It was Jeremiah’s lot to be called of God at a time when all things in Judah were rushing towards the final catastrophe, when political excitement was at its height, when the worst passions swayed various parties and fatal counsels prevailed. His sensitive nature shrank back from the solemn commission; ‘Then said I, Ah Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am child’. He was cast in too delicate a mould, naturally, to be able to combat the dangers and difficulties of his time. He felt he was not eloquent, but there is danger in relying on human eloquence, the mighty power of moving men, instead of trusting in God. His response did not show unwillingness but weakness, and God patiently dealt with him, ‘Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee’. The sovereign Lord answered the nervousness of Jeremiah with the assurance of His presence and His deliverance.
Next, He put forth His hand and touched his mouth, and said, ‘Behold I have put my words in thy mouth’. Jeremiah’s mouth would be the vehicle for communicating the words of God.These words were to be powerful. They would be destructiveand constructive. The words of God communicated by the prophet would be for tearing up and flinging down; but they would also be for building and for planting. The picture of the almond treeassured him that the words of God are full of life. The cauldron told him that all the tumults of nations are under divine control. Therefore he must gird up his loins, arise and speak.
Then follows the precious promises of God, ‘I have made thee … I am with thee … to deliver thee’. These are marvellous words, spoken to a sensitive man sent by God on a difficult mission. Men would attack him; some conspire to kill him, while the king would cut up and burn his writings and consign the prophet to the pit and prison. But God had made him ‘a defended city’, and none would prevail against him, ‘for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee’, v. 19. Happy are they which serve the sovereign Lord, hidden in the secret place of God’s unfailing promises.
