Sermon on Jeremiah 20:7-13

Text: You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the LORD has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the LORD!
Give praise to the LORD!
He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.

Do you like to be tricked or deceived? I suppose the answer to that question depends on the situation. If you are watching a magic trick, it’s fun to see something that you don’t know how it happened. If it’s a practical joke that was played on you, it might depend on the mood that you’re in when it happens. If someone said that they were going to do something, but they didn’t, you probably wouldn’t like it at all. In our text, the prophet Jeremiah feels that he has been deceived. However, as we shall see, he wasn’t deceived, at all. As we study this portion of God’s Word, we are reminded that YOU HAVEN’T BEEN DECEIVED, either. We are reminded that 1. Persecution Will Come and are encouraged to 2. Continue To Speak With The Lord At Your Side.

Jeremiah said in verse 7, “You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed.” How does that verse make you feel? A bit uneasy? After all, we have so many statements from God that he does not lie. The reason that Jeremiah said that was that this is the way that he felt. He was feeling frustration at the way his life was going. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet early in his life. We read in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah tells us, “The LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’” (Jeremiah 1:9,10) Jeremiah was a prophet, sent from God, proclaiming his message.

You might think that the people of Judah, to whom Jeremiah preached would be thrilled with him and hung on his every word. Nothing could be further from the truth. We read in verse7, “I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.” The people didn’t want to hear what Jeremiah said. The reason for that is found in verse 8, “Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction.” Jeremiah hadn’t been called to speak a message that would make the people feel good about themselves. God called Jeremiah to preach a message of repentance. He was to warn them that, if they did not turn from their idol worship, the Babylonians would come and conquer them. Rather than the people welcoming this message from their loving God, Jeremiah said, “So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.” (Verse 8)

What was the reaction of the people of Jerusalem to Jeremiah’s message? Just before our text, the chief official of the temple of the Lord, a man by the name of Pashhur, had Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks. This is in the church, who should have been the first to listen to what Jeremaih said, reacted violently against it. Instead, Jeremiah is treated horribly. We also hear this reaction in verse 10, “I hear many whispering, ‘Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!’ All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, ‘Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.’” No one in the city of Jerusalem wanted to be associated with him. They were quick to denounce his message. Even Jeremiah’s friends were waiting for Jeremiah to slip up. Every one of his words was under close scrutiny. One slip and his friends would be all over him.

When we hear about Jeremiah’s circumstances, it might be easy for us to understand why he felt the way that he did. Here he was, doing the Lord’s work, proclaiming the Lord’s message, and this is what was happening. The reason we might be understanding is that this sort of thing still happens to God’s people today. There is persecution for God’s people.

It is true that there are places around our world where there is physical persecution of Christians. There are places where they are told that they cannot talk about or believe in Jesus as your Savior. If a person were to do so, there might be loss of property or title, imprisonment, or even death. We pray for all Christians who are undergoing such challenges because of their faith. At present, we do not have to fear these sorts of consequences in our country, and we pray that we would be allowed to speak freely about Jesus and live our faith.

However, there are other types of persecution of the Christian faith that are more subtle. The student who will not accept the theories of evolution may receive a lower grade. If you stand up for the truths that are found in God’s Word, you may be called many different names. You may be called bigoted, small-minded, brain washed. If your biblical views are different from what someone else believes, you may be met with hostility. You might be shunned. You might lose out at work. We shouldn’t be surprised at this. We shouldn’t feel that God has deceived us, when these things happen. After all, Jesus told us plainly in Matthew 10:22, “You will be hated by everyone because of me.”

When this happens, there is the temptation to keep quiet, to try to blend into the background. Yet, we read Jeremiah say, “But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Verse 9) Jeremiah knew that this message was just too important to keep quiet. He had been given this message by God, and he share it with others.

The same is true for us. We have been given this message by God to share with others. First, we must share the truth of God’s Word, as it is found in the law. We preach it, first, to ourselves. There we see the many times that we have gone against what God has told us in his Word. There are those times when we should have said something, but we did not. For this, as well as our other many sins, we deserve to be punished. We preach this message to others. We point out the truths of God’s Word. Please note that we don’t go out of our way to be as obnoxious as possible. We read in Ephesians 4:15, that we are to speak the truth in love. We reach out to people because we love them and want them to see the error of their ways, always with the hope that they will see them and turn from them.

Then, we get to share the precious message of the gospel. It is this message of Jesus’ perfect life, lived on our behalf. This perfect life has been credited to me by God. It is the message of Jesus’ love that moved him to suffer the punishment of God’s wrath for our sins on the cross. It is the message of Jesus’ victory that is proclaimed on Easter. This is the message that we have come to know and believe through the working of the Holy Spirit. How do we normally react when we have received some good news? How do the fiancées react when the engagement has happened? How do the grandparents react when they have a new grandchild? Do they keep it to themselves? Of course, not! They tell everyone. You see pictures of the little one. When you have good news, your first reaction is to tell others. If that is true with these wonderful events in our lives, how much more should we feel compelled to tell others the greatest news of all time? Jesus Christ has come to the world to be her Savior. It is this truth, as well as all the other truths that we find in God’s Word, that we want to share with others.

Yet, we also know that this is a very daunting task. It surely was for Jeremiah. Yet, he realized that he was not on his own, as he shared the message given to him. He says in verse 11, “The LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.” He didn’t put his confidence to carry out this important task in himself. He trusted in the Lord to give him not only the words to say, but also the courage to carry out the task set before him. You and I can also have the same confidence. Yes, the task may seem difficult, daunting, but we do not have to do it on our own. We have the promise of God that he will be with us as we proclaim his truths. We have this commission from Jesus, “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Matthew 10:27,28) Do what they might when we proclaim the truths that have been given to us in his Word. Even if it should be that we end up losing our lives for speaking the truth, we have the promise that the glories of heaven are waiting for us. In the meantime, may the Lord help to boldly proclaim his entire Word.

It’s interesting to note how this section of the Scriptures ends. You might think the Jeremiah would still be down in the dumps for all the misfortune that had come his way for being a prophet of God. Yet, we read in verse 13, “Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.” He concludes with a song of praise to God. We find this same thing in the New Testament in Acts 5. The apostles were arrested for speaking about Jesus and put into prison. Later, before they were set free, they were flogged. Yet, we do not read that they went home, licking their wounds and bemoaning their lot in life. Rather, we find, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Acts 5:41) Why did they rejoice? They had been found worthy of suffering for Jesus. They looked at as a badge of honor. They realized that this was another opportunity for them to show their thankfulness for all the God had done for them. May this also be our mindset. We don’t go out of our way to be persecuted. We aren’t trying to be as obnoxious as possible. The truth is that you won’t have to go looking for persecution. It will come as we speak the truth and live our Christian lives. However, rather than avoiding it, we, too, can see it as an opportunity to praise our God.

Jeremiah felt that he had been deceived by God. While doing what God wanted him to do, rather than experiencing the embrace of his fellow countrymen, he was persecuted. There are times when we might feel the same way. Rather than people welcoming us for speaking the truths of God’s Word, we face pushback and forms of persecution. God wants us to realize that, when his Word is proclaimed, it will not always be welcomed. There will be persecution. Yet, we pray, that this would not deter us. Rather, we ask the Lord for the confidence and courage to speak the truth, knowing that he is beside us throughout. May our motto be that of Peter and John who said, “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20) Amen.