As Jeremiah continued to
pour out his heart to the Lord and seek Him for vengeance upon his
enemies, we have seen Jeremiah ask God to note their imaginations,
devices, actions and activities. He knows the Lord sees them, and
Jeremiah deferred judgment for these actions to the Almighty. In
chapter three and verse sixty-five of Lamentations Jeremiah asks for
a specific action to be taken against them where we read:
Give them sorrow of
heart, your curse unto them.
The
verse begins, “Give them sorrow of heart,” Jeremiah
asked God to “Give”
which means “bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ, devote,
consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit,
entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce,
requite to, report, mention, utter, stretch out, or extend” to his
enemies “sorrow of heart” or “covering or blindness”
“of heart”. He is referring to their “understanding,
mind, will or inner man”, and his desire is they are so blind
within that they rush to their own ruin.
The
verse continues, “...your curse unto them.” Jeremiah
desired that the Lord extend to his enemies “your curse”
or “execration, anathema, condemnation or damnation”. We might
imagine that there is no “curse” compared to the curse
that comes from God Almighty, and rather than seeking judgment and
condemnation that comes from Jeremiah alone, Jeremiah desired that
God be the agent under whose judgment his enemies fall.
There
are times when we are wronged by others, and we desire to take
vengeance upon them. We probably have felt like Jeremiah. When these
emotions rise within us, we may relate Jeremiah's words, however
Jesus gave us a commandment that concerns our enemies when he said,
“Love your enemies”.We know it takes “divine power” to
do that, and as we consider Jeremiah's words perhaps it will help us
to make our appeal to the Lord on the basis of what Jesus said in
relation to Jeremiah's focus. As we continue our walk in relationship
with God, may we evermore become like His Son Jesus and be able to
respond to our foes as He graciously required.
Next
time we see how Jeremiah asks the Lord to render them a recompense,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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