August 17 - Evening
"He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, 'My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.'
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love."
- Lamentations 3:16-32
So I say, 'My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.'
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love."
- Lamentations 3:16-32
Seek the Lord and Wait
Jeremiah voices his own suffering experienced during his 40+ years of ministry, the two-and-a-half year siege of Jerusalem which included famine and finally, the death and destruction he witnessed when the city was destroyed.
As Jeremiah writes in 586 BC he reaches the low point of his suffering. The days of prosperity are forgotten and there is no peace to experience. All that can be remembered is bitterness and affliction. The suffering the Lord has forced on Jeremiah and the people of Israel is compared to being forced to chew gravel while being walked on until pressed into the dust.
The memory of the past goodness is gone. The present experience of suffering is all that is available for Jeremiah to use to formulate an analysis of life. There is no hope. No light. No good memories. Only suffering.
Yet, there is one thing that Jeremiah can reach out for that is beyond his personal experience. Something that is greater than memories or human hope. Jeremiah knows the very character of the Lord.
Jeremiah begins to recall that there is hope in the Lord. God is not a God of destruction, but a God of compassion. Jeremiah does not say God doesn’t destroy, but he does say he doesn’t do it willingly. The Lord prefers to be gracious:
“For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” – Lamentations 3:33
Jeremiah knows that he must endure what the Lord has decreed in judgment, but he also knows there is hope for the man who seeks the Lord and willingly waits for him.
There is hope for those who will seek and wait!
Then one of the great verses of scripture is stated by Jeremiah:
“It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.” – Lamentations 3:27
Jeremiah says,
“Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust – there may yet be hope! – Jeremiah 3:29
If a man can willing accept where he is at in life and accept what the Lord has done, then this man will also have the ability to seek the Lord and wait for the Lord’s response. The Lord will respond to faith with compassion and unfailing love.
But, if a man is going to curse in bitterness and resentfully blame God for the unfairness of life, then that man can expect the worst, because that man will not seek the Lord. And, that man surely cannot wait on the Lord. That man will never experience the compassion and unfailing love which is God’s nature.
In your anguish you can blame God and perish. Or, in your anguish you can seek God and wait for his answer.
Ouai (Gr) – woe (Eng) – the Greek word ouai is an interjection used to express grief and denunciation. Ouai is used in the following verses:
Matthew 11:21 – “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."
Matthew 23 (eight times in chapter 23) - "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites!...Woe to you, blind guides!..."
1 Corinthians 9:16 – “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"
Jude 11 – “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion."
Revelation 8:13 – “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Revelation 18:10 – “Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!"
Matthew 11:21 – “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."
Matthew 23 (eight times in chapter 23) - "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites!...Woe to you, blind guides!..."
1 Corinthians 9:16 – “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"
Jude 11 – “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion."
Revelation 8:13 – “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Revelation 18:10 – “Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!"
I will seek the Lord and wait for his response.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
To be a good friend
Church
Opportunities to share the gospel in church and in community
Nation
Police
World
Lithuania
Someone to Quote
“Concerning your spiritual gift and personal ministry: Learn from others but do not lower yourself to imitation. Plan on being very unique and getting used to it.”
- Galyn Wiemers
Something to Ponder
Take a 12 question theology quiz and have it scored online.
Go HERE
Go HERE
Here’s a Fact
A seal inscribed with the words “Belonging to Asayahu servant of the king.” Asaiah is the short form of the name Asayahu which is on this seal.
In 2 Chronicles 34:20 ("Asaiah the king’s attendant") and 2 Kings 22:12 ("Asaiah the king’s attendant") Asaiah is a servant of the king. This could be the seal of the high court official who King Josiah sent to examine the scroll (Book of Deuteronomy) found in the Temple by the high priest Hilkiah during restoration.
(Details 1, 2. Image.)
In 2 Chronicles 34:20 ("Asaiah the king’s attendant") and 2 Kings 22:12 ("Asaiah the king’s attendant") Asaiah is a servant of the king. This could be the seal of the high court official who King Josiah sent to examine the scroll (Book of Deuteronomy) found in the Temple by the high priest Hilkiah during restoration.
(Details 1, 2. Image.)
Proverb
"Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?"
- Proverbs 17:16
- Proverbs 17:16
Coach’s Corner
The greatest miracle is salvation. The godliest spiritual manifestation is the transformed soul.
| Zechariah 11 |
Jeremiah 37 New International Version (NIV)
Jeremiah in Prison
37 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. 8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
9 “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! 10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”
11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”
18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”
21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Jeremiah in Prison
37 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. 8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
9 “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! 10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”
11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”
18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”
21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.