God through the prophet Jeremiah has been proclaiming the abominable sins that Israel has been committing. The prophet is broken because of the judgment that is coming against his people because of their sinning against the Lord. Sometimes we think of sins that are worthy of God’s wrath and judgment as just the “big sins.” We usually have some kind of classification in our mind about the sins that are “really bad.” So we usually will list sins like murder, sexual immorality, and things like these that are sins worthy of judgment. But would you put in the list of sins that are abominable to God and worthy of judgment the sins of the tongue? Now to appreciate this problem I want you to think for a moment if anyone has ever hurt you deeply because of the words that they said to you or said about you? I think that we would agree upon reflection that some of the worst hurts that we experience in our lives come from the tongue. As kids we would say, “Sticks and stones might break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” We said that because the names did hurt us far more than the sticks and stones. We try to shrug off what people say. But it often can be rather difficult depending on who the person is and the kind of relationship that person has in our lives. I want to spend our time looking at the problem of the tongue from Jeremiah 9. Please open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 9.
The Sinful Tongue (Jeremiah 9:1-11)
Jeremiah 9 opens with the prophet Jeremiah’s desire to weep all day and night for his people because of the coming judgment. But then, in verse 2, Jeremiah wishes that he could find a place in the desert where he could leave these people. The reason why he wishes he could get away from these people is because they are false toward God. They are treacherous people. They are unfaithful and disloyal to God. In fact, Jeremiah calls them adulterers. Now it is possible that he is speaking about the people committing sexual immorality. But based on what God is going to preach through Jeremiah, it seems that Jeremiah is using adulterers in the same way that James did in James 4:4 as a metaphor for complete unfaithfulness to God. James says that friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Here we see Jeremiah using the word in a similar way to show how treacherous and unfaithful the people have been to God. Now I want us to listen to what the people are doing in the following verses of chapter 9.
In verse 3 Jeremiah says that the people are showing their treacherous ways by using their tongue as a weapon. This is the idea of bending the tongue like a bow. The tongue is about to shoot a harmful arrow. The tongues are ready to shoot lies. Evil proceeds from evil. Lies and faithlessness are found throughout the land. Look at some of the results of this in verse 4. Jeremiah says that everyone needs to beware of their neighbor and do not trust anyone because all that they do is deceive each other and slander each other. Now do not think about this in worldly terms where neighbors are deceiving neighbors. This is certainly a grave sin and worthy of judgment. But remember that Jeremiah is speaking about God’s people, the nation of Judah. God’s people are using their tongues in this way. God’s people are shooting lies. God’s people are deceiving each other. God’s people are slandering each other. Listen to verse 5. “No one speaks the truth.” You cannot trust what people are saying because no one speaks the truth. It is absolutely shocking. This would be awful enough if we lived in a society where every person lied and no one spoke the truth. This would be a terrible society to live in. But imagine a church where everyone is lying to each other and no one speaks the truth. Imagine a church where you cannot trust what people say to you. This is what Jeremiah is living in. He is surrounded by the supposed people of God but no one speaks the truth. Instead, they wear themselves out committing sins (Jeremiah 9:5). They exhaust themselves with their sins.
The picture is that they are killing each other with their words. Look at verse 8. Their tongue is a deadly arrow. Notice the picture of the deadliness. To your face they speak peace, but in their hearts they are setting traps. They smile in front of your face and say all the right things, but their hearts are not true to those words. It is amazing that all of us have experienced the horror of people doing this to us. We know the pain and hurt. But then we do it to other people and consider it insignificant. We kill people with our words and act like it is no big deal. We act fake in front of some people when our hearts are full of malice toward them. We gossip and slander and lie. But notice that God sees what we are doing. God will refine and test these people (Jeremiah 9:7). God will punish his people for these things (Jeremiah 9:9). What else can God do? They refuse to know the Lord and control their tongues. So judgment will come upon them because of their words. God will destroy the nation because of what they are saying (Jeremiah 9:10-11).
A Time For Reflection (Jeremiah 9:12-22)
So now Jeremiah has an important question for his people. “Who is wise enough to understand this?” (Jeremiah 9:12). Who will have the insight to grasp that God hates when we use our tongues like this? Who will understand that we are worthy of God’s judgment when we use our tongues to lie and to harm? Now we may wonder how God’s people got to this point? How is it that God’s people no longer speak the truth? How is it their that tongues are like bows shooting lies and harming others? Look at verse 13. They have forsaken God’s law. They have not listened or walked according to what God said. Rather, they have stubbornly followed their own hearts and gone after other gods (Jeremiah 9:14).
Now I want us to think about how deep and profound this truth is that God has proclaimed to his people. I want us to see this truth by asking you to honestly answer this question to yourself. Why do you lie? When you lie, why do you do it? Lying is always selfish. We lie to protect ourselves from consequences. We lie to get people to like us or to elevate ourselves. We lie to avoid problems. We lie to look good. We gossip and slander to elevate ourselves and denigrate others. In short, we lie because we are stubbornly following our own hearts and are refusing to listen to what God has told us to do with our tongues. The tongue reflects the heart. We lie because we are showing that the Lord is not our God but we have other gods we serve. We are serving the god of convenience when we lie. We are serving the god of self-preservation when we lie. We are serving the god of image when we lie. We are showing that we serve all kinds of selfish gods when we lie. So God says that there is nothing else he can do but to judge because the people refuse to listen to him.
Verses 15-22 describe the wailing that will happen because of their lying tongues. God is going to make their lives bitter. Have you ever noticed that lying causes all kinds of life problems? Have you ever noticed the bitterness that comes from living a lie? We even have a saying about liars, “What a tangled web we weave!” God will make their lives bitter and scatter them in judgment. It is a call for wailing and lament because judgment comes on people who lie. In Proverbs 6:16-19 you might remember that Solomon declares that there are seven things that God hates. One of those things that God says he hates is a lying tongue. Judgment will be based, not only on what he do, but what we say. I want us to listen to Jesus because he said the same thing.
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37 ESV)
Right Words (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
So what are the right words that God’s people should have coming from their lips? Rather than lying lips, what grace should flow off of our lips? Look at what the Lord proclaims in verses 23-24. The wise person must not boast in his wisdom. The strong person must not boast in his strength. The rich person must not boast in his wealth. Not only must we not lie, our words should not be boasting in what we have. Our mouths will not proclaim how wise, strong, or rich we are. Notice what should come from our lips in verse 24. Our glory and joy that we proclaim to the world is that we understand and know God. Friends, what do you think is your greatest achievement? What is your greatest joy? What is your definition of success? Here is the definition for the people of God. Our greatest achievement is that we have a relationship with God and know his character. We need to define what is most important in our lives. What is most important is not wisdom, strength, or riches. What is the most important thing in life is to know God and take delight in that relationship. Now turn over to 1 Corinthians 1 and I want us to see how the apostle Paul applied this message to the Corinthian Christians.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ESV)
Do we hear what Paul is saying? How can we boast in ourselves? How can we be liars? How can we be unfaithful in our words? How can we be deceivers? We are nothing before God. God uses the weak and lowly to bring to nothing the things that are so that no one will boast. So why do we elevate ourselves? Why would we gossip and slander? Why would we deceive? Self-elevation is self-destruction because God will judge every word we utter. Christ is the wisdom of God. Our glory is in knowing the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. Glory in our God who is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. God hates lying lips. But God loves the lips of those who proclaim their unworthiness and brokenness and who take joy in knowing the Lord. What is your greatest joy?