These nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years

Jeremiah 25:1-14

The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

“But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”

I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.

Why?

The Lord is full of love and with patient his people. Sent many servants and the prophets, again and again, to warn them to turn away from their evil practices. but they did not listen.

So the Lord will make their land desolate for seventy years. After seventy years the Lord will bring them back and enslave Babylon with many nations. God will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands. The Lord is righteous to every country.

Seventy years let the people of Isreal return from their evil deeds, seventy years is another generation from the slave country. But the Lord keeps his people could be alive and know the Lord from their hearts.

How?

Everything is under the control of the Lord, but the Lord also give gift and punishment to every one according to their deeds.

Two baskets of Figs

Jeremiah 24:1-10

After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.

Why?

Two baskets of Figs mean two consequences to the people of Judah and the officials. Being captured in Babylon will return back to the land of their inheritance. But other people who escaped to Egypt will be destroyed and the sword, famine, and plague against ehm until they are destroyed.

Two consequences are caused by how their choice is.

God's plan is beyond our minds and way. Trust in the Lord will be the best way, even if it seems not as good as the world's value.

How?

Our God is the Lord beyond this world, so follow the Lord should follow the way of the Lord closely.

But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word?

Jeremiah 23:16-40

But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?

In days to come, you will understand it clearly. I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.

But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.

They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.  Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.

Why?

Do I say the word that people like to hear, or do something people prefer? Say the right word as the Lord said, the truth and the righteousness word. Before saying anything thinks about whether it does good to others. Keep my mouth slow.

The wheat and straw have different weights when the wind comes the straw flies away, but the grain will keep there. This is the difference between truth and false talk.

Don't say this is what the Lord, we can say in our own name. For we have to bear the responsibility of our words.

-----------

真假真知預言的不同：假先知出於自己的意思，常說虛空，真先知是在耶和華的會中說話，心存敬畏、謙卑、順服，神才會給他們話。假先知講平安、祝福，是人喜歡聽的，真先知會講神的怒氣、忿怒，神的公義。是否要人悔改?也可以分辨真假先知。

假先知以為神不知道他們說的。假先知喜歡講自己的夢，糠秕是空的，麥子是有價值的。假先知會抄襲別人的，卻說是神來的，即用私慾得來的。

火代表審判，也是潔淨、照亮人。神來的話不會只有讓人舒服，也會叫人痛苦。大鎚叫人醒過來。

不要隨便說耶和華的默示！多數人是滿足於好奇心，而不是真的渴慕神的話！更不是要順服神！自己得到的亮光，啟示，不能說是神的默示。從神來的話，一定會引人離開惡行。

-----------

How?

Keep my mouth and word more careful and think about it one more time, then speak it out.

The Lord Our Righteous Savior

Jeremiah 23:1-15

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

“So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

“Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declared the Lord. 
“Therefore their path will become slippery;  they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declared the Lord.

Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets: “I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

Why?

The Lord disappointed the shepherds and prophets in Israel and Judah, so the Lord will take care of the remaining flock out of all the countries and bring them back to their pasture. There will be a new branch from David be a king, Jesus Christ, and he will be called: The Lord our Righteous Savior.

Both prophets and priests are godless, all of them will be banished.

The Lord is righteous and full of mercy to his people and servants. Judgment according to their behavior come down and the Lord arranged a new way for his people. God gives us Jesus Christ as a new priest, a new savior. Who does not come from the world, but comes from heaven.

--------------------

失職的牧人，指西底加！

耶和華是神的義，也是耶穌另外一個名字，耶和華我們的義，發音很像西底加的名字。

馬太雅：耶和華是我的禮物，被改名為耶和華是我的公義。耶穌補足我們的虧欠，完成了立法。因為人無法達成神的義。

很巴比侖成為他們的經歷，耶穌也是成為我們每天的經歷，不再只是講歷史，今天每個世代都可以經歷出埃及的得救經歷。

神給人恩賜，能力，但是人沒有用在對的地方。耶利米用北國與南國先知

 比較，北國是宗教上的敗壞，南國是道德的敗壞，比北國還要糟糕，雖然南國有聖殿、敬拜、祭司等。讓我們反省自己，我們有教會活動，我們有主日敬拜，有讀經，有禱告，但是行為與世人是否一樣，甚至於更壞?神的公義與慈愛並行！來聚會，不是來看電影，穿著、遲到等，我們的心是否看重神?

