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"Provide no atonement for their iniquity"

Text: Jeremiah 18:23

AN IMPRECATORY PRAYER II

Jeremiah’s prayer may be very jarring to read. But let us not judge him too harshly. He had given his all to his countrymen, yet they had plotted to slay him. Behind every imprecatory prayer, there is a deeply anguished soul.

“Let a cry be heard from their houses,
When You bring a troop suddenly upon them;
For they have dug a pit to take me,
And hidden snares for my feet.
Yet, LORD, You know all their counsel
Which is against me, to slay me.
Provide no atonement for their iniquity,
Nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
But let them be overthrown before You.
Deal thus with them
In the time of Your anger.”
Jeremiah 18:22-23

1. “Let a cry be heard from their houses, when You bring a troop suddenly upon them”

a) The enemies of Jeremiah had rejected his messages warning about the Babylonian invasion.

b) Jeremiah would be proven right.

c) The LORD would bring foreign troops who would conquer the nation.

d) The enemies of Jeremiah would let out a cry:

i) Of surprise and regret.

ii) Of horror and fear.

2. “For they have dug a pit to take me, and hidden snares for my feet”

a) The sins of the enemies of Jeremiah.

i) They were recounted.

ii) They were highlighted.

b) They had plotted cunningly against Jeremiah.

3. “Yet, LORD, You know all their counsel which is against me, to slay me”

a) Jeremiah rehearsed the deeds of his enemies before God.

b) Their plan (counsel) was to slay him.

4. “Provide no atonement for their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
but let them be overthrown before You. Deal thus with them in the time of Your anger.”

a) Jeremiah’s prayer against his enemies.

b) A short list:

i) No atonement for their iniquity.

ii) Sins not to be blotted out.

iii) They are to be overthrown.

c) Jeremiah was praying that God would

i) Vent His anger against his wicked enemies.

ii) Deal with the wicked as they deserved.

5. How would God answer such prayers?

a) He would answer prayers according to His righteousness.

b) All God’s actions are tempered with mercy.

c) God’s judgment would be according to His sole discretion.