Scripture Text (NRSV)
Jeremiah 17:5-10
17:5 Thus says the LORD: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the
LORD.
17:6 They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see
when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the
wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
17:7 Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the
LORD.
17:8 They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its
roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves
shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it
does not cease to bear fruit.
17:9 The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse-- who can
understand it?
17:10 I the LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give
to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their
doings.
Comments:
These verses compose a poem that is part of a larger collection of
wisdom sayings contrasting two ways of life. Life with God brings
blessing; the power and vitality of God is active in our life. Life
without God brings a curse, the power of death.
Plant a rose bush in the desert and leave it for a few days. The plant
another in a garden where it is well tended and watered. What happens
to each? Jeremiah uses this imagery to describe both the people who
fail to trust God's promises and those who do. The underlying theme is
that those who partake in evil will eventually see justice, and those
who do good will be rewarded. How can we stay planted in God's
promises so we might bear good fruit?
Usually I've heard the quote "the heart is devious above all else",
but today I realized its context. In v.5-6, Jeremiah spoke about
people who trust human and contrasted them to people to trust God in
v.7-8; then he exclaimed "the heart is devious!"
It is devious, because we can have easily have the appearance of
trusting in God while we were just trusting in men. How would I know
if I really trust in God, and not men (especially when it is much
easier to study from the life and the work of Godly saints)?
v.10 said that God ultimately is the one who test my mind and search
my heart. From this mind and heart will come my ways and my doings.
And God will make sure that His law of spiritual formation will be in
effect, and "to give according to their ways and their doings", which
stemmed out of their mind and heart.
In the landscape of life, there are multitude of green vegetations.
But when the drought come, only trees deep-rooted by the water
survive. As we are approaching another spiritual drought cycle in
history, we may be near the water, but what can we do to get the
congregation deep-rooted? They will need to get connect directly to
the water, know how to get the nutrient for their life, and trust in
God when everything around them wither up.
Oh God, we are running out of time!
Coho, Midway City
deep rooted faith - finds the deep waters of sustainces despite the
hardships of life. Nancy-Wi
I need help!
I am confusing myself over my own meditation on the deceitful heart,
which could deceive ourselves of trusting men instead of trusting God.
But how are we to know? Especially if we know that our own heart is
deceitful, what then can we use as the yardstick against our heart?
God cannot be used as a discernment tool, since the text said, "I the
Lord test ..." (from his perspective and not my perspective). And
while we are at it, the whole passage was speaking forth out from
God's perspective and not from man's point of reference.
If so, then can we conclude that know one will know our heart and mind
for sure, even ourselves, except God?
And if the above point is valid, what then be our role in all this?
The answer perhaps can be found a few verses later in v.14: "?14? Heal
me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you
are the one I praise." It's strange, but it looks like not much we can
do here in regard to ourselves...
Coho, Midway City
It seems to me it depends on where you are starting. Is one's trust in
the Lord who knew us before we were born (first chapter of Jeremiah)
or in our human ability to know how devious we are. Trusting a Lord
who cares for us, and wants the best for us helps us to say "I belive
God, help Thou my unbelief.
Shalom
bammamma
"Blessed are those who trust in the Lord...they shall be like a tree
planted by water..."
I had never noticed it before but in the middle of our Luke text for
today, it said that people were coming up to Jesus because the power
was going out from him and healing them. Just like a thirst plant near
water.
Tigger in MN
v. 6 - my thoughts so far have gone in the direction of "when we
refuse to see how rich we are," so v. 6 "they ... shall not see when
relief comes ..." has taken a different nuance than I'd ever read
before.
That nuance is that "they won't SEE the relief WHEN it comes." Before,
I'd thought about it as being somehow prohibited, or excluded from
seeing the relief because of their unfaithfulness to the Law.
Rather, again we're condemning ourselves - because we DON'T see, as if
we refuse to see, because we're looking in the wrong direction or
something, we don't see the relief when it comes.
It reminds me of the old joke - there's this terrible rain and it
starts flooding everything. This man starts praying. The waters rise,
the man climbs his stairs and prays upstairs by the window, praying.