--------------------

How?

Under the plan of the Lord, there is Jesus Christ in the days of Jeremiah.

Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed

Jeremiah 21:11-22:30

‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.

I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the Lord. I will kindle a fire in your forests that will consume everything around you.’

to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.

People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.

I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me. The wind will drive all your shepherds away,  and your allies will go into exile. Then you will be ashamed and disgraced because of all your wickedness.

Why?

How to be a good leader in this world? do justice and rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.

God punishes us as our deeds, not our minds. But our mind may lead to deeds.

The Lord is my Lord, may the Holy Spirit remind me to do the right thing in eyes of the Lord and let the Spirit of the Lord be within me.

1.呼籲猶大王，行公義，好憐憫。這是政權存在的價值。

2.不可虧負寄居及的孤兒寡婦。不如此將成為荒場。

10節開始將三個君王，約哈斯(沙龍)，13-19節約雅敬：被改名，表示主權、權柄在別人手中。不給工價的老闆，貪婪、欺壓人，做王的目的何在?死時親人、百姓不為他哀哭。沒有人埋葬。他父親約西亞還是可以享受，他沒有行惡。

為耶路撒冷哀哭。人平安幸福順利的時候最不想親近神，聽神的話。

西底加王被尼布甲尼撒王改名，主權也是在尼布甲尼撒王手上。

約雅斤走生命的路，先知認為結局也是很淒慘。雖然他被關30年後得到君王的待遇。不要到無路可走才走投降的路，為什麼不在先前就行公義，好憐憫的路。

如果走神的路是蒙福的為什麼還猶豫、遲疑?

How?

Always obey the word of the Lord and honor the Holy name of the Lord, not for my own profit or delight.

I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death

Jeremiah 21:1-10

They said: “Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”

But Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in furious anger and in great wrath. I will strike down those who live in this city—both man and beast—and they will die of a terrible plague. After that, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’

“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.

Why?

Jeremiah did not listen to king Zedekiah and the priest's request to ask the Lord, for they did not turn away from the evil. Only when they felt the dead was closer they wanted Jeremiah to pray to the Lord for them.

Those people did not sense the evil and what they have done. So the punishment from the Lord came upon them. Even Jeremiah had announced these messages and warnings many times.

But Jeremiah still gives them the way of life and the way of death to choose, showing them the ways, but they still did not listen.

How?

The sad thing is their heart is dead, they didn't know what is the right way. So as we have to closer to the Lord and know the truth in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

 

But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior

Jeremiah 20:1-18

When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.

And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.

You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.

But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause. Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.

Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?

Why?

The revenge for Jeremiah announced the consequence of Pashhur. For God loves Jeremiah and Jeremiah listens to God's word and warns the people of Judah.

The word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long because people won't listen and rebel against the word of the Lord.

Jeremiah has to say God's word, for the word of the Lord is like a fire in his heart, and Jeremiah cannot hold it.

Jeremiah suffered the pain to say the word of the Lord, but he knew the Lord is with him like a mighty warrior, so his persecutors will stumble and not prevail. This is the love and trust in the Lord.

Jeremiah no one can complain about his pain, he knew the Lord who has committed my cause. and give praise to the Lord

------------

猶大好像瓦器，無法再回去了。本來預言猶大會被巴比倫擄去，被關被打後預言巴施戶珥個人的結局。

從一個神在騙他、整他，變成讚美神，v9     我便心裡覺得似乎有燒著的火閉塞在我骨中，我就含忍不住，不能自禁. 講是別人給的逼迫，不講則自己過不去，生命的本質，使命已經變成耶利米的本質，不講更辛苦！

因他救了窮人的性命脫離惡人的手：這裏窮人是單數，指的是耶利米當時的景況如窮人。雖然知道苦難就在旁邊，訴說自己的心情，完全沒有掩飾自己的心情。從耶利米的事奉中，受到的苦難，也不隱藏自己，承認自己的軟弱、信心不足，面對遙遙無期的苦難！真實把內心的光景表達出來。神也接納我們的灰心！在神面前，我們可以將自己的苦楚說出來，神也接納！

-------------

How?

Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the lof of the needy from the hands of the wicked.

I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired

Jeremiah 19:1-15

This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals.

Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth.

“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’

Why?

The Lord asked Jeremiah to use a clay jar to show to all people of Judah and break the jar, which means the Lord will destroy this place and can not be repaired.

Because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to God's words.

Why people don't listen to God's word? For people's hearts are covered by this world's values and profits. People have turned to the world's way, they do everything in their way.

People see the situation right now, they don't care about the future in their life, the eternal life. And they did not believe to be a Christian has any benefit to them.

How?

To be a Christian and obey God's command is a blessing to us, Because God loves me so I have decided to follow God's way in my life.

At the pottor's house, We like clay in the hand of the potter

Jeremiah 18:1-23

Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’

Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up.

They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”

But you, Lord, know all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.

Why?

We are the clay in the hand of the potter, so the Lord can do anything to us depending on what we have done good or evil.

Jeremiah said to his people, but no one listen to him and made plans against Jeremiah. So Jeremiah prays to the Lord not to forgive their crimes or blot out their sins.

How?

How about my faith and my heart focus on the Lord, or just focus on my work? Only the Lord is my focus, without the blessing of the Lord I can do nothing.

Keep the Sabbath day holy

Jeremiah 17:19-27

This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.  Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.

But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.

Why?

Following the way of the Sabbath day is an essential behavior to honor the Holy Name of the Lord. 

Going to church on Sunday to worship the Lord today is the same meaning to honor the Lord for our hearts put what in the first priority God knows it.

The businessmen are uneasy to keep the way on Sunday to worship the Lord. Because our hearts focus on this world or the Lord. Remember what we have is come from the grace of the Lord.

How?

Keep the Sabbath day holy is from our heart to love the Lord and reflect in behavior.

Cursed and Blessed

Jeremiah 17:1-18

Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.

Through your own fault, you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.

Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. They keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it now be fulfilled!” I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my lips is open before you.

Why?

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Yes, if one who does not know the Lord, whose heart is full of deceitful above all.

Jeremiah did not fear and escape like others, but he asked the Lord to save him and let the word of the Lord be fulfilled in him. The Lord is his shepherd.

--------------------------

兩種依靠

依靠人的血肉膀臂，好像扎根不深的杜松，不見福樂來到。不按正道得財的，好像鷓鴣菢不是自己下的蛋，最後都是別人的。

倚靠耶和華、以耶和華為可靠的，那人有福了：不是樹自己有辦法，而是扎根扎對地方。

壇角：祭物屬於神的不可追殺。人以為抓住壇腳就可以了，

我們的聖所是否在天上的，太初就有了，不是地上的聖殿。

耶利米服事有些灰心，因為所傳的還沒有應驗。神要他從守安息日開始。人是否放心依靠神?

詭詐的相反就是單純。不要想太多，不要太在意！

-------------

How?

The Lord is my shepherd, I belong to the Lord no matter what happens before me. I know the Lord is leading my way forward.

Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress

Jeremiah 16:1-21

You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.

And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.

It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me.

As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.

Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,  worthless idols that did them no good. Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!”

Therefore I will teach them— this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.

Why?

Our daily life and blessing depend on our relationship with the Lord.

No one whose sins can escape from the eyes of the Lord! 

Before erasing their sins, the Israelites could not come back to their promised land.

People should know that God's name is the Lord through God's power and might.

How?

Focus on the Lord, for God is our salvation and my blessing, without the Lord there is no one who can be my strength and fortress.

I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress

 Jeremiah 15:1-21

Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’

I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord

The Lord said, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.

Lord, you understand; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering—do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

Why?

Do I have anything that the Lord doesn't like? Yes, if I put my work beyond the word of the Lord, and love others with criticism.

The Lord gave much trouble to his people for their rebellion but give Jeremiah a good purpose,  under distress enemies plead with Jeremiah in times of disaster and times of distress.

The Lord remembers Jeremiah for he is chosen by the Lord in these times and environments.

How?

To be a servant is difficult but comes with peace and joy later.