me" Several things had contributed to this. The message was not one of blessing, but of punishment and destruction. Furthermore, the years had slipped away, and the false prophets were screaming that the true prophecies of men like Isaiah and Jeremiah were false. No destruction had yet come upon Jerusalem; and they were shouting that the prophecies were false because they had not yet come to pass. The people, who strongly preferred to put their trust in the false prophets, took up all of the cries of violence and destruction, of terror on every side, etc., and affixed them to Jeremiah as a nickname. "Here comes old `Violence and Destruction'; here comes old `'Terror on Every Side'"!

Jeremiah here responds to his situation with words that are little short of blasphemy. He accused God of "persuading him." "The literal Hebrew word here is `deceived,' and it actually means `to seduce,' as a virgin is seduced (Exodus 22:16)."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 502. Jeremiah was saying that, "He was unwilling to take the prophetic office at first, but that God had over-persuaded him with promises, as in Jeremiah 1:8; Jeremiah 1:17-18. However, Jeremiah had simply misunderstood the promises, for God had promised no immunity from persecution and hatred of men, but that Jeremiah would prevail."W. Harvey Jellie, Jeremiah, in Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company), p. 402. God certainly knew his man; because despite Jeremiah's bitter lament, he did indeed prevail.

The whole paragraph here, "Depicts a man loudly complaining about his lot in life, yet showing that he is still submissive, loyal and obedient to God's will."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, pp. 114.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending strength, warning prince and people with unwavering constancy of the national ruin that would follow necessarily upon their sins. Before God he stood crushed by the thought that he had labored in vain, and spent his strength for nothing.

It is important to notice that with this outpouring of sorrow Jeremiah’s ministry virtually closed. Though he appeared again at Jerusalem toward the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, yet it was no longer to say that by repentance the national ruin might be averted. During the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the die was cast, and all the prophet henceforward could do, was to alleviate a punishment that was inevitable.

Jeremiah 20:7

Thou hast deceived me ... - What Jeremiah refers to is the joy with which he had accepted the prophetic office Jeremiah 15:16, occasioned perhaps by taking the promises in Jeremiah 1:18 too literally as a pledge that he would succeed.

Thou art stronger than I - Rather, “Thou hast taken hold of me.” God had taken Jeremiah in so firm a grasp that he could not escape from the necessity of prophesying. He would have resisted, but the hand of God prevailed.

I am in derision daily - literally, “I am become a laughing-stock all the day, i. e., peripetually.

Jeremiah 20:8

Translate,” For as often as I speak, I must complain; I call out, Violence and spoil.”

From the time Jeremiah began to prophesy, he had had reason for nothing but lamentation. Daily with louder voice and more desperate energy he must call out “violence and spoil;” as a perpetual protest against the manner in which the laws of justice were violated by powerful men among the people.

Jeremiah 20:9

Seeing that his mission was useless, Jeremiah determined to withdraw from it.

I could not stay - Rather, “I prevailed not,” did not succeed. See Jeremiah 20:7.

Jeremiah 20:10

The defaming - Rather, “the talking.” The word refers to people whispering in twos and threes apart; in this case plotting against Jeremiah. Compare Mark 14:58.

Report ... - Rather, “Do you report, and we will report him: i. e., they encourage one another to give information against Jeremiah.

My familiars - literally, “the men of my peace” Psalms 41:9. In the East the usual salutation is “Peace be to thee:” and the answer, “And to thee peace.” Thus, the phrase rather means acquaintances, than familiar friends.

Enticed - literally, “persuaded, misled,” the same word as “deceived Jeremiah 20:7.” Compare Mark 12:13-17.

Jeremiah 20:11

A mighty terrible one - Rather, “a terrible warrior.” The mighty One Isaiah 9:6 who is on his side is a terror to them. This change of feeling was the effect of faith, enabling him to be content with calmly doing his duty, and leaving the result to God.

For ... - Rather, “because they have not acted wisely (Jeremiah 10:21 note), with an everlasting disgrace that shall never be forgotten.”

Jeremiah 20:12

This verse is repeated almost verbatim from Jeremiah 11:20.

Jeremiah 20:13

Sing - Jeremiah’s outward circumstances remained the same, but he found peace in leaving his cause in faith to God.

