Scripture Daily

Context No. 2128 of 4322 · Jeremiah

Context · Reflection

Jeremiah 14:1-9: in context

1This is the LORD’s word that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 2“Judah mourns, and its gates languish. They sit in black on the ground. The cry of Jerusalem goes up. 3Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads. 4Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are disappointed. They cover their heads. 5Yes, the doe in the field also calves and forsakes her young, because there is no grass. 6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyes fail, because there is no vegetation. 7Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name’s sake, LORD; for our rebellions are many. We have sinned against you. 8You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night? 9Why should you be like a scared man, as a mighty man who can’t save? Yet you, LORD, are in the middle of us, and we are called by your name. Don’t leave us.

A severe drought grips the land, and Jeremiah describes the misery: the ground cracked, the cisterns empty, the nobles' servants returning ashamed with no water, even the animals suffering. And out of this distress rises a prayer that appeals to God on a striking ground. Though our iniquities testify against us, the people pray, act for your name's sake, LORD; our rebellions are many, we have sinned against you. Yet you are in our midst, and we are called by your name; do not leave us. They appeal not to their own worthiness but to God's name and presence.

The prayer is remarkable for how it grounds its appeal. The people freely admit that they have no claim on the ground of their own righteousness: our iniquities testify against us; our rebellions are many; we have sinned against you. They cannot appeal to their own deserving, for they have none. And so they appeal to something else entirely: to God's own name, his presence among them, his character as their Savior. Act for your name's sake, they pray; you are in our midst; we are called by your name; do not leave us. Their hope rests not on their worthiness but on who God is and on his relationship to them. This is how we too may pray, especially when our sin gives us no ground to stand on. We can feel that our prayers are undermined by our unworthiness, that because we have sinned we have no claim on God, no ground to ask his help. And on the ground of our own deserving, this is true; our iniquities testify against us. But this prayer shows another ground: God's own name, his character, his mercy, his relationship to us as those called by his name. We appeal not to our worthiness, which fails, but to who God is: his mercy, his faithfulness, his name's sake. We do not present our petitions, Daniel prays, on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies. For your name's sake, the psalmist prays, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. When our sin gives us no standing, God's own character gives us ground to appeal. This frees us to pray even when we are unworthy. We do not have to establish our own deserving before we can ask God's help; we can appeal, as these did, to his name, his mercy, his presence, his character. Do not leave us, they prayed, resting not on their goodness but on God's. This is the ground of all our praying, finally: not our worthiness, but God's mercy and character. When our sin gives us no claim, we may still appeal, as Judah appealed in the drought, to God's own name and character, praying, act for your name's sake, you are in our midst, do not leave us, resting our hope not on what we deserve but on who God is.

When my sin makes me feel I have no claim on God, no ground to ask his help because my iniquities testify against me, can I learn from Judah's prayer in the drought to appeal not to my own worthiness, which fails, but to God's own name and mercy and character, praying, act for your name's sake, you are in our midst, do not leave us, and so pray even in my unworthiness, resting my hope not on what I deserve but on who God is?

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