Some folks on a motorboat go by and offer him a ride. "NO, he says,
"my God will save me. I have faith." The boat goes on and he keeps
praying, this time, in his attic. Comes a canoe and the people in it
say, "Come on and ride with us." He says, "No, that's OK; I'm a man of
faith and God will save me." They paddle off and the man ends up
climbing onto the top of his chimney as the waters continue to rise. A
helicopter comes by and the rescuers holler down, "Grab hold of this
ladder; we'll pull you up!" He hollers back, "I am a man of faith and
I have confidence that God will save me." The inevitable happens, the
guy drowns, goes to heaven and as he appears before his Maker, he
asks, "God, I prayed during that flood. Why didn't you save me?" and
God says, "I sent you two boats and a helicopter! What more did you
want?"
It's all in the eye of the beholder, whether we'll see relief when it
comes.
Sally in GA
Tigger I took the liberty of adding your comment to the gospel. I
think that there is some "meat" in it. Nancy-Wi
About 20 years ago, I remember leading a middle school chorus in
singing a song entitled, "The Riverside Tree." If anyone has access to
the lyrics, it would make a great addition to a sermon on this
passage. If you find it in your library, i would love to see the
lyrics myself. -Dale in Chattanooga
I am sure Jeremiah saw this dark side of humans. Many were hard on him
for his telling of the truth. When God gave him these words, they had
to be a comfort to him. With Jeremiah's faith and personal
relationship with God and the hope in the future, he could withstand
allot of human abuse. This is a great verse to help people stand their
faith in the midst of human persecution. Idle malicious gossip stands
no power when priorities and faith in God are present!
Blessing and cursing are matters of life and death in the Bible. We
use "God bless you!" as nothing more than a social convention, and
"curses!" or "woe!" as harmless expletives, sometimes even in jest.
But to be blessed, in biblical usage, is to have the power and
vitality of God poured out upon our life, and to be cursed is finally
to die. God alone is the source of life and good and prosperity, in
the Bible, and when we stand in his favor, we become recipients of
life in all its fullness.
The way to blessing, according to the Bible, almost inevitably leads
through suffering. Jeremiah knew mockery and loneliness and
persecution form his countrymen, because he proclaimed God's word. The
followers of Jesus suffered similar hatred and reviling (Lk 6.22).
Even we comfortable Christians, if we truly follow Christ, are called
upon to make our sacrifices. We must first sacrifice our pride and
self-will and attempts at self-justification, and realize that we have
no wisdom or goodness in ourselves. We dare not "trust in man" (Jer
17.5), not even in ourselves. Nor dare we rely on the things this
world relies on--economic power, military defense, material status and
success. Such "trust in man" must be crucified, when we take up our
cross and follow Christ. We will also find that trust in God, which
leads to his blessing, sometimes takes us through experiences of the
deepest pain or sorrow. God sometimes says "no" to our plans and ways,
and he can sometimes jerk us quite violently off the road we are
journeying. He can do that through almost any type of tragedy. To
trust in him in such circumstances requires the most disciplined and
vigorous faith, faith from the depths of our being that he means well
with us and is working with us in love.
PKFlyer in TX
The Riverside Tree - I've never heard it, but I think of the AFro
American spiritual,
"I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield down by the riverside ... I
ain't gonna study war no more."
Interesting.
Sally in GA
for those of you who are using the image of the tree by the water (in
the year of drought, it is not anxious and it does not cease to bear
fruit)I put some information about the live oak trees that grow beside
the rivers and creeks in West Texas. The information comes from Texas
A&M, so you know it's good. One little thing that I didn't mention-
the acorns are so sweet that you can eat them out of hand. Oh, and did
I mention that the new leaves come on so quickly after the old ones
have dropped off that the tree always has leaves, making it
effectively an evergreen
revgilmer in Texarkana
I found the words to the Riverside Tree, but after looking for the
chords and music(no such luck)I think I saw at least on reference to
another part of the song- something about a downtown tree. If so, does
anyone have that part fo the song-I'd be interested )if this even
exists) in seeing how the two trees compare to each other
revgilmer in texarkana
If you ever get a chance to hear Ken Miedema do so. He is a great
entertainer. Nancy-WI
