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.