David Bahn – Reflections

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 34-36, Psalm 68.

Jeremiah 35:12-17

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the LORD. ¹⁴ The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. ¹⁶ The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.”

I love the story of a pastor, who week after week, month after month, preached essentially the same sermon. Finally, one brave soul approached him after worship and said, “Pastor, I couldn’t help but notice—you’ve preached that same sermon every Sunday for the past five months.” The pastor smiled and replied, “You’re absolutely right. And I’ll keep preaching it until you start listening.”

Reading Jeremiah can feel a bit like sitting in that congregation. Again and again, the prophet warns that Jerusalem will fall, the Temple will be destroyed, and the people will be carried away into exile. But this is no failure of imagination on Jeremiah’s part. His warnings become progressively clearer and more urgent. What begins as a warning of danger from “the north” eventually names Babylon, predicts a seventy-year exile, and calls the people to submit to God’s judgment.

The repetition itself is an expression of God’s patience. He keeps sending his prophet because he desires that his people repent before judgment falls. Then, just as the warnings reach their climax, Jeremiah begins to repeat a different refrain: “Behold, the days are coming…” The God who persistently warns of judgment is the same God who persistently promises restoration, a righteous Branch, and a New Covenant through which he will forgive his people’s sins and restore them to himself.

Even after these magnificent promises in chapters 30-33, Jeremiah’s ministry is not finished. The book returns to the historical events surrounding Jerusalem’s fall, and Jeremiah continues to call Judah to repentance. Tragically, even as God’s promises of restoration shine brightly, many of the people persist in rejecting his Word.

This leads me to reflect on our ongoing need for us to hear God’s call to repentance. I love Martin Luther’s first of the Ninety-five Theses: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

We need to hear that sermon again and again because we do not listen as we should. Or perhaps we listen for a while, only to drift back into old habits and familiar sins. We never outgrow our need to repent. Thankfully, God never grows weary of extending his mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

Someone once asked me, “You’ve got a file full of old sermons, don’t you? Can’t you just dust one off, polish it up, and preach it again?” I smiled and said, “No, it doesn’t work that way.” Every sermon is new, shaped by a particular text and a particular day. Yet, in another sense, every faithful sermon proclaims the same wonderful truth: God has been gracious to us in Christ. We have sinned against him in countless ways. He calls us to repentance, forgives us freely for Jesus’ sake, and sends us back into the world to live as his redeemed people.

Luther reminds us that this is the very meaning of Baptism. The Old Adam—that sinful nature within us—is to be drowned by daily contrition and repentance, so that a new person may daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. And that new life is never turned inward on itself. It is lived in love for God and in justice, mercy, and compassion toward our neighbor. This is the daily rhythm of the Christian life: repentance, forgiveness, renewal, and service—all because of Jesus Christ.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 31-33, Psalm 67.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah 33:14-16

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’”

Four times in these chapters of Jeremiah, God points his people toward a better tomorrow. “Behold, the days are coming…” becomes a refrain of promise and hope. It is God’s word that looks beyond the coming doom and judgment to a day of ultimate deliverance. Jerusalem is soon to be overrun. The people of God will be taken captive. Jeremiah has already proclaimed that painful truth. But now he points them beyond the exile—beyond the seventy years—to a new day of God’s grace and favor.

Yet there is a problem that must first be addressed. God speaks of a new covenant, because the old one had been broken.

The Old Covenant was God’s gracious agreement with Israel, established at Mount Sinai after the Exodus. He redeemed his people from slavery, made them his treasured possession, and gave them his Law as the pattern for their life together. The problem was never the covenant itself; the problem was the people’s sinful hearts. Though God remained faithful, they repeatedly broke the covenant through idolatry and disobedience.

What was God to do?

Abandon the people he had chosen? Cast aside the promises he had made? Begin again with someone else?

