Jeremiah 20 Devotional

Praise and Despair Side by Side

“If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.”Jeremiah 20:9 (BSB)

The priest Pashhur has Jeremiah beaten and locked in the stocks overnight (20:1-2). Released, Jeremiah announces that Pashhur will die in Babylon (20:3-6). Then he pours out one of the rawest prayers in Scripture. He says the LORD has overpowered him, and the word has made him a laughingstock (20:7-8). He tries to stop speaking, but the message burns inside him until he cannot hold it in (20:9).

The prayer swings sharply. He declares that the LORD is with him like a fearsome warrior, and he even calls for praise, because God rescues the needy (20:11-13). Then, with no transition, he curses the day he was born (20:14-18). The chapter ends there, unresolved. God kept this prayer in his Word; faith and despair side by side do not shock him. Hebrews says Jesus prayed in anguish, weeping, to the Father who could save him from death (Hebrews 5:7). You do not have to tidy your prayers before you bring them. Praise and protest can come to him together.

To think about: What would it look like to bring God both your praise and your protest today, without tidying either one first?