Jeremiah 21 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 21.

Pashhur in this chapter is not the same Pashhur in Jeremiah 20; they have different fathers (Jeremiah 20:1; 21:1).

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/21/1/s_766001

Meditate on verse 8b.

Thus says the LORD,

“Behold, I set before you the way

 of life and the way of death.”

 

Observe carefully what God said in this chapter.

 

I Myself will war against you with an

 outstretched hand and a mighty arm,

even in anger and wrath and great indignation. 

I will also strike down the inhabitants

 of this city, both man and beast;

 they will die of a great pestilence. 

For I have set My face against this

city for harm and not for good.

  I will punish you according to

 the results of your deeds.

—Jeremiah 21:5-6, 10a, 14a

 

Did you know God has anger, wrath, and great indignation? Does it surprise you that God sets His face against people to punish them for their sinful deeds? Does knowing these truths about God impact your choices and behaviors? How will you apply these truths to your life?

God gave the people of Judah a choice; they could choose the way of life or the way of death. God gives you the same choice; which do you pick?

Pray Jeremiah 21:12 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, help _________ and me to

administer justice every morning

and deliver the person who has been

 robbed from the power of his oppressor.

We do not want Your wrath to go forth

 like fire and burn with none to extinguish it.

LORD, keep us from evil deeds.

For the sake of Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 20 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 20.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/20/1/s_765001

Meditate on verse 11a.

 

But the LORD is with me like a dread champion.

 

Jeremiah needed a dread champion (one to be greatly feared) as he preached God’s Word and was persecuted for it. Jeremiah had thoughts about no longer speaking the Word of the LORD, but those thoughts created a burning in his heart and bones. He had to speak God’s truth (vs. 7-9).

The sermon he delivered in the court of the temple (Jeremiah 19:14-15) resulted in beatings and being put in the stocks by Pashhur, the chief priest. Upon his release, Jeremiah delivered another message; this one was personally for Pashhur. The LORD promised to make the false prophet Pashhur a terror to himself and all his friends. His friends would be killed, and Pashhur would die as an exile in Babylon (vs. 3-6).

Do you proclaim the truth of God’s Word despite what others say and do? Or are you a Pashhur, telling people what they want to hear?

In the face of opposition and persecution, Jeremiah prayed. Pray his prayer from Jeremiah 20:11-13 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, be with ________ and me like a dread champion;

 let our persecutors stumble and not prevail.

 Let them be utterly ashamed because they have failed

 with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

 O LORD of hosts, You test the righteous;

You see the mind and the heart;

 let us see Your vengeance on them,

 for to You, we set forth our cause. 

We sing to You, LORD; we praise You!

  Deliver our needy souls from the hand of evildoers.

For Your name’s sake, Jesus~” 

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 19 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 19.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/19/1/s_764001

Meditate on verse 15.

 

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,

 “Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns

the entire calamity that I have declared against it,

 because they have stiffened their necks

 so as not to heed My Words.”

 

While Jeremiah was at the potter’s house, God told him to buy an earthenware jar. He took the jar along with some of the elders and senior priests to the valley of Ben-Hinnom, the valley where the people sacrificed their children by fire as part of their Baal worship.  The elders and senior priests should have taught and upheld truth to the people; rather they allowed heinous atrocities to take place.  God promised calamity.  Jeremiah spoke the Word of the LORD to the men then broke the jar in front of them to represent the irreparable breaking God would do to the people.

Jeremiah then walked to the court of the LORD’s house, not far from the valley of Slaughter, and spoke to all the people.  His sermon was simple; God promised to bring on Jerusalem and all its towns the entire calamity because the people had stiffened their necks so as not to heed His Words (v. 15).

If you are a teacher/preacher of God’s Word, fearlessly speak the Word of Truth. People are perishing for lack of knowledge of what the Bible says (Hosea 4:6).  If you are a hearer of the Word, heed and obey what God tells you to do.

Pray Jeremiah 19:11 and 15 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, let _________ and me live to please You,

 so You do not have to break us

 like one breaking a potter’s vessel,

which cannot again be repaired.  

Do not let us stiffen our necks.

 May we heed Your Words.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

 

Jeremiah 18 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 18.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/18/1/s_763001

Meditate on verse 6.

 

“Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you

as this potter does?” declares the LORD. 

“Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand,

so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”

 

God sent Jeremiah to the potter’s house for another sermon illustration.  Jeremiah watched the potter remake a spoiled vessel into a vessel that pleased him.  God told Jeremiah He would use calamity to reshape Judah into a nation pleasing to Him (v. 11).