Jeremiah 20:14

This sudden outbreak of impatience after the happy faith of Jeremiah 20:13 has led to much discussion. Possibly there was more of sorrow in the words than of impatience; sorrow that the earnest labor of a life had been in vain. Yet the form of the expression is fierce and indignant; and the impatience of Jeremiah is that part of his character which is most open to blame. He does not reach that elevation which is set before us by Him who is the perfect pattern of all righteousness. Our Lord was a prophet whose mission to the men of His generation equally failed, and His sorrow was even more deep; but it never broke forth in imprecations. See Luke 19:41-42.

Jeremiah 20:16

The cry - is the sound of the lamentation Jeremiah 20:8; “the shouting” is the alarm of war.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Now this passage is especially worthy of being observed; for not only teachers are influenced by this feeling, but all the godly without exception. For when we see that men are, as it were, made worse through God’s word, we begin to doubt whether it be expedient to bury every remembrance of God and to extinguish his word, rather than to increase the licentiousness of men, they being already inclined enough to commit sin. We indeed see at this day that the doctrine of the Gospel does not restore all to obedience; but many give themselves a more unbridled license, as though the yoke of discipline was wholly removed. There was some fear under the Papacy, there was some sort of obedience and subjection; and now the liberty of the Gospel, what is it to many but brute license, so that they sin with impunity and blend heaven and earth together. There are also others who, on observing so many controversies, do, under that pretext, throw aside every concern for religion, and every attention to it. There are some fanatics who allow themselves to doubt and even to deny the existence of God. As then we see that the effect of the truth is not such as might be wished, those who are otherwise firm must needs be shaken or made to totter. Therefore, this passage ought the more to be noticed; for Jeremiah confesses that he was sore troubled when he saw that the word of God was a derision, and hence he wished to withdraw from the course of his calling. Let us know that whenever such a thing comes into our minds we ought manfully to resist it; and, therefore, the two things here mentioned ought to be connected, for when he said, I will no more mention him, nor speak in his name, he added, but the word of God was like a burning fire

We hence see how God restrained his servant, lest he should fall headlong, or succumb under his temptation; for he would have been suddenly drawn in as it were into a deep gulf, had he not been preserved by God. Therefore, whenever temptations of this kind present themselves to us, let us pray God to restrain and to support us; or if we have already fallen, let us pray him to raise us up and to strengthen us by his Spirit.

But the way is shewn by which God aided his servant: The word of God became as a burning fire in his heart; and it was also closed up in his bones, so that he was led by an ardent zeal, and could not be himself without going onward in the course of his office. He concludes by saying, that he was wearied, or could hardly bear himself, with forbearing; as though he had said, that it was not in his power either to abstain from teaching or to do what God commanded; for a burning ardor forced him to go on; and yet he had no doubt in his view those despisers with whom he had to do. It is the same then as though he had said, that he had found out what it was to have the whole world against him, but that God prevailed. Now this was said, because profane men take occasion to be secure and indifferent, when they imagine that Prophets and teachers are unfeeling men, — “O, what do we care for fanatics, who do not possess common feelings? and it is no wonder, since they are stupid and insensible, that they are thus angry and violent, disregard all others, and feel nothing that is human.” As, then, they imagine that men are sticks, when they speak of God’s servants as being without discretion, the Prophet seems to say, “Surely ye are deceived, for I am not so much an iron, but that I am influenced by strong and many feelings; nay, I have learnt and I know how great is my weakness, nor do I dissemble but that I am subject to fear, to sorrow, and to other passions; but God has prevailed There is then no reason for you to think that I speak so boldly, because I feel nothing human; but I have done so after a hard struggle, after all those things came into my mind, which are calculated to weaken the courage of my heart; yet God stretched forth his hand to me, and not only so, but I was constrained, lest I should arrogate anything to myself, or boast of my heroic courage. I did not prevail, he says, but when I submitted myself to God and desired to give up my calling, I was constrained, and God dealt powerfully with me, for his word became as a burning fire in my heart, so that at length, through the strong influence of the Spirit, I was constrained to proceed in the discharge of my office.”

