We are beginning a new series called A Heart For God. We are going to be looking at how to have a heart for God when life is particularly painful while trying to live for God. We would think that doing the right thing would keep us safe. We want to think that if we are following God and doing what he says that this would keep us from having to go through suffering and hardships. We would especially want to think that we would not be persecuted for doing the right thing. Whatever the reason, it is easy to become discouraged when we are trying to what is right but life seems to go so wrong. So how can we deal with our discouragement and what hope do we have as God’s people? How can we have a heart for God when feeling discouraged? Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 20 and we are going to look at how the prophet Jeremiah dealt with his rejection and discouragement.
Personal Attack (Jeremiah 20:1-6)
Jeremiah 20 opens with the priest of the temple hearing the preaching words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:1). We are reminded of what Jeremiah was preaching in Jeremiah 19. Remember he broke the clay jar to show that people are no longer moldable by God and are going to be shattered. Jeremiah 19:14-15 tells us that Jeremiah is standing in the temple courts, proclaiming disaster on the city and nation because the people have refused to listen to God’s words. So the priest hears Jeremiah preaching. What would you hope for a priest of God to do when he heard the proclaimed word of the Lord? We would expect him to listen, repent, and proclaim the message to the rest of the people. Instead, when the priest heard Jeremiah’s words, he had Jeremiah beaten and confined at the Upper Gate. Jeremiah is physically attacked by the priest for preaching God’s message. He is not beaten with the priest’s hands. The Hebrew word indicates that he was beaten with a weapon, like a rod or a whip. Then he is left confined in the stocks overnight. He is attacked, not by the world, but by the people of God. He is attacked by someone who is supposed to be a religious teacher of the people. The next day when the priest comes to release Jeremiah, Jeremiah proclaims judgment on this priest for his rejection of God’s word. The priest’s new name is now Terror on Every Side. You are going to watch everyone you care about fall by the sword and you and your house will go to Babylonian captivity where you will die and be buried. This is a key point. Our rejection of God’s message does not change the message. Our rejection of God’s messenger does not change the message. Not liking God’s message does not change the message. Truth is the truth. Jeremiah suffers for his faithfulness to proclaim the truth. But this event brings Jeremiah to spiritually struggle. Look at verse 7-10.
Personal Struggle (Jeremiah 20:7-10)
Jeremiah prays to the Lord and tells him that he feels deceived by the Lord (Jeremiah 20:7). Jeremiah explains what he means by this in the rest of verse 7 and also in verse 8. Jeremiah has become the laughingstock of the city. When he preaches, he is just insulted and disgraced. They are taunting and deriding Jeremiah. In short, I believe Jeremiah is crying out that he did not know it was going to be like this. He did not know that he would experience a complete rejection of his society and of his people. No one wants to hear what Jeremiah has to say. No one is listening to him. They mock his sermons and constantly insult him. Jeremiah feels like God has let him down because he has not protected him from the physical and verbal abuse he is enduring. In verse 10 he hears the people whispering against him, hoping for Jeremiah’s fall. They openly denounce Jeremiah and look to get revenge on him. So Jeremiah feels like God has let him down. Jeremiah is clearly discouraged because of the response of the people.
Notice in verse 9 we find out that Jeremiah has contemplated no longer telling people God’s message. Since everyone is mocking his teaching, Jeremiah thinks that he will just stop talking to the people. Then he will not have to experience their abuse and shame. But there is a problem. Jeremiah says that when he tries to keep silent, there becomes a burning fire in his heart shut up in his bones and he cannot hold it in. Friends, this is the way God’s word is supposed to be to us. It is a fire within us that cannot be held back or contained. We must speak about God’s things because we have a heart for God. Listen to what the apostle Paul proclaimed.
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV)
We do not speak only when we expect a favorable outcome. This is the easy thing to do. We must also speak when we know that it is going to go badly for us. We must speak the oracles of God (cf. 1 Peter 4:11). Preaching the word in season and out of season (cf. 2 Timothy 4:2) means we preach regardless of the cultural temperature. During both favorable and unfavorable times, we must speak God’s message. We are compelled to speak as God’s ambassadors (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:20). So how can we continue when discouraged or hurting? Look at what Jeremiah then prays in verses 11-12.
Personal Hope (Jeremiah 20:11-13)
Notice that Jeremiah’s discouragement does not cause him to quit on God or quit his mission. God is his strength to continue to push through the suffering and discouragement. Jeremiah begins by proclaiming that the Lord is with him. We renew our hope by holding on to the knowledge that the Lord is with us. But that is not the end of the description. Jeremiah says that the Lord is with him like a dreaded warrior. These persecutors will not succeed. Then Jeremiah describes the Lord as the Lord of Armies or Lord of Hosts. My powerful God tests the righteous and sees the heart and the mind. Please notice that Jeremiah has some understanding in the midst of his suffering and discouragement. He understands that God does test the righteous. He understands that God sees our hearts and knows what is in our minds. God knows the hearts of his people and we know that we go through discouraging and painful times as trials for our faith. But we also know that God is with his people and fights for his people. This is a wonderful foundation for hope. The Lord fights for you.
