Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 20:7 - 20:18
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Prophet's Joy and Sorrow
v. 7. O Lord, thus Jeremiah now addresses the Lord in bringing his complaint over his persecutions to His attention. Thou hast deceived me, rather persuaded, enticed me, and I was deceived, he had yielded to the Lord in accepting the office of prophet; Thou art stronger than I and hast prevailed, His Spirit having taken hold of Jeremiah and constrained him to make known the Lord's Word and will, just as he had done; I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me, sneering and jeering at him when he exercised his office.
v. 8. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil, or, "For as often as I speak, I must call out, I must cry, I am compelled to cry, concerning violence and desolation," he was obliged to raise his voice in complaint, because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me and a derision daily, the message which he proclaimed brought nothing but scorn upon him.
v. 9. Then I said, or, "If I said," I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name, in trying to escape the unpleasant experiences which attached to his fearless testifying, but His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, which, without an outlet, would surely consume him, for which reason he must reveal what was communicated to him, and I was weary with forbearing, with refraining from testifying for the Lord, and I could not stay. He now states the reason for not keeping his resolve to hold his peace concerning the message of Jehovah.
v. 10. For I heard the defaming of many, as they talked about him and his office in a derogatory manner: Fear on every side, or, "Terror round about!" an attempt to deride the prophecy against Pashur. Report, say they, and we will report it, that is, they want people to bring any sort of accusation against Jeremiah, and they would immediately act upon such information in bringing the matter to the attention of the authorities and having him punished. All my familiars, men who enjoyed his confidence, whom he considered his friends, watched for my halting, for any indication of stumbling on his part, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, be induced to commit some sin, and we shall prevail against him, getting the better of Jeremiah in this situation, and we shall take our revenge on him. Over against this behavior of his false friends the prophet states the firm conviction of his heart:
v. 11. But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one, as a mighty hero to defend him; therefore my persecutors shall stumble, come to grief in the very way in which they hoped to see the prophet humbled, and they shall not prevail, as they had hoped to; they shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper, have no success in their plotting and scheming against him; their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten, they would be heaped with eternal disgrace, the ignominy of which would attach to them forever. This confidence on the part of Jeremiah now finds expression in a fervent appeal to Jehovah to take his part and defend his cause.
v. 12. But, O Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous, not judging superficially or hastily after the manner of men, and seest the reins and the heart, acquainted with the innermost thoughts and desires of men, let me see Thy vengeance on them, for, after all, it was the Lord's matter to take up; for unto Thee have I opened my cause, placing his own suit or case in the hands of Jehovah.
v. 13. Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord, this being the attitude of the heart trusting in His promises, for He hath delivered the soul of the poor, of the lowly and unfortunate, from the hand of evil-doers, the believer thus possessing the gifts of the future by faith. But since Jeremiah, for the present, sees nothing but misfortune and sorrow, he cries out in the bitterness of his soul over his unhappy condition:
v. 14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed, since life had not brought him blessings, but only afflictions and misery.
v. 16. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee, making him very glad, for the birth of a boy was a very happy event.
v. 16. And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew and repented not, that is, which He destroyed without mercy; and let him hear the cry in the morning, namely, that of people besieged and oppressed, and the shouting at noontide, the wild battle-cry of the invading army,
v. 17. because he, the person who brought the news, slew me not from the womb, or that my mother might have been my grave and her womb to be always great with me, so that the prophet would never have seen the light of day.
v. 18. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, to experience nothing but misery, that my days should be consumed with shame? This cry is wrung from his lips because his office was apparently without success, because his prophetical laboring was in vain, since he was unable to save his people from destruction. Cf Job_3:3 ff. Similar periods of depression are liable to strike all Christians, wherefore it is necessary that all without exception grow in trust in His mercy.