Therefore I said, I will mention him no more, nor speak in his name; not that the Prophet wished himself or others to forget God, but because he thought that he lost all his labor, and that he in vain made a stir, since he cried aloud without any benefit, and not only so, but he more and more exasperated the wicked; as an ulcer, the more it is pressed, the more putrid matter it emits; so the impiety of the people was more and more discovered, when the Prophet reproved sins which were before hid. ⁽¹²⁾

Let us now then learn by the example of the Prophet, that whenever Satan or our flesh raises an objection and says, that we ought to desist from preaching celestial truth because it produces not its proper and legitimate fruits, it is nevertheless a good odor before God, though fatal to the ungodly. Though then the truth of the Gospel proves the savor of death to many, yet our labor is not on that account of no value before God; for we know that we offer to God an acceptable sacrifice; and though our labor be useless as to men, it is yet fruitful as to the glory of God; and while we are the odor of death unto death to those who perish, yet to God, even in this respect, our labor is acceptable. (2 Corinthians 2:16)

Let us also beware lest we withdraw ourselves from God; but even when many things happen to impede our course, let us overcome them by the power of the Spirit. At the same time let us fear, lest through our sloth we bury our ardor of which the Prophet speaks. We see what happened to Jonah; he had so far fallen as to forsake entirely his office, by extinguishing, as much as he could, the judgment of God; and when he became a fugitive, he thought himself beyond danger, as though he was removed from God’s presence. (Jonah 1:3.) God indeed saw him, but yet his word was not in him as a burning fire. As then so great a man through his own sloth extinguished, as far as he could, the light of the Holy Spirit, how much more ought we to fear, lest the same thing should happen to us? Let us then rouse the sparks of this fervor, until it inflame us, so that we may faithfully devote ourselves altogether to the service of God; and if at any time we become slothful, let us stimulate ourselves, and may the power of the Holy Spirit be so revived, that we may to the end pursue the course of our office and never stand still, but assail even the whole world, knowing that God commands us and requires from us what others disapprove and condemn.

(12) The beginning of the eighth verse seems to be connected with the end of the seventh. Such appears to be the Syriac version. Then the remaining part of the eighth will coalesce with the ninth. This gives a consistency to the whole passage.

I am become a derision every day; The whole of it are jeering me,

8.Whenever I speak, cry against violence, Or, proclaim a devastation. Because the word of Jehovah was to me A reproach and a scoff every day,

9.Therefore I said, “I will not mention it, Nor will I speak any more in his name;” But it became in my heart Like a burning fire, confined in my bones; And I was wearied with restraining and I could not.

— Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 20

Now Pashur ( Jeremiah 20:1 ).

And the name means "prosperity all around."

Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah had prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD ( Jeremiah 20:1-2 ).

So Jeremiah is now shut up in the stocks by this fellow whose name means "prosperity all over the place," you know. Prosperity all around. And he puts Jeremiah, smites him, puts him in the stocks.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur ( Jeremiah 20:3 ),

God doesn't call you "prosperity all about." But God calls you "terror all around." And so,

For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all your friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive unto Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labors thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon ( Jeremiah 20:4-5 ).

So Jeremiah, really, being in the stocks didn't really quiet him. He just really prophesies unto Pashur the evil that is going to come. His own captivity and that of his friends and all of the treasures carried away to Babylon.

And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in your house shall go into captivity: and you shall come to Babylon, and there you will die, and shalt be buried there, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies ( Jeremiah 20:6 ).

Now Jeremiah cries out to the Lord.

O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocks me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily ( Jeremiah 20:7-8 ).

Now, he laid it on to Pashur, but now he's talking to God saying, "God, you know, here I've been prophesying and they threw me in jail. Speaking in Your name I got put in the stocks. Lord, what's going on here? And is that any way to treat Your servants and those who are prophesying in Your name?" And so he's really upset.

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name ( Jeremiah 20:9 ).

Lord, I'm through. Here's my resignation. I'm finished. Thrown in jail and put in the stocks and all, because I'm speaking Your Word. Going to treat me like that, I'm through, Lord. I've had it. Not going to speak again in Your name. That's all. Treat me like that.

But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary trying to hold it back, and I could not stay ( Jeremiah 20:9 ).

Oh, God's Word it's just burning. I couldn't keep quiet. It's just something that was there. God's Word just burning like a fire and I just couldn't keep back.

For I heard the defaming of many, fear was on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. And all of my friends watched for my halting, they said, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble ( Jeremiah 20:10-11 ),

They're watching for me to stumble, but they're going to stumble because the Lord is with me.

and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. But, O LORD of hosts, that tried the righteous, and seest the reins and the hearts, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause. Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers ( Jeremiah 20:11-13 ).

So he lapses again into a worship of the Lord as he talks to the Lord about these people that are plotting against him and God has said, you remember, "I the Lord search the hearts, try the reins." And he says, "Okay, Lord, search our hearts, try the reins and wipe them out, because You can see what they're doing. They're evildoers. So let me see your vengeance on them. Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for He has delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of the evildoers." Now, as I told you, he's a melancholy because he goes from this, "Praise the Lord, He's delivered," and right down to the bottom.

Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, You've had a boy; making my father very glad. And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry of the morning, and the shouting at noontide; because he did not slay me when I was born; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me ( Jeremiah 20:14-17 ).

In other words, had she never brought me forth, had I just been stillborn, died or something, or still in her womb, God, curse the day that I ever came out of the womb and started this whole routine.

Why did I come forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame? ( Jeremiah 20:14-18 )

Isn't that amazing how he can go from just this high, "Oh, praise the Lord, He's done glorious things and all. Cursed be the day I was born." You know, it's amazing how easily Satan can rob us of our joy. How little it takes to rob us of our joy in the Lord. I can start thinking about what the Lord has done and just get so high. If I'm thinking about God's goodness and God's blessing and all that God has done, I just get rejoicing in the Lord. I start singing. I make up songs of praise and love to Him. And I just get carried away. "Oh Lord, You're so good. I love You. It's just been real, Lord. I can't believe what You're doing." I just get so happy and excited in the Lord and the things of the Lord. And I'm going down the street just so excited, worshipping the Lord. And some nut for no apparent reason throws on his brakes right in front of me, you know. And I have to swerve and throw on my brakes and swing around to miss him. "You, idiot," you know. And from this glorious spiritual high to this fleshly monster in just such a quick time. It's amazing how quickly we can go from these high spiritual plateaus right down into the depths of despair.

He goes from the praising God right into the, "cursed be the day I was born." Be careful. Don't let Satan rob your joy from you. Realize that he's out to do it. Be on guard. Rejoice in the Lord always. Let your heart rejoice in Him. Bring forth praises unto Him for His goodness and His blessings and His mercy and His grace. And when Satan throws these stumbling blocks in the path to bring you down into the flesh, don't allow it.

A while back going through the market, happy as can be, rejoicing in the Lord, He's so good, He's blessed me so much. I had a neat thick, top sirloin steak in the basket and I thought, "Lord, You've given me money to purchase this steak. I'm going to go home and barbecue it. Oh Lord, You are so good to me. I can remember the day when I could never afford a steak like this. And now, Lord, here I am, blessed of Thee. You're so good to me, Lord." And I was just going around the store rejoicing, praising the Lord. Came up to the line, just standing there, happy in the Lord. Just waiting my turn, you know. "Oh, Lord, You're so good." And this little fat guy with a cigar came crowding into the line right in front of me. Pushed his way in. And I thought, "Why you, rude little character." And I was ready to just grab him by the collar, turn him around and say, "Who do you think you are? Don't you see I'm standing waiting in line? You get behind me!" And that cigar! I wanted to just push it right down his throat. And I was just seething, and the Spirit spoke to me and said, "Oh, such great love, such great rejoicing, such great joy in the Lord all dissipated over a stinking cigar." I said, "No way, I'm not going to lose my joy over this rude little character." I'm going to take another swing around the store. I didn't have anything more to get, but I went around the store again just to get back in the right frame of mind so the guy will be out of the store by the time I got back to the checking stand. I know my limits and I know what I can handle. But up and down a few more aisles and getting the perspectives again back in the Lord. I came back to the check stand. He was gone and I had a great victory and a good steak and a time of praise.

But oh, how easily we can lose that praising and rejoicing in the Lord. How quickly Satan can throw a snare out there. And man, I'm trapped. And that consciousness of God, that joy and rejoicing is taken and I feel all of this anger and bitterness and all. He knows where to hit us. He knows how to get us. But let's not let him do it. Let's keep the right perspective. Take another swing around the block or around the store or whatever you have to do in order to maintain that glorious joy and praise and rejoicing in Him.

Poor Jeremiah. "I'll sing unto the Lord. Praise the Lord, for He has delivered the soul of the poor and all. Oh, cursed be the day I was born." I don't know what happened between those two verses, but something really came in and wiped him out. Put him down in the bottom of the barrel.

Shall we pray.

Father, we thank You for the joy that we can experience in Christ Jesus as we think about the hope that is ours. That eternal life that You have given to us by our simply believing and trusting in Him. That inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled that You've reserved in heaven for us. Your keeping power, Lord, whereby You keep and strengthen us day by day. Oh Lord, truly we are blessed. Blessed to live in this land. Blessed with freedoms to worship Thee. Blessed with Thy Word that we might know Thee. Blessed on every side above all nations of the earth. O God, help us to remember the blessings, the good things that You have done. And may we give praise and thanks unto You continually for Your goodness. God, keep our hearts in the right place. In Jesus' name. Amen.

