Jeremiah 32:16

32:16-25 Jeremiah adores the Lord and his infinite perfections. When at any time we are perplexed about the methods of Providence, it is good for us to look to first principles. Let us consider that God is the fountain of all being, power, and life; that with him no difficulty is such as cannot be overcome; that he is a God of boundless mercy; that he is a God of strict justice; and that he directs every thing for the best. Jeremiah owns that God was righteous in causing evil to come upon them. Whatever trouble we are in, personal or public, we may comfort ourselves that the Lord sees it, and knows how to remedy it. We must not dispute God's will, but we may seek to know what it means.

Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah,.... When he had finished his worldly business, and which yet was by a divine order, and to answer a divine purpose, then he betook himself to prayer; and it is proper we should be quite free from worldly cares and concerns when we enter upon religious duties, particularly prayer to God; when the soul ought to be separated from the world and the things of it, and wholly devoted to God: I prayed unto the Lord; either for further information in this matter, of the use and design of buying the field; and how this part of the prophecy, signified by it, concerning the Jews buying and possessing houses and fields, can be made to agree with the other prophecy, that the city should be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; or, at least, that he might be able to answer the cavils and objections made by the Jews to it: that he was in some puzzle, perplexity, and distress, appears by his prayer, which begins, saying, as follows:

Jeremiah 32:16-22 . When I had delivered the evidence, I prayed unto the Lord — What he prayed for we learn in the following verses: by which it appears that he was not without some doubts and perplexities in this business. And though he yielded a ready and absolute obedience to God’s command, yet he prays for a clearer revelation of his meaning in the matter. Saying, Ah Lord God! &c. — He begins his prayer with an acknowledgment of God’s infinite power, made manifest in his works, both of creation and providence, whereby he shows himself wonderful in his mercies, and terrible in his judgments. It is observable that God himself makes use of these instances to confirm his people’s faith in his ability to do whatever he pleases, Jeremiah 27:5 . And the servants of God are often represented in holy writ as giving God such names and titles, and ascribing to him such attributes, as were calculated to strengthen their faith in prayer. And there is nothing too hard for thee — Hebrew, לא יגלאּ מאךְ , too wonderful for thee, or, hidden from thee, as some render the clause: that is, out of the reach of thy wisdom and power to bring to pass. Thou showest loving-kindness unto thousands, and recompensed, &c. — This name God gave himself, Exodus 34:7 ; Deuteronomy 5:9-10 , where see the notes; and concerning the latter clause, the note on Jeremiah 31:29-30 .

The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts — The God of infinite majesty, of boundless power, and of universal dominion, and therefore worthy of all adoration and praise, of all reverence and fear, of all subjection and obedience. Great in counsel, and mighty in work — Who art infinitely wise in ordering all events, and powerful in putting thy decrees in execution. Thine eyes are open upon all the ways, &c. — Beholding the evil and the good, and that not as an unconcerned spectator, but as an observing judge; to give every one according to his ways — To reward or punish men according to their actions, and the principles from which they proceed. Who hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt — Who didst wonders of justice in the land of Egypt, which remain, if not in the marks, yet in the memorials of them, unto this day. And in Israel — And wroughtest wonders of mercy in Israel, bringing them out of Egypt through the Red sea, raining down manna upon them, and quails from heaven, and fetching water out of the rock for them; and among other men — And hast also done many wondrous works in other places, by which thou hast made thyself a glorious name.

16 . I prayed unto the Lord ] Jeremiah still felt a difficulty in reconciling the obvious import of the transaction which he had just carried out at the Lord’s command with that overthrow which at the command of the same Lord he had so frequently announced to the guilty city. This difficulty he expresses in Jeremiah 32:24 f. which (against Du.), unlike the earlier portion of the invocation, are in all probability genuine. Jeremiah 32:17-23 (see introd. notes) ( a ) are to a large extent made up of expressions found elsewhere in this Book and in Deut., ( b ) bear a marked resemblance to Nehemiah 9:5-38 , and ( c ) in their elaboration are quite out of proportion to the brevity of the prayer that succeeds them. The passage, however, is in itself a fine composition, setting forth in order Jehovah’s attributes in general ( Jeremiah 32:17-19 ), His dealings with His people in particular ( Jeremiah 32:20-22 ), and Israel’s sinfulness and its penalty ( Jeremiah 32:23 ). 16–27 . See introd. summary to the section.

(16) I prayed unto the Lord. —The prophet, it is obvious, records his own prayer. Nowhere, perhaps—the prayer of Ezra ( Ezra 9:5-15 ), of Hezekiah ( Isaiah 37:16-20 ), of Daniel ( Daniel 9:4-19 ), being the nearest parallels—do the writings of the Old Testament present us with so striking an example of the manner in which a devout Israelite poured out his heart to God, dwelling on the greatness of His attributes—praying for himself, interceding for his people.

The prayer of Jeremiah. - Although Jeremiah has declared, in the words of the Lord, Jeremiah 32:14 ., the meaning of the purchase of the field to the witnesses who were present at the transaction, yet the intimation that houses, fields, and vineyards would once more be bought, seemed so improbable, in view of the impending capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, that he betakes himself to the Lord in prayer, asking for further disclosures regarding the future of the people and the land, less for his own sake than for that of the people, who could with difficulty rise to such confidence of faith. The prayer runs thus, Jeremiah 32:17 : "Ah, Lord Jahveh! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and Thine outstretched arm; to Thee nothing is impossible. Jeremiah 32:18 . Thou showest mercy unto thousands, and repayest the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, Thou great and mighty God, whose name is Jahveh of hosts. Jeremiah 32:19 . Great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of men, to give unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works: Jeremiah 32:20 . Thou who didst signs and wonders in the land of Egypt until this day, both in Israel and among [other] men, and madest for Thyself a name, as it is this day; Jeremiah 32:21 .