Jeremiah 14:19

14:17-22 Jeremiah acknowledged his own sins, and those of the people, but pleaded with the Lord to remember his covenant. In their distress none of the idols of the Gentiles could help them, nor could the heavens give rain of themselves. The Lord will always have a people to plead with him at his mercy-seat. He will heal every truly repenting sinner. Should he not see fit to hear our prayers on behalf of our guilty land, he will certainly bless with salvation all who confess their sins and seek his mercy.

Hast thou utterly rejected Judah?.... The prophet, though forbid, proceeds to prayers and expostulations on account of this people, the people of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin: or, "in rejecting hast thou rejected Judah?" (t) from being a nation, from being under thy care and protection? hast thou cast them away, and wilt thou suffer them to go into captivity as the ten tribes? what! Judah, whom the Lord hath chosen, and where was his dwelling place? what! Judah, from whom the chief ruler, the Messiah, was to come? what! Judah, from whom the sceptre was not to depart, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh came? and, what! wilt thou reject, and utterly reject, this tribe, upon which so many favours have been bestowed, and from which so much is expected? Hath thy soul loathed Zion? whom thou hast formerly so much loved and delighted in, and chosen for thine habitation; Zion, the joy of the whole earth, and a perfection of beauty. Why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? brought upon them his judgments; or, however, was about to bring them upon them, famine, sword, and captivity; and there was no deliverance from them, no way to escape them, no relief, no remedy, or no healing, as in 2 Chronicles 36:16.

We looked for peace: as the false prophets foretold; or through alliance with neighbouring nations, even all safety and prosperity; and had no notion of desolation and war: and there is no good; as was promised and expected, but all the reverse: and for the time of healing; national and civil disorders, from which might have been hoped for a train of blessings: and behold trouble! fears, frights, perplexities, and distresses; trouble from without, and from within. The Targum is, "a time of pardon of sins, and behold punishment of sins.'' (t) "reprobando reprobasti", Montanus, Schmidt.

Jeremiah 14:19-22 . Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? — The prophet again returns to God, and expostulates with him, humbly imploring mercy for his people, which shows that he did not understand God’s words to him, ( Jeremiah 14:11 ,) as an absolute prohibition to pray for them. Hath thy soul loathed Zion? — Which was formerly thy delight, and the place thou didst choose for thy special residence. Why hast thou smitten, &c. — That is, So smitten that there is no healing — Wounded us past recovery; none else can, and thou wilt not heal us. We looked for peace, &c. — All our hopes and expectations have been frustrated. We acknowledge our wickedness — The accumulated guilt of our land; and the iniquity of our fathers — Which we have imitated, and therefore are justly punished for it. We do not cover our sin, in which case we know we should not obtain mercy; we confess it, and hope to find thee faithful and just in forgiving it. Do not abhor us — Hebrew, שׁל תנאצ , do not despise, or reject us. What he deprecates is the judgments come already, and further coming on the people, the famine, sword, and pestilence, with the drought, under the sad effects of which they at present laboured; and he prays for their removal or prevention in these words, in which he implies, that the love of God to a people is the source of all the good which they can expect, and his wrath the source of all evil that can befall them.

To enforce his petition he pleads, 1st, God’s honour: For thy name’s sake — That name of thine on which we call, and by which we are called; thy nature and attributes; let not these suffer an eclipse; let it not be said or thought by the heathen that thou art either unable or unwilling to protect and save thy people. Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory — The temple, with the ark in it, the especial symbol of thy presence, termed ( Jeremiah 17:12 ,) a glorious high throne from the beginning. Let not the desolations of it give occasion to idolaters to reproach him that used to be worshipped there, as if he wanted power or inclination to protect it; or, as if the gods of Babylon had been too strong for him. 2d, He pleads God’s promise and covenant with Israel: Remember, break not thy covenant with us — “Thou hast promised to be our God, and that we should be thy people, chap. Jeremiah 11:4 ; that is, That thou wouldst take us under thy protection. We have indeed forfeited all our title to thy promises by our sins, yet we beseech thee still to remember the relation we bear to thee.” Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles — The vain idols, the imaginary beings, which have no existence save in the fancies of their worshippers, or the gods made by men’s hands; that can give rain? or can the heavens give showers? — Without thy providence. Are showers purely owing to natural causes? Dost thou not direct when and where they shall fall?

Hast thou utterly rejected {n} Judah? hath thy soul abhorred Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble! (n) Though the prophet knew that God had cast off the multitude, who were hypocrites and bastard children, yet he was assured that for his promise sake he would still have a Church, for which he prays.

(19) Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? —The heart of the patriot overpowers even the conviction of the prophet, and, though bidden not to pray, he bursts forth, in spite of the command, with a prayer of passionate intercession. Hath thy soul lothed Zion?—The Hebrew implies the act of rejection as well as the feeling which leads to it.

The prophet again returns to God, expostulating with him, and humbly imploring mercy for his people, which lets us know that he did not understand God’s words to him, Jeremiah 14:11 , as an absolute prohibition of him to pray for this people. Zion was a place whose gates God loved, and Judah was his pleasant portion. Lord, saith the prophet, is it possible thou shouldst loathe a place which thou so much lovedst, or cast off a people which thou hast so much owned? Why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? he acknowledgeth God to be he that had smitten them, and their condition without him to be helpless and hopeless; and that all their hopes and expectations were frustrated.