Baruch 1:15-22: a reflection

15You shall say: To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16to our kings, to our princes, to our priests, to our prophets, and to our fathers, 17because we have sinned before the Lord. 18We have disobeyed him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he has set before us. 19Since the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to this present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent in not listening to his voice. 20Therefore the plagues have clung to us, along with the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant in the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give us a land that flows with milk and honey, as at this day. 21Nevertheless we didn’t listen to the voice of the Lord our God, according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, 22but we each walked in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods and to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

This prayer of confession traces the people's long history of sin back to its root, and names it plainly. We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God, they confess, but we each walked in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods and to do what is evil. At the root of all their sin was this: they walked after their own hearts rather than heeding God. Instead of listening to God's voice and following it, each followed the imagination of his own heart; and from that came all the rest.

Notice the root of sin the confession names: walking after one's own heart rather than heeding God. The people confess that they did not listen to God's voice, but each walked in the imagination of his own heart. This was the root: not merely particular sins, but the deeper thing beneath them, a following of their own hearts, their own desires and imaginings, instead of heeding and following God. From that root, of going their own way rather than God's, all their sin grew. The heart followed its own imagination, and turned from God.

That is worth taking to heart, for the root of our sin too is often this: following our own hearts rather than heeding God. Beneath our particular sins lies a deeper thing: a tendency to walk after our own hearts, our own desires and imaginings, rather than listening to God's voice and following it. We follow what our own hearts want, rather than what God says; and from that root our sins grow. Examine whether the root of your sin is this, a following of your own heart rather than heeding God; and turn from walking after your own imaginings to listening to God's voice and following it. Do not walk in the imagination of your own heart, going your own way rather than God's; heed God's voice, following him rather than your own desires, for the root of sin is to follow our own hearts rather than God, as the people confessed they each walked in the imagination of his own heart instead of listening to the voice of the Lord.

Lord, this prayer of confession traces the people's long history of sin back to its root, and names it plainly. We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God, they confess, but we each walked in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods and to do what is evil. At the root of all their sin was this: they walked after their own hearts rather than heeding you. Instead of listening to your voice and following it, each followed the imagination of his own heart; and from that came all the rest. Show me the root of sin the confession names: walking after one's own heart rather than heeding you. The people confess that they did not listen to your voice, but each walked in the imagination of his own heart. This was the root: not merely particular sins, but the deeper thing beneath them, a following of their own hearts instead of heeding and following you. Take that to my heart, for the root of my sin too is often this: following my own heart rather than heeding you. Beneath my particular sins lies a deeper thing: a tendency to walk after my own heart, my own desires, rather than listening to your voice. I follow what my own heart wants, rather than what you say; and from that root my sins grow. Help me examine whether the root of my sin is this, a following of my own heart rather than heeding you; and help me turn from walking after my own imaginings to listening to your voice, Lord. Keep me from walking in the imagination of my own heart, going my own way rather than yours.