7 O Lord, You have deceived me and I was deceived;
You have overcome me and prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.
8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud;
I proclaim violence and destruction,
Because for me the word of the Lord has [b]resulted
In reproach and derision all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not remember Him
Or speak anymore in His name,”
Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
And I am weary of holding it in,
And I cannot endure it.
10 For I have heard the whispering of many,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!”
[c]All my trusted friends,
Watching for my fall, say:
“Perhaps he will be [d]deceived, so that we may prevail against him
And take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a dread champion;
Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will be utterly ashamed, because they have [e]failed,
With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.
12 Yet, O Lord of hosts, You who test the righteous,
Who see the [f]mind and the heart;
Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For to You I have set forth my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord!
For He has delivered the soul of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.14 Cursed be the day when I was born;
Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
“A [g]baby boy has been born to you!”
And made him very happy.
16 But let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord overthrew without [h]relenting,
And let him hear an outcry in the morning
And a [i]shout of alarm at noon;
17 Because he did not kill me [j]before birth,
So that my mother would have been my grave,
And her womb ever pregnant.
18 Why did I ever come forth from the womb
To look on trouble and sorrow,
So that my days have been spent in shame?
Well, now we have Jeremiah, perhaps at his worst. He wishes he had never been born, or that God would destroy his enemies, or both… And we can give Jeremiah a bit of a break, after all, he just spent a day and night in the stocks. I have no idea what that would actually feel like, but he is likely sleep deprived and in pain. Besides the physical toll, Jeremiah makes it clear that he has been humiliated, a literal laughingstock, where everyone mocked him.
Still, if this is his “worst”, Jeremiah yet clings to God and pours out his heart before the Almighty. While many denounce him, and even his closest friends watch for his fall, I love the imagery in v. 11, “But the Lord is with me like a dread champion…” One can imagine a fell knight, dressed in the strongest armor, wielding a formidable sword.
Even then, the picture falls short of the might of God, but it’s a good reminder nonetheless. In v. 13 also, Jeremiah praises God and remembers that God is his deliverer. Truthfully, for Jeremiah, God’s word was like a fire shut up in his bones (v. 9). He couldn’t not speak God’s message, and so He took comfort in his dread champion.
For those who trust in His name, God is also our champion, so let us not be weary in well-doing. All around might mock and laugh, but stand firm in the truth of God and His message of salvation. He is our deliverer, and “there is no other Name by which we are saved.” (Acts 4:12) Don’t shut up the fire inside, but “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” I can’t think of any words much better, “let your light shine” and all the while trust in God, our fearsome and mighty warrior King.