Getting what you rightly deserved

Jeremiah 16:16-21

Have you ever wanted what you rightly deserved?  Judah as a nation and people are experiencing getting what they sowed, and I know of no one in their right mind who would sign up for that program.  The Lord is telling Jeremiah and us that trying to hide from God is as foolish as a small child playing hiding seek but talking to you and telling you where they are hiding.  God tells Jeremiah I’m going to send many fisherman and hunters to find them and catch from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.  Verse 17, “For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.”  In ignorance of our mighty God is the person who cries out wanting what they rightly deserve, as is the person who believes they are hiding their actions and thoughts from an all-knowing God.

I have no doubt no one in their right mind wants God to repay you double for your sins.   Many chases after the idols of the world, and how does one define an idol: “a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered” and the sad thing is maybe you are your own idol.  Verse 18 gives a clear understanding of why this must happen; “But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.” 

In the Scriptures, it is written about our Lord that He is jealous of His name and His character and desires us to seek and worship Him, not self, not stuff, not other created beings.  As we read verses19-21, that should be clear to all.  “O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.  Can man make for himself gods?  Such are not gods!”

“Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.”

It is a wise person who bows only to the living God, who only worships the all knowing and all seeing God.  For His judgment helps a person awake to those little worthless gods in which there is no profit, no lasting value.  For in him I’ve found love, joy, and peace, and I like Jeremiah can testify, “O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble." 

From the Back Porch,

 Bob Rice