This hope is how we sing. You see Jeremiah calling out to sing to the Lord. Give praise to the Lord! Jeremiah, you were just beaten and put in the stocks overnight. Everyone is mocking you. You are in pain and discouraged. But give praise to the Lord because God rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked. God delivers those who understand that they need him. This is the essence of being poor in spirit (cf. Matthew 5:4). I need God. God delivers the needy. Do we need him? This is a really important question. Do we need him? Jeremiah is perplexed but not in despair. Jeremiah is persecuted, but is not abandoned (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9). He needs God.
Personal Pain (Jeremiah 20:14-18)
Now here is what I really love about this chapter. We would want the chapter to end on the high of God’s deliverance. We want this section to end with the call to praise the Lord. In fact, many preachers and commentators stop at verse 13 because it makes such a good sermon. But Jeremiah is not done talking. Jeremiah still has some hard things to say that we need to hear. Jeremiah now curses the day of his birth in this final section. Jeremiah returns to his personal pain. Why was I born if this is the way life was going to go? Job utters similar words in Job 3 as he goes through his painful trial. This was the way to express the intensity of life’s pain and suffering. The hurt is so bad that it was not good news when my birth was proclaimed. Since my life is devoid of joy, then the day of my birth was a bad day. You see this in verse 18. Why did I come out of the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame? Jeremiah’s future hope of deliverance did not erase the present pain. This is why I like this chapter. Jeremiah is telling himself to praise the Lord and know that he is with him as a mighty warrior. But at the same time he is hurting. His pain is real while he hopes in God.
Messages For Today
Friends, discouragement is real. This is not an anomaly for the people of faith. We read about the prophets becoming discouraged due to their circumstances. Elijah is a notable account of such discouragement. After experiencing the victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, this righteous victory has not changed the people. Jezebel declares that Elijah is going to die for what he did. So Elijah then goes into the wilderness as he runs for his life (cf. 1 Kings 19:4). The people of God can feel discouragement especially when they are going through suffering. The apostle Paul was concerned about how others might be discouraged about what he was experiencing.
I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. (Ephesians 3:13 NIV)
So what should we do when we feel discouragement? Jeremiah shows us that we can pray our discouragement. Tell God what you are experiencing as he leads you through your life. Pray without ceasing. Tell God how you feel. Tell God what is going on. We do not have to pretend that we are not discouraged. But the solution is not to tell everyone else that we are discouraged. The solution is to tell God that we are discouraged. You do not have to be fake with God. You must not be fake with God. You must be real with your relationship with God. You see Jeremiah doing this. He says things that he might be afraid to say. But this is how Jeremiah feels in the moment. As I get older, I really am appreciating some of the teachings that are found in those classic songs. Listen to the words of this song which is #630 in our songbooks:
“Are you weary, are you heavy-hearted? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Are you grieving over joys departed? Tell it to Jesus alone. Do the tears flow down your cheeks unbidden? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Have you sins that to man’s eyes are hidden? Tell it to Jesus alone. Do you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Are you anxious what will be tomorrow? Tell it to Jesus alone.” Then we move to the chorus: “Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that’s well known. You have no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone.”
Next, tell yourself that God is a mighty warrior who fights for you. Even though we suffer, we know that God will never leave us or forsake us. Even when your life feels like a curse, Jeremiah knows that the Lord is with him. God has promised to never leave you (cf. Hebrews 13:5-6). Tell yourself that he is with you. One of the things we see the psalmists doing throughout that the psalms that is so important is that we tell ourselves truths to help combat our feelings. Psalms like Psalm 22 describe feeling forsaken by God only to realize that God has never left us but has delivered us. Jeremiah is doing the same thing. Tell yourself that the Lord is with you. So we must never leave him. This is our final point.
We cannot stop. Did you see this with Jeremiah in verse 9? Jeremiah tried to quit but could not because God’s word was a fire in his bones. He can’t go on only to realize that he can’t stop. I cannot take another step. But I have to take another step. I want to pull back but I cannot pull back. I know I need more of God, not less of God when hurting. We need to have a fire within us that cannot be quenched. Fan the flames. Do not douse your zeal due to your painful circumstances. The word of God must be a fire within us. But we can grow silent because of fear and discouragement. Our discouragement can pour cold water on our fire within us. The word of God is the fire we need within us to keep going. Where else are you going to go that is going to be better than God? This is what Peter understood. When disciples were leaving Jesus, Jesus asked if the twelve wanted to leave as well. Peter quickly steps up with the right answer. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69 ESV). The word must be a fire in our bones to keep us from shrinking back when life gets hard. The only place to be encouraged and to have the thirst from our soul quenched is God. There is nowhere else to go. I would beg you to fan the flames within you by embracing God’s word. Read it. Study it. Think about it. Pray from it. The strength you need for life is there and not anywhere else. No human can solve our discouragement. God but is the hope we need. Let God’s word be the fire in your bones.