Jeremiah 10:17-25; 21:1-22:9; 34; 46:13-28
I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,
Jeremiah 10:23-24
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
We would all do well to spend some time in quiet meditation on this prayer of Jeremiah. Jeremiah bows himself in humility, recognizing his (our) inability to get things right. He is not defensive or defiant toward the LORD, but instead looks for correction, knowing that he needs the LORD’s mercy and that he cannot endure the LORD’s wrath.
This prayer stands in marked contrast with what we see from Zedekiah:
…King Zedekiah sent to [Jeremiah] Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, “Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
Jeremiah 21:1b-2
Zedekiah treats the LORD like a useful Genie, Someone Who previously did some neat stuff and might just come in handy again. But there is little hint here of any humility or contrition, no notion of a desire to be corrected, no repentance. The only semblance of humility shown here is that Zedekiah deigns to turn to Jeremiah at all, the man he has thus far completely failed to heed. The inquiry itself is ridiculous, though, because Zedekiah should already know the answer. Jeremiah has been declaring the LORD’s verdict for quite some time, so it should be no surprise when Jeremiah reiterates that everyone’s best course of action is to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. (Jer. 21:8-10)
So what about us? How do we approach God in prayer? Do we come to Him in humility and contrition, recognizing that He is the LORD God Almighty, the One to Whom we owe our very life, indeed, the One Who is our very life? Do we come looking for correction in complete surrender to His will? Or do we come to our own personal Genie, looking for favors and blessings, despite our defiance of His known will?
We might want to think long and hard before we happily conclude that we are more like Jeremiah than Zedekiah…