No. Instead, God promised something entirely new. “I will make a new covenant.” It would not rest on Israel’s ability to keep the Law, but on God’s determination to forgive their sins. “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)

That new covenant is centered in the One whom Jeremiah also calls “The LORD is our righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16)

This is none other than Jesus Christ—God’s Son, our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord. He kept the covenant we could not keep. He bore the judgment we deserved. He established the New Covenant in his own blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

This is not an excuse to treat sin lightly. Quite the opposite. Because Christ is our righteousness, we return to him daily in repentance and faith. We still stumble. We still forget God’s ways. But our standing before God does not depend upon our righteousness. It rests upon his. His mercy restores us. His forgiveness renews us. His righteousness is counted as our own.

Jeremiah’s promise is not finished yet. There is still another “day that is coming.” A day when sin will trouble us no more. A day with no more sickness, sorrow, or death. The fullness of God’s promise still lies ahead, just as it did for Jeremiah’s first hearers.

Until that day, we live by the promises of the New Covenant. They are centered in Christ, sealed to us in Holy Baptism, and celebrated whenever we receive the Lord’s Supper—the meal of the New Covenant. There we receive a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, where God’s promises will finally and forever be fulfilled.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 28-30, Psalm 66.

Jeremiah 29:10-14

“For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

This is a favorite passage of many. God has plans—good plans—for hope and a future, plans for prosperity and not for harm. What a wonderful promise! Who wouldn’t want to have that printed and taped to the bathroom mirror?

Before we get to the incredible promises of this passage, however, we need to set them in the context of Judah’s situation during Jeremiah’s ministry. The people are on the brink of exile, though they have not yet been carried away. The false prophets are assuring everyone, “It’ll be fine. No need to worry. Everything is good here.” Jeremiah forcefully challenges that lie:

“Do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish.” (Jeremiah 27:9–10)

Just so you know…this is not good news.

But Jeremiah’s message is good news. Better yet, it is honest good news. There is no pie in the sky. No pretending everything is alright when it isn’t. That’s what the false prophets were doing.

Jeremiah speaks of a hope that lies beyond the coming judgment. It is a hope anchored in God’s own promise: “Thus says the LORD…” Trouble still looms on the horizon. Babylon will conquer Jerusalem and carry God’s people into exile. But after the seventy years are complete, God will bring his people home.

Why?

Because God has plans for hope and a future. Plans for their welfare and not for their harm. There will be a return.

I love sharing this passage with churches as we engage in strategic mission planning. It reminds us that God’s plans are always bigger than our own. Notice what he promises: “You will call upon me and come and pray to me… You will seek me and find me… I will restore your fortunes and gather you…” (Jeremiah 29:12–14). God’s deepest desire is not merely that his people enjoy prosperity, but that they return to him.

Judah’s greatest good is found not in comfort or success, but in a restored relationship with the LORD. He will bring them back from exile so they can worship him, rebuild what has been broken, and once again live lives marked by justice, humility, faithfulness, and righteousness. Everything flows from being brought back into fellowship with God.

That promise reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection, he has brought us home from an even deeper exile—the exile of sin and death. He reconciles us to the Father and calls us into a life of loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. God’s plans for us have always been centered on that restored relationship. Through faith in Jesus, we have both a sure hope and an eternal future.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 19-21, Psalm 63.

Jeremiah 20:7-14

O LORD, you have deceived me,
    and I was deceived;
you are stronger than I,
    and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
    everyone mocks me.
⁸ For whenever I speak, I cry out,
    I shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the LORD has become for me
    a reproach and derision all day long.
⁹ If I say, “I will not mention him,
    or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
    shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
    and I cannot.
¹⁰ For I hear many whispering.
    Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
    say all my close friends,
    watching for my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
    then we can overcome him
    and take our revenge on him.”
¹¹ But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior;
    therefore my persecutors will stumble;
    they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
    for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
    will never be forgotten.
¹² O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous,
    who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.

