Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"My heart within me is broken"
Text: Jeremiah 23:9
JEREMIAH’S BROKEN HEART
Jeremiah was one of the prophets of God. Each prophet has a calling from the Lord to be His servant. The question is not whether there is a calling, but how he actually turns out as a prophet of God!
“My heart within me is broken
Because of the prophets;
All my bones shake.
I am like a drunken man,
And like a man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the LORD,
And because of His holy words.
For the land is full of adulterers;
For because of a curse the land mourns.
The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course of life is evil,
And their might is not right.”
Jeremiah 23:9-10
1. “My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake”
a) Jeremiah wrote candidly about how he felt.
b) His heart was broken because of the prophets.
c) The exact reasons were not stated in this verse.
d) But we can surmise what he must have felt
if we understand the context of his life and ministry.
2. Prophets were meant to be shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-2)
a) They were meant to feed the flock.
b) He saw how many prophets had failed to fulfil their calling.
c) Worse, some were guilty of scattering the flock!
d) He felt terrible because he was a prophet-shepherd!
3. “I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the LORD,
and because of His holy words”
a) Jeremiah was deeply impacted by the holy words of God.
b) He felt the deepest sense of sorrow about the immediate future of Judah.
i) All the cities would be destroyed.
ii) The children of Judah would be exiled!
4. “For the land is full of adulterers; for because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, and their might is not right”
a) This was a candid analysis of the land of Judah.
i) The land was cursed and thus mourns.
ii) The pleasant places were dried up.
b) A candid assessment of the children of Judah.
i) There was high immorality.
ii) The course of life of many was evil.
iii) The might of the rulers was not rightly utilised.
These were added reasons for the heart of Jeremiah to be broken!