May the Lord be with you and bless you this week. May He watch over your lives and keep you in His love. May you abound in the love of Jesus Christ. May there just be that rich, flowing forth in and from your life as God works in you His perfect work of love and grace. May God grant that you have just a special week of enjoying the goodness and the fullness of God and His love. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah’s struggle with his calling 20:7-13

This section is another of Jeremiah’s autobiographical "confessions." In literary form it is another individual lament, like many of the psalms (cf. Psalms 6). It is one of Jeremiah’s most significant self-disclosures. The section has two parts: God the antagonist (Jeremiah 20:7-10), and God the protagonist (Jeremiah 20:11-13).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

When Jeremiah became so tired of the opposition he faced that he decided to stop delivering his messages, the Lord’s Word burned within him as a fire. Finally he could contain himself no longer and spoke again. One writer used this apt description of the prophet’s feelings as the title of his book on Jeremiah: Fire in My Bones. [Note: I.e., Fred M. Wood.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name,.... Not that he publicly said this before his enemies, or privately to his friends, but he said it in his heart; he thought, nay, resolved, within himself, to prophesy no more; since no credit was given to him, but contempt cast on him; he was disgraced, and God was dishonoured, and no good done; wherefore he concluded it was better to be silent, and not mention the name of God, and say nothing of any message he had from him, since it was to no purpose. A temptation that oftentimes besets a minister of the word, because of the ill usage he meets with, the ill success of his ministry; and is but a temptation, as such see it to be sooner or later, as Jeremiah did;

but [his word] was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; which wanted vent, and must have it, and which only could be quenched by being divulged; and which, until it was done, he was in the utmost pain, as if he had been all on fire; his conscience accused him; his heart smote and condemned him; a woe was to him; see 1 Corinthians 9:16; or "there was in mine heart as a burning fire" e, c. a principle of love to God, and to the souls of men a zeal for his glory, and the good of his countrymen; which made him uneasy, and constrained him to break his former resolution: for the phrase, "his word", is not in the original text; though it is in like manner supplied by the Targum,

"and his words became in mine heart as fire burning and overflowing my bones;''

and so Kimchi,

"and the word of the Lord was in my heart as fire burning;''

and also Jarchi; the prophecy was as fire, to which it is compared,

Jeremiah 23:29;

and I was weary with forbearing; to speak; weary to hold it in:

and I could not [stay]; or I could not hold it in any longer; I was obliged to speak in the name of the Lord again, and deliver whatever message he was pleased to send me

e והיה בלבי "atqui est", Junius Tremellius "et exstitit", Piscator; "sed factum est in corde meo", Schmidt.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.   8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.   9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.   10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.   11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.   12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.   13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

      Pashur's doom was to be a terror to himself; Jeremiah, even now, in this hour of temptation, is far from being so; and yet it cannot be denied but that he is here, through the infirmity of the flesh, strangely agitated within himself. Good men are but men at the best. God is not extreme to mark what they say and do amiss, and therefore we must not be so, but make the best of it. In these verses it appears that, upon occasion of the great indignation and injury that Pashur did to Jeremiah, there was a struggle in his breast between his graces and his corruptions. His discourse with himself and with his God, upon this occasion, was somewhat perplexed; let us try to methodize it.

      I. Here is a sad representation of the wrong that was done him and the affronts that were put upon him; and this representation, no doubt, was according to truth, and deserves no blame, but was very justly and very fitly made to him that sent him, and no doubt would bear him out. He complains,