¹³ Sing to the LORD;
    praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
    from the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴ Cursed be the day
    on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
    let it not be blessed!

I want to ask, “When is enough enough, God?” I suspect Jeremiah had the same question. I’m sure he wanted to say, “I surrender!” Yet Jeremiah isn’t even the target of the LORD’s accusations against Judah. He’s only the messenger. But that doesn’t exempt him from trouble and suffering.

You might even wonder whether Jeremiah was bringing some of it on himself. After Pashhur had him beaten and put in the stocks for a day, we read, “The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, ‘The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.’” (Jeremiah 20:3). It almost sounds like he’s poking the bear, as they say.

But Jeremiah isn’t speaking out of spite. He is carrying out the commission God gave him. He cannot help but proclaim what the LORD has placed within him.

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:9)

Years ago, I had to prepare for a possible deposition. Although I wasn’t a party to the lawsuit, I was likely to be called as a witness. The attorney preparing me fired one question after another: Did you say this? Did you do that? Were you aware that…? What did you do next? Every answer seemed to lead to another question. Before long, I felt less like a witness and more like the defendant. And this was the attorney who was on my side.

That attorney wasn’t interested in what was in my heart. He wanted to know whether there were any ticking time bombs that might be exposed in court.

But God was probing the people of Judah because he was concerned with their hearts. He wasn’t interested merely in cataloging their outward sins. He was exposing the inward disease that produced them. Layer by layer, he peeled away their duplicity, injustice, ungodliness, and faithlessness to reveal the real problem: their hearts were corrupt. They needed new hearts. They needed renewed minds. They needed faith. And the path to that new life would begin with broken hearts.

As Jeremiah carries the burden of exposing the hearts of God’s people, he reaches his own breaking point. He bursts into a poetic lament unlike anything else in the book. One moment he is overwhelmed with despair; the next he is praising the LORD. One moment he wishes he had never been born; the next he declares God’s faithfulness.

That emotional whiplash can be unsettling, but it is also wonderfully honest. God is worthy of our praise even in those moments when life seems unbearable—even when we wish, like Jeremiah, that we had never been born. Thankfully, God did not remain distant from our suffering. Jeremiah wished he had never entered the world. Jesus willingly entered the world knowing exactly what awaited him. He came to bear our sin, carry our grief, and secure for us an eternal future filled with hope—a hope Jeremiah himself will proclaim in chapter 29.

We never have to pretend everything is fine when it isn’t. But neither do we have to surrender to despair when faithfulness is met with opposition and hardship. The God who knows our hearts also knows our need. That is why he sent our Redeemer. He welcomes repentant sinners, binds up the brokenhearted, and gives new hearts to those who trust in him.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 16-18, Psalm 62.

Jeremiah 17:5-13

Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
    and makes flesh his strength,
    whose heart turns away from the LORD.
⁶ He is like a shrub in the desert,
    and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salt land.

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
    whose trust is the LORD by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?
¹⁰ “I the LORD search the heart
    and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
    according to the fruit of his deeds.”

¹¹ Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
    so is he who gets riches but not by justice;
in the midst of his days they will leave him,
    and at his end he will be a fool.

¹² A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³ O LORD, the hope of Israel,
    all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth,
    for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

Years ago, I slogged through much of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s monumental work, The Gulag Archipelago. It isn’t an easy read. Rather than telling one story, it presents one heartbreaking account after another of life under the Soviet prison camp system. Page after page exposes the cruelty, injustice, corruption, and dehumanization of a government that had abandoned morality and truth. By the end, I realized that this wasn’t merely the story of a few bad actors—it was the tragic fruit of an entire system built on lies.

Jeremiah often feels exactly like The Gulag Archipelago.

Judgment.

Another judgment.

Another warning.

Another denunciation.

Another false prophet.

Another king who refuses to listen.

Another plea to repent.

