Jeremiah 14:19-22 [Humbling Ourselves Before the Lord]

The passage above is the content of Jeremiah’s earnest prayer for the southern kingdom of Judah. At that time, Judah was suffering under a severe drought because of their sins (verse 1). Through the words of verse 19, we can infer how severe their suffering was. Their pain was so great that it felt as though God had forsaken them, as though God hated them. They hoped for peace and healing, but instead they saw only terror and distress...

At such a time, Jeremiah prayed as we see in verse 20: "We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee." This prayer of Jeremiah first humbly "confesses sin"—his own sin and the sins of the people. We also must become humble in heart, able first to confess our sins before Jesus. This is because even today, like the Israelites in the wilderness long ago, there are times when we praise God while things are good, but when we face suffering, we complain, grumble, curse, and fall into unbelief because of that suffering. And this can never be the solution to the problem. Rather than blaming our circumstances or blaming others, humbly realizing and acknowledging our own sin, and asking Jesus for forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus, becomes the fundamental way to resolve the matter.

2 Chronicles 7:14-16 "14If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 16For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually."

A prayer that first humbly confesses sin appears not only in the prayer of the prophet Jeremiah, but also in the prayers of Daniel and Nehemiah. This is because confessing sin is the way to receive mercy from God.

Daniel 9:3-6 "3And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land."

Nehemiah 1:6-7 "6Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. 7We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses."

Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

*Reference; Luke 18:9-14.

After humbly confessing his own sin and the sins of the people, Jeremiah then pleaded with God concerning the reason why they must be saved by God (verse 21). He was asking God to save them not for their own sake, but for the sake of God’s name and for the sake of God’s glory. Receiving this understanding is also extremely important for us today. Many people mistakenly think that because God loves them, He saves them for their own sake. That is not so. Since the reason God created this earth and made man upon it was for His glory (Isa. 43:7), He has also told us that our salvation must be not for ourselves, but for the glory of God. If we become proud, seek ourselves, and do not humbly seek the name of Jesus, then God may cast us away as He cast away His people Israel in the wilderness (Rom. 11:21).

Jeremiah 14:7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.

Ezekiel 36:21-23 "21But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 22Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went..."

Psalm 106:7-11 "7Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. 8Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. 9He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. 10And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. 11And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left."

Isaiah 48:9-12 "9For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another..."

Ezekiel 20:9, 14, 22, 44 "9But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. 14But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. 22Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. 44And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD."

Through the testimony of the words above, we can receive the understanding that God cherishes His name, that is, the name of Jesus, above all things, and that He works for the sake of that name. These words enable us to humble ourselves before Jesus (James 4:10). And if we truly do not cherish the name of Jesus, even though we have been chosen, we may become like the Israelites who died in the wilderness. Therefore, these words cause us always to fear and reverence the name of Jesus with fear and trembling. This is the very meaning of the command that whatsoever we do in word or deed, we are to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17). For when we humbly live in all things in the name of Jesus, God looks not upon us, but upon the name of Jesus, and grants mercy, grace, and power.

If we become proud and do not first consider the glory of God’s name, then the words God spoke to Solomon concerning the temple in Jerusalem below must also be fulfilled in us today.

1 Kings 9:6-9 "6But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 7Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 8And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 9And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil."

When we look at the words above, they show us that Jerusalem is not the essence, and therefore Jerusalem can be destroyed at any time. The essence lies in the name of God. Only when we depend on the name of God, the name of Jesus, and live by it, will God’s eyes, ears, and heart be with us, and He will hear our petitions.

1 Kings 8:41-45 "41Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; 42For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm; when he shall come and pray toward this house; 43Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. 44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause."

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

For these reasons, Jeremiah prayed in verse 21, asking God to save them for the sake of God’s name. Now we also must no longer offer self-centered prayers, but like Jeremiah, we must humbly offer prayers for the name of Jesus. For example, if we pray to be healed from sickness, our prayer must not simply be, "Please heal my sickness so that my present pain may disappear." Rather, we must offer a "prayer with a clear purpose," asking to be healed for the sake of the name of Jesus, and if He heals us, we must live according to the purpose for which we prayed. God, who searches our hearts (Jer. 17:10), already knows with what kind of heart we are praying. When we pray by faith for the sake of the name of Jesus, God looks not upon us, but upon the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the name of Jesus, He hears our prayers!

John 14:13-14 "13And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

Conclusion:

Through the words of Jeremiah 14:22 above, Jeremiah acknowledges by faith that the only One who can send rain from heaven and resolve the drought they are facing is the Lord alone. In other words, the only One who can solve all our problems is our only Lord. Now our Lord is Jesus (Rom. 10:9-13)! Therefore, we must humble ourselves before Jesus, who made heaven and earth and all things, and acknowledge His great power by faith. We must have this kind of faith in order to wait upon Jesus alone. The words of Jeremiah in today’s passage teach us humility. If, according to these words, we acknowledge before Jesus that we are sinners, turn back, determine to live for the sake of the name of Jesus, and earnestly wait upon Jesus alone, then by the great power of God, He will surely restore us once again...!

Amen.