      1. That he was ridiculed and laughed at; they made a jest of every thing he said and did; and this cannot but be a great grievance to an ingenuous mind (Jeremiah 20:7; Jeremiah 20:8): I am in derision; I am mocked. They played upon him, and made themselves and one another merry with him, as if he had been a fool, good for nothing but to make sport. Thus he was continually: I was in derision daily. Thus he was universally: Every one mocks me; the greatest so far forget their own gravity, and the meanest so far forget mine. Thus our Lord Jesus, on the cross, was reviled both by priests and people; and the revilings of each had their peculiar aggravation. And what was it that thus exposed him to contempt and scorn? It was nothing but his faithful and zealous discharge of the duty of his office, Jeremiah 20:8; Jeremiah 20:8. They could find nothing for which to deride him but his preaching; it was the word of the Lord that was made a reproach. That for which they should have honoured and respected him--that he was entrusted to deliver the word of the Lord to them was the very thing for which they reproached and reviled him. He never preached a sermon, but, though he kept as closely as possible to his instructions, they found something or other in it for which to banter and abuse him. Note, It is sad to think that, though divine revelation be one of the greatest blessings and honours that ever was bestowed upon the world, yet it has been turned very much to the reproach of the most zealous preachers and believers of it. Two things they derided him for:-- (1.) The manner of his preaching: Since he spoke, he cried out. He had always been a lively affectionate preacher, and since he began to speak in God's name he always spoke as a man in earnest; he cried aloud and did not spare, spared neither himself nor those to whom he preached; and this was enough for those to laugh at who hated to be serious. It is common for those that are unaffected with and disaffected to, the things of God themselves, to ridicule those that are much affected with them. Lively preachers are the scorn of careless unbelieving hearers. (2.) The matter of his preaching: He cried violence and spoil. He reproved them for the violence and spoil which they were guilty of towards one another; and he prophesied of the violence and spoil which should be brought upon them as the punishment of that sin; for the former they ridiculed him as over-precise, for the latter as over-credulous; in both he was provoking to them, and therefore they resolved to run him down. This was bad enough, yet he complains further.

      2. That he was plotted against and his ruin contrived; he was not only ridiculed as a weak man, but reproached and misrepresented as a bad man and dangerous to the government. This he laments as his grievance, Jeremiah 20:10; Jeremiah 20:10. Being laughed at, though it touches a man in point of honour, is yet a thing that may be easily laughed at again; for, as it has been well observed, it is no shame to be laughed at, but to deserve to be so. But there were those that acted a more spiteful part, and with more subtlety. (1.) They spoke ill of him behind his back, when he had no opportunity of clearing himself, and were industrious to spread false reports concerning him: I heard, at second hand, the defaming of many, fear on every side (of many Magor-missabibs, so some read it), of many such men as Pashur was, and who may therefore expect his doom. Or this was the matter of their defamation; they represented Jeremiah as a man that instilled fears and jealousies on every side into the minds of the people, and so made them uneasy under the government, and disposed them to a rebellion. Or he perceived them to be so malicious against him that he could not but be afraid on every side; wherever he was he had reason to fear informers; so that they made him almost a Magor-missabib. These words are found in the original, verbatim, the same, Psalms 31:13, I have heard the slander or defaming of many, fear on every side. Jeremiah, in his complaint, chooses to make use of the same words that David had made use of before him, that it might be a comfort to him to think that other good men had suffered similar abuses before him, and to teach us to make use of David's psalms with application to ourselves, as there is occasion. Whatever we have to say, we may thence take with us words. See how Jeremiah's enemies contrived the matter: Report, say they, and we will report it. They resolve to cast an odium upon him, and this is the method they take: "Let some very bad thing be said of him, which may render him obnoxious to the government, and, though it be ever so false, we will second it, and spread it, and add to it." (For the reproaches of good men lose nothing by the carriage.) "Do you that frame a story plausibly, or you that can pretend to some acquaintance with him, report it once, and we will all report it from you, in all companies, that we come into. Do you say it, and we will swear it; do you set it a going, and we will follow it." And thus both are equally guilty, those that raise and those that propagate the false report. The receiver is as bad as the thief. (2.) They flattered him to his face, that they might get something from him on which to ground an accusation, as the spies that came to Christ feigning themselves to be just men, Luke 20:20; Luke 11:53; Luke 11:54. His familiars, that he conversed freely with and put a confidence in, watched for his halting, observed what he said, which they could by any strained innuendo put a bad construction upon, and carried it to his enemies. His case was very sad when those betrayed him whom he took to be his friends. They said among themselves, "If we accost him kindly, and insinuate ourselves into his acquaintance, per-adventure he will be enticed to own that he is in confederacy with the enemy and a pensioner to the king of Babylon, or we shall wheedle him to speak some treasonable words; and then we shall prevail against him, and take our revenge upon him for telling us of our faults and threatening us with the judgments of God." Note, Neither the innocence of the dove, no, nor the prudence of the serpent to help it, can secure men from unjust censure and false accusation.

