Jeremiah 15:15-21
O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
know that for your sake I bear reproach.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
I did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
Therefore thus says the Lord:
“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Old Testament reading for Sunday, September 3 is Jeremiah chapter 15, verses 15 through 21. It reads, oh Lord, you know me, remember me and visit me and take vengeance for me on my persecutors in your forbearance take me not away, know that for your sake, I bear reproach your words were found, and I ate them. And your words became to me a joy, and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, oh, Lord, God of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice, I sat alone because your hand was upon me. For you. It filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful Brook like waters that fail? Therefore, Thus says the Lord, if you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth, they shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people, a fortified wall of bronze, they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you, to save you, and deliver you declares the Lord, I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless here and the reading. This is such a difficult reading, I think, for us to just read out of the middle of nowhere, because Jeremiah situation is difficult. Jeremiah is a prophet, letting everybody know that God is about to send Babylon into Jerusalem to destroy them. And right ahead of this though, section right before that, God is speaking through Jeremiah to, to the people to tell them that they are going to be delivered off to the enemy. There's a section where it talks about the people who are assigned to the sword will be killed by the sword to pestilence, pestilence and to spoil, and it's really very gross and sort of like, God is giving the people into exile. And after all of that, we sort of get this, this prayer to God from Jeremiah. And it goes, Oh, Lord, you know me, remember me and visit me and take vengeance on me. For for me on my persecutors in your forbearance take me not away, know that for your sake, I bear reproach. And so Jeremiah is using something very similar to what many of the chosen of God have used. It's this idea that I have been serving you, God, and all of these bad things have been happening to me, come and save me take vengeance on those who are persecuting me, because I'm serving you. He continues, your words were found and I ate them. And your words became to me a joy and a delight for your for my heart, for I am called by your name, oh Lord, God of hosts. So Jeremiah is talking like he's this prophet, who took the Word of God and made it a part of him not just like eating but deep into his heart. One of our prayers about the Word of God talks about it, taking it in and inwardly digesting it, so that it becomes a part of us. I think he's talking about that. He continues in his defense 17 Verse 17. I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice. I sat alone because your hand was upon me for you. It filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me a deceitful Brook like waters that fail? He's continuing his complaint to God saying what's going on? I've served you. The word is deep in my heart, and yet, I'm alone. People are against me. My pain is unceasing. Will you fail me God? And God replies, if you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless you shall be as my mouth they shall turn to you but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people have fortified wall of bronze. They will fight against you but they shall not prevail over you. For I am with you to save you and deliver you declares the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless. So here Jeremiah is seen as if you turn to God, He will make you firm, make you like a wall of bronze so that when people attack the Prophet, that he will not be destroyed. He is a fortified city, a wall, they will turn against him and he will be saved. We are not quite like Jeremiah called to the same work that he is called. But through Christ, we see something very similar. We have a Savior whose the indignation of the people was on him. The they fought against him, they worked against him and yet he uttered only the precious Word of God and was made a fortress for us a mighty fortress that we can stand in and be saved. That's it for today for today. I'll see you on Sunday.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai