Jeremiah 17:14

"Lord, save me from them, and let me not fall into their wicked hands. Heal me, that is, sanctify me by thy grace; save me, that is, bring me to thy glory." All that shall be saved hereafter are sanctified now; unless the disease of sin be purged out the soul cannot live.

God, by the prophet, warns the people to keep holy the sabbath day, assuring them that, if they did, it should be the lengthening out of their tranquility, but that, if not, God would by some desolating judgment assert the honour of his sabbaths,

Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations. Heal . . . save--not only make me whole (as to the evils of soul as well as body which I am exposed to by contact with ungodly foes, Jer 15:18), but keep me so. my praise--He whom I have to praise for past favors, and therefore to whom alone I look for the time to come.

THIS book of Jeremiah is a very thorny one—it might be called, like his smaller work, "The Book of Lamentations." Our text is as a lily among thorns, as a rose in the wilderness. The solitary place shall be glad for it and the desert shall rejoice. The words sound like sweet music amid the crash of tempest. The bitter tree yields us sweet fruit. The weeping Prophet wipes away our tears.

THIS book of Jeremiah is a very thorny one—it might be called, like his smaller work, "The Book of Lamentations." Our text is as a lily among thorns, as a rose in the wilderness. The solitary place shall be glad for it and the desert shall rejoice. The words sound like sweet music amid the crash of tempest. The bitter tree yields us sweet fruit. The weeping Prophet wipes away our tears. I do not know that the whole of Scripture contains more delightful promises than those which fell from the lips of this son of sorrow who has been to so many a son of consolation! May God grant that this lily, today, may be exceeding lovely in your eyes as you see it in the sunlight of the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that in this passage the mourning Prophet is sitting alone in communion with his God, speaking out his steadfast faith, and washing the feet of his sorrows in the laver of the promises. The singular change of the pronoun from You to Me shows how near the Lord was to him—so near, indeed, that Jehovah not only speaks by the Prophet, but breaks in with personal language and speaks, Himself All men who have to deal with great multitudes of people for God must be much alone or they will lose their power. Jeremiah was sick at heart, for he prophesied, but he was not believed. He entreated and persuaded, but his affectionate appeals were rejected. He saw the nation hastening to destruction and he could not avert the doom! All this made him cry out in the anguish of his soul, "I am the man that has seen affliction." And, therefore, he could not have lived if he had not found sanctuary in his God. He often stole away into secret places that he might pour out his breaking heart before the Lord and commit himself to the tender care of Him whom he so faithfully served.

Heal me - and I shall be healed - That is, I shall be thoroughly healed, and effectually saved, if thou undertake for me. Thou art my praise - The whole glory of the work of salvation belongs to thee alone.