      II. Here is an account of the temptation he was in under this affliction; his feet were almost gone, as the psalmist's, Psalms 73:2. And this is that which is most to be dreaded in affliction, being driven by it to sin, Nehemiah 6:13. 1. He was tempted to quarrel with God for making him a prophet. This he begins with (Jeremiah 20:7; Jeremiah 20:7): O Lord! thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived. This as we read it, sounds very harshly. God's servants have been always ready to own that he is a faithful Master and never cheated them; and therefore this is the language of Jeremiah's folly and corruption. If, when God called him to be a prophet and told him he would set him over the kingdoms (Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 1:10) and make him a defenced city, he flattered himself with an expectation of having universal respect paid to him as a messenger from heaven, and living safe and easy, and afterwards it proved otherwise, he must not say that God had deceived him, but that he had deceived himself; for he knew how the prophets before him had been persecuted, and had no reason to expect better treatment. Nay, God had expressly told him that all the princes, priests, and people of the land would fight against him (Jeremiah 1:18; Jeremiah 1:19), which he had forgotten, else he would not have laid the blame on God thus. Christ thus told his disciples what opposition they should meet with, that they might not be offended,John 16:1; John 16:2. But the words may very well be read thus: Thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded; it is the same word that was used, Genesis 9:27, margin, God shall persuade Japhet. And Proverbs 25:15, By much forbearance is a prince persuaded. And Hosea 2:14, I will allure her. And this agrees best with what follows: "Thou wast stronger than I, didst over-persuade me with argument; nay, didst overpower me, by the influence of thy Spirit upon me, and thou hast prevailed." Jeremiah was very backward to undertake the prophetic office; he pleaded that he was under age and unfit for the service; but God over-ruled his pleas, and told him that he must go,Jeremiah 1:6; Jeremiah 1:7. "Now, Lord," says he, "since thou hast put this office upon me, why dost thou not stand by me in it? Had I thrust myself upon it, I might justly have been in derision; but why am I so when thou didst thrust me into it?" It was Jeremiah's infirmity to complain thus of God as putting a hardship upon him in calling him to be a prophet, which he would not have done had he considered the lasting honour thereby done him, sufficient to counterbalance the present contempt he was under. Note, As long as we see ourselves in the way of God and duty it is weakness and folly, when we meet with difficulties and discouragements in it, to wish we had never set out in it. 2. He was tempted to quit his work and give it over, partly because he himself met with so much hardship in it and partly because those to whom he was sent, instead of being edified and made better, were exasperated and made worse (Jeremiah 20:9; Jeremiah 20:9): "Then I said, Since by prophesying in the name of the Lord I gain nothing to him or myself but dishonour and disgrace, I will not make mention of him as my author for any thing I say, nor speak any more in his name; since my enemies do all they can to silence me, I will even silence myself, and speak no more, for I may as well speak to the stones as to them." Note, It is a strong temptation to poor ministers to resolve that they will preach no more when they see their preaching slighted and wholly ineffectual. But let people dread putting their ministers into this temptation. Let not their labour be in vain with us, lest we provoke them to say that they will take no more pains with us, and provoke God to say, They shall take no more. Yet let not ministers hearken to this temptation, but go on in their duty, notwithstanding their discouragements, for this is the more thankworthy; and, though Israel be not gathered, yet they shall be glorious.

      III. Here is an account of his faithful adherence to his work and cheerful dependence on his God notwithstanding.

      1. He found the grace of God mighty in him to keep him to this business, notwithstanding the temptation he was in to throw it up: "I said, in my haste, I will speak no more in his name; what I have in my heart to deliver I will stifle and suppress. But I soon found it was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, which glowed inwardly, and must have vent; it was impossible to smother it; I was like a man in a burning fever, uneasy and in a continual agitation; while I kept silence from good my heart was hot within me, it was pain and grief to me, and I must speak, that I might be refreshed;" Psalms 29:2; Psalms 29:3; Job 32:20. While I kept silence, my bones waxed old,Psalms 32:3. See the power of the spirit of prophecy in those that were actuated by it; and thus will a holy zeal for God even eat men up, and make them forget themselves. I believed, therefore have I spoken. Jeremiah was soon weary with forbearing to preach, and could not contain himself; nothing puts faithful ministers to pain so much as being silenced, nor to terror so much as silencing themselves. Their convictions will soon triumph over temptations of that kind; for woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel, whatever it cost me, 1 Corinthians 9:16. And it is really a mercy to have the word of God thus mighty in us to overpower our corruptions.

