Jeremiah 15 Devotional

The Promise Spoken Again

“Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD.”Jeremiah 15:20 (BSB)

Jeremiah 15 opens with a hard sentence: even if Moses and Samuel pleaded, God's heart would not turn toward this people (15:1). Then Jeremiah breaks into lament, wishing he had never been born (15:10). God's words were once his joy (15:16), yet his pain has no end. He even accuses God of being like a dry streambed that promised water (15:18).

God does not answer with a lecture on proper prayer. He calls Jeremiah to return, promising to restore him and let him stand in his presence again (15:19). Then he repeats, almost word for word, the promise from the day of Jeremiah's call: a bronze wall, enemies who fight but do not win, and God with him to save and rescue (15:20; Jeremiah 1:18-19). When faith runs dry, God does not hand over a new promise. He restates the old one, because it never rested on how strong his servant felt. Your honest complaints do not cancel what he has already said to you.

To think about: Which promise of God do you most need to hear spoken again in a season when your faith feels dry?