You almost want to ask,

“Jeremiah…is there any good news coming?”

Eventually, yes.

The New Covenant. (Still to come in our readings this month.)

The Righteous Branch. (Also still to come.)

The LORD Our Righteousness. (Also still to come.)

But for now, we have to wait.

Solzhenitsyn does something similar. He makes you sit with evil long enough to realize how deep it runs. Only then does he point to hope—not in politics or revolution, but in repentance, truth, and ultimately God.

And that need for repentance isn’t reserved for Soviet leaders or prison guards, nor only for the evil kings, false prophets, and pagan nations in Jeremiah’s day. Solzhenitsyn famously reminds us:

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart.”

And there’s the problem.

In the end, evil cannot stand against God’s truth and faithfulness. Nowhere is that more clearly seen than in Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and the devil. His resurrection is God’s declaration that evil, though terribly powerful, does not have the final word. Christ’s faithfulness triumphed where every other human faithfulness falls short.

We will not always stand as tall as Jeremiah or Solzhenitsyn, much less as tall as Jesus. But Jesus is more than our example. He is our Savior. He remained perfectly faithful to his Father where Israel failed, where Jeremiah’s generation failed, and where we so often fail. Through his life, death, and resurrection, he not only forgives our faithlessness but also gives us his Spirit to strengthen our faith.

Jeremiah’s call is still our call. Do not abandon the LORD. Do not be seduced by the false promises of the age. Do not confuse popular opinion with God’s truth. Instead, remain steadfast. Trust the One who is faithful even when we are not. As the LORD says through Jeremiah, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:7). Such faith is never misplaced, for the God who called Jeremiah to stand firm is the same God who sustained him, and will sustain us until the day faith becomes sight.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 13-15, Psalm 61.

Jeremiah 15:15-21

O LORD, you know;
    remember me and visit me,
    and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
    know that for your sake I bear reproach.
¹⁶ Your words were found, and I ate them,
    and your words became to me a joy
    and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
    O LORD, God of hosts.
¹⁷ I did not sit in the company of revelers,
    nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
    for you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing,
    my wound incurable,
    refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me like a deceitful brook,
    like waters that fail?

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the LORD:
“If you return, I will restore you,
    and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
    you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
    but you shall not turn to them.
²⁰ And I will make you to this people
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
    but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
    to save you and deliver you,
declares the LORD.
²¹ I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
    and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic

I’m reminded of that song as I read today’s chapters from Jeremiah. Jeremiah repeatedly announces that God’s patience has come to an end. While the vivid imagery of the winepress comes from Isaiah 63:1–6, with echoes in Joel 3:13 and Revelation 14:14–20, the same message resounds throughout Jeremiah. It seems to intensify here in chapters 13–15—and we’re still not finished with his prophecy. How much more of this can we take?

Perhaps that is how Jeremiah felt as he was given this heavy burden to carry to the people of Judah. Layer upon layer of confrontation, condemnation, and judgment. Warning upon warning. One heavy message after another.

To make matters worse, the false prophets were saying exactly the opposite. “Everything is fine. Nothing to see here. No need to worry. Peace! Prosperity! Let the good times roll!”

Only there would be no peace. God’s judgment was coming. It was already in motion. Jeremiah faithfully proclaimed the Lord’s message, and all he received in return was criticism, persecution, pain, and rejection.

So the LORD speaks to him. He reminds Jeremiah that he remains in control of all that is happening. The LORD himself would make Jeremiah a fortified wall against his enemies. He promises, “I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” (Jeremiah 15:21)

We may never have to suffer as Jeremiah did. We may never have to carry as heavy a burden as he carried. We may not be called to speak truth to power as he did. But we will face our own trials. We may have to cling to God’s truth in the face of the world’s false promises. And there may be a cost to remaining faithful.