      2. He was assured of God's presence with him, which would be sufficient to baffle all the attempts of his enemies against him (Jeremiah 20:11; Jeremiah 20:11): "They say, We shall prevail against him; the day will undoubtedly be our own. But I am sure that they shall not prevail, they shall not prosper. I can safely set them all at defiance, for the Lord is with me, is on my side, to take my part against them (Romans 8:31), to protect me from all their malicious designs upon me. He is with me to support me and bear me up under the burden which now presses me down. He is with me to make the word I preach answer the end he designs, though not the end I desire. He is with me as a mighty terrible one, to strike a terror upon them, and so to overcome them." Note, Even that in God which is terrible is really comfortable to his servants that trust in him, for it shall be turned against those that seek to terrify his people. God's being a mighty God bespeaks him a terrible God to all those that take up arms against him or any one that, like Jeremiah, was commissioned by him. How terrible will the wrath of God be to those that think to daunt all about them and will themselves be daunted by nothing! The most formidable enemies that act against us appear despicable when we see the Lord for us as a mighty terrible one,Nehemiah 4:14. Jeremiah speaks now with a good assurance: "If the Lord be with me, my persecutors shall stumble, so that, when they pursue me, they shall not overtake me (Psalms 27:2), and then they shall be greatly ashamed of their impotent malice and fruitless attempts. Nay, their everlasting confusion and infamy shall never be forgotten; they shall not forget it themselves, but it shall be to them a constant and lasting vexation, whenever they think of it; others shall not forget it, but it shall leave upon them an indelible reproach."

      3. He appeals to God against them as a righteous Judge, and prays judgment upon his cause, Jeremiah 20:12; Jeremiah 20:12. He looks upon God as the God that tries the righteous, takes cognizance of them, and of every cause that they are interested in. He does not judge in favour of them with partiality, but tries them, and finding that they have right on their side, and that their persecutors wrong them and are injurious to them, he gives sentence for them. He that tries the righteous tries the unrighteous too, and he is very well qualified to do both; for he sees the reins and the heart, he certainly knows men's thoughts and affections, their aims and intentions, and therefore can pass an unerring judgment on their words and actions. Now this is the God, (1.) To whom the prophet here refers himself, and in whose court he lodges his appeal: Unto thee have I opened my cause. Not but that God perfectly knew his cause, and all the merits of it, without his opening; but the cause we commit to God we must spread before him. He knows it, but he will know it from us, and allows us to be particular in the opening of it, not to affect him, but to affect ourselves. Note, It will be an ease to our spirits, when we are oppressed and burdened, to open our cause to God and pour out our complaints before him. (2.) By whom he expects to be righted; "Let me see thy vengeance on them, such vengeance as thou thinkest fit to take for their conviction and my vindication, the vengeance thou usest to take on persecutors." Note, Whatever injuries are done us, we must not study to avenge ourselves, but must leave it to that God to do it to whom vengeance belongs, and who hath said, I will repay.

      4. He greatly rejoices and praises God, in a full confidence that God would appear for his deliverance, Jeremiah 20:13; Jeremiah 20:13. So full is he of the comfort of God's presence with him, the divine protection he is under, and the divine promise he has to depend upon, that in a transport of joy he stirs up himself and others to give God the glory of it: Sing unto the Lord, praise you the Lord. Here appears a great change with him since he began this discourse; the clouds are blown over, his complaints all silenced and turned into thanksgivings. He has now an entire confidence in that God whom (Jeremiah 20:7; Jeremiah 20:7) he was distrusting; he stirs up himself to praise that name which (Jeremiah 20:9; Jeremiah 20:9) he was resolving no more to make mention of. It was the lively exercise of faith that made this happy change, that turned his sighs into songs and his tremblings into triumphs. It is proper to express our hope in God by our praising him, and our praising God by our singing to him. That which is the matter of the praise is, He hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of the evil-doers; he means especially himself, his own poor soul. "He hath delivered me formerly when I was in distress, and now of late out of the hand of Pashur, and he will continue to deliver me, 2 Corinthians 1:10. He will deliver my soul from the sin that I am in danger of falling into when I am thus persecuted. He hath delivered me from the hand of evil-doers, so that they have not gained their point, nor had their will." Note, Those that are faithful in well-doing need not fear those that are spiteful in evil-doing, for they have a God to trust to who has well-doers under the hand of his protection and evil-doers under the hand of his restraint.