In those moments, we too may take hold of God’s promise: “I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” Better still, we can follow the example of Jesus, who, “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23)

Jesus entrusted himself completely to the Father who judges justly—and the Father vindicated him by raising him from the dead. Because we are justified by grace through faith in Christ, we need not fear the world’s judgment when we remain faithful to God’s truth. When the burden of truth-telling grows heavy, we return to the One who is the Truth made flesh. There we find not only forgiveness, but also the grace to endure to the end.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 10-12, Psalm 60.

Jeremiah 10:1-12

Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. ² Thus says the LORD:

“Learn not the way of the nations,
    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
    because the nations are dismayed at them,
³ for the customs of the peoples are vanity.
A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
⁴ They decorate it with silver and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
⁵ Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    for they cannot do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”

⁶ There is none like you, O LORD;
    you are great, and your name is great in might.
⁷ Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
    For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms
    there is none like you.
⁸ They are both stupid and foolish;
    the instruction of idols is but wood!
⁹ Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
    and gold from Uphaz.
They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
    their clothing is violet and purple;
    they are all the work of skilled men.
¹⁰ But the LORD is the true God;
    he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
    and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹¹ Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

¹² It is he who made the earth by his power,
    who established the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Maybe you’ve seen the elementary school science experiment. A stalk of celery is placed in a glass of water tinted with red food coloring. Overnight, thin red lines begin to climb the stalk. Before long, even the leaves take on a reddish hue. The process is called capillary action. The celery gradually draws into itself whatever it is immersed in.

Jeremiah describes a similar spiritual phenomenon. God’s people had lived among the pagan nations for so long that they had begun to absorb their values, fears, and worship. Idolatry didn’t arrive all at once. It slowly seeped into their hearts until they began thinking and living like the nations around them.

This was even more evident in yesterday’s reading, but today’s description—belittling as it is—warns us against thinking of the LORD as merely another deity like the idols of the surrounding nations. Jeremiah mocks those who carve, chisel, and overlay wood and precious metals to create objects of worship. How foolish!

Idols and false gods have no power. They cannot even defend themselves. Remember Dagon? Twice he fell on his face before the ark of the LORD—and in his own temple at that (1 Samuel 5:1–5)! Yet people continued to worship him. I also think of the riot in Ephesus, where the crowd shouted for hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:23–41). Much of their fervor was stirred up by craftsmen who made a handsome profit selling silver shrines of the goddess.

But before we become too judgmental, we should take a careful look at ourselves. Idolatry is hardly confined to the ancient world. We have our idols, too. Some people set their hearts on a particular car. Others long for the right shoes, handbag, golf clubs, camera equipment, or prestigious address. We often ascribe lasting value to things that cannot ultimately deliver what they promise. I’ve accumulated some fine camera equipment over the years, but you can’t buy a great photograph. You still have to see it—and make the image.

If we continually surround ourselves with people who idolize wealth, sex, celebrities, possessions, or success, we will gradually begin to value those things ourselves. Left unchecked, that desire can grow until it displaces God as our highest good.

Good news! The spiritual capillary effect works in more than one direction. If we continually immerse ourselves in God’s Word, receive his gifts, gather with his people, and live in the promises of Christ, those realities also begin to permeate our hearts and shape our lives. We increasingly become like that in which we are immersed.

So Paul urges us, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable… think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Ultimately, all those qualities find their fullest expression in Jesus Christ. He is the true God, the Creator of all things, our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord. Worship him—and him alone.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click here or on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video overview of the book of Jeremiah.

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Today’s readings: Jeremiah 7-9, Psalm 59.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the   LORD:   “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,   ²⁴   but   let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the   LORD   who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.   For in these things I delight, declares the   Lord.”
   .

Jeremiah is called the Weeping Prophet because his ministry was marked by sorrow. For thirty-five chapters he faithfully proclaimed God’s warnings, judgments, and calls to repentance as Babylon stood ready to conquer Jerusalem. Though he himself endured rejection, imprisonment, and loneliness, his tears reflected both his love for God’s people and God’s own desire that they turn from their sin and live.

At the end of chapter 8, the LORD asks,

“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22)

Gilead was famous for its healing balm and skilled physicians. The question is rhetorical. The problem was not that there was no remedy, but that the people refused the healing God offered.

Over the years, Judah had so absorbed the thinking of the surrounding pagan religions that they no longer related to the LORD as the gracious God of the covenant. Instead, they treated him as though he were another pagan deity whose favor could be earned, manipulated, or appeased through religious performance. They still came to the Temple. They still offered sacrifices. But their worship had become largely external, as though God could be satisfied with rituals while their hearts remained far from him. They had forgotten that God’s favor is never purchased; it is received by faith from the God who delights to show mercy.

That is why Jeremiah immediately redirects their attention:

“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me…” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)

The LORD delights in showing steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. Healing is found not in our achievements, our resources, or even our religious activity, but in knowing the God whose mercy is greater than our sin.

The old spiritual proclaims,

“There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.”

Many years ago, Pastor David Schultz shared a picture I’ve never forgotten: “When Jesus walked the dusty roads of Galilee, he met people where they were. Then he would feel around the edges of their hearts until he found the cracks—and there he would rub in the balm of Gilead.”

What a beautiful image. Jesus himself is the Balm of Gilead. He heals our sin-sick souls, not because we have earned his favor or performed the right rituals, but because in his steadfast love he has borne our sin and opened the way to forgiveness, healing, and life.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click here or on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video overview of the book of Jeremiah.

Listen to today’s devotion

Today’s readings: Zephaniah 1-3, Psalm 56.

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵ The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.
¹⁶ On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
    let not your hands grow weak.
¹⁷ The LORD your God is in your midst,
    a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
¹⁸ I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
    so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
¹⁹ Behold, at that time I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
    and renown in all the earth.
²⁰ At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the LORD.

There is a remarkable verse here in Zephaniah 3:17. God says, “He will rejoice over you with singing.” (NIV) The ESV is a bit jarring to me, saying that God “will exult over you with loud singing.” I like the word exult. I’m not sure I like the “loud singing” part. But tell that to a soccer fan. They fill up the stadium with singing!

This is a remarkable verse because the Bible tells us many times that we should sing to God. But only here does it tell us that God sings over us. Set that beside the opening words of Zephaniah’s prophecy, and you have quite a contrast:

“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
“I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
(Zephaniah 1:2–3)

Yet the book ends in a completely different key. Zephaniah closes on this beautiful note (pun intended!). It is a dramatic conclusion. God promises not only to sing over his people, but to save them, quiet them with his love, gather them, restore them, and dwell in their midst.

And so he sings. I’m guessing that God does not sing off-key! But seriously, the fact that God sings over us says something about his heart. Think of when you sing. Maybe it’s while rocking a child who is fighting sleep. Perhaps it’s when your favorite song comes on the radio. Maybe you’re someone who sings in church with gusto. Or perhaps you sing quietly. Or only in the shower?!

God’s song rises out of his mercy, redemption, and the restoration of his people. He delights so much in us that he woos and draws us closer and closer. Then he promises to be with us. With us—at our side. With us—in solidarity. With us—as his protecting presence. With us because he delights in us and desires us near.

The contrast between the opening words of Zephaniah and the closing words of his book points to something else. God promises to restore the honor of his people. He will restore their fortunes. Why? So that the nations might see what it looks like to live under God’s gracious favor.

The beauty of this passage is found in its verbs. After calling us to sing, every decisive action belongs to God. He saves. He rejoices. He quiets. He sings. He gathers. He restores. We simply receive what only he can give. Jesus has made that possible through his death and resurrection. On the Last Day we will experience these promises in all their fullness. Until then, live in the assurance of God’s song of love, knowing that he delights in us so deeply that he sings over us with favor, grace, and love.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.