The people responded to God’s invitation to repent with willful disobedience.

“We are going to follow our own plans,

and each of us will act according to

 the stubbornness of his evil heart.”

—Jeremiah 18:12b

 

God called them appalling (v. 13).  He promised calamity, and when it came, they would only see God’s back and not His face (v. 17).

Hear and heed the Word of the LORD!  If you are a child of God, He will mold you into a vessel pleasing to Him.  And you have a choice to make.  You can be a malleable vessel, easily molded by the Potter.  Or you can be a stubborn vessel fighting His every touch.  It is a pathetic place to be when God fashions calamity because a person refuses to be fashioned by their Creator.

Pray Jeremiah 18:4 and 6 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, forgive _________ and me for being spoiled.

 Make us into vessels that please You.

 We want to be clay in Your hands that You mold,

not clay that You have to deal with. 

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah 17 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 17.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/17/1/s_762001

Meditate on verse 7.

 

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD

 and whose trust is the LORD.

 

God gave a sharp contrast between trusting in mankind and trusting in Him.  Those who make flesh their strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD are cursed.  Those who trust in the LORD are blessed; they are like a tree planted by water that is not anxious even in a year of drought (vs. 5-8).

Why would anyone choose a life of curses instead of God’s blessings?  People make sinful decisions because the heart is deceitful and desperately sick (v. 9).

Jeremiah knew the One who cures sin sickness.  He cried out, “Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are my praise!” (v. 14).

Let the LORD heal you.  Choose to listen to Him and obey His Word.

Pray Jeremiah 17:7-8 and 14 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“May ________ and I be people who trust in You, LORD.

LORD, be our trust!

Make us like a tree planted by the water

that extends its roots by a stream. 

Do not let us fear when the heat comes,

but let our leaves be green. 

Do not let us be anxious in a year of drought

nor cease to yield fruit.

Heal us, O LORD, and we will be healed;

save us and we will be saved,

for You are our praise,

LORD Jesus, in whose name I pray~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

 

 

Jeremiah 16 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 16.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/16/1/s_761001

Meditate on and memorize verse 21.

 

Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—

this time I will make them know My power and My might;

 and they shall know that My name is the LORD.

 

Up to this point in Israel’s history, the nation was famous for the LORD bringing them out of slavery in Egypt.  God was about to banish them to Babylon because of their stubbornness and refusal to listen to Him.  From that point on, they would be remembered for the LORD sending them to Babylon and other nations as punishment for forsaking Him (vs. 10-15).  The Babylonian exile became a cornerstone in Israel’s history.

God was and still is unrelenting in His pursuit of Israel.  He brings calamity on them, rather than allowing them to continue in their iniquity, because He wants them to know that they know that they know He is the LORD (vs. 10, 17, 21).

God pursues you and those you love with the same diligence.  He wants you to know that you know that you know He is the LORD.  He wants you to be like Jeremiah who intimately knew God as his strength, his stronghold, and his refuge (v. 19).

Pray Jeremiah 16:19 and 21 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, You are _______ and my strength and stronghold. 

You are our refuge in the day of distress. 

_________ has inherited nothing but falsehood, futility,

and things of no profit.  Make them know—this time make

them know Your power and might.

 Make them know Your name is the LORD.

In whose name I pray, LORD Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 15 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 15.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/15/1/s_760001

Meditate on verse 16.

 

Your Words were found and I ate them,

and Your Words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart,

for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.

 

As the people of Judah forsook God, they kept going backward. God grew tired of relenting on behalf of those living in unrelenting sin, so He declared their destiny: death, famine, captivity, anguish, and dismay (vs. 1-8).

Jeremiah did not forsake the LORD. God and His Word became the delight of Jeremiah’s heart (v. 16). God was pleased with Jeremiah and promised to save and deliver him from the hand of the wicked (vs. 20-21).

How would you describe your life; are you going backward or forward? Cling to God and devour His Word. When you do, you will experience His joy.

Pray Jeremiah 15:19-21 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, ________ and I want to return to You and be restored to You.

 Let us stand before You.  Help us to extract the precious from the worthless. 

Make us Your spokesmen.  Make us a fortified wall of bronze,

and though others may fight against us, do not let them prevail over us. 

Be with us to save us and deliver us. 

Deliver us from the hand of the wicked

and redeem us from the grasp of the violent.

For Your name’s sake, Jesus~” 

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

 

Jeremiah 14 - Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 14.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/14/1/s_759001

Meditate on verse 9b.

 

You are in our midst, O LORD,

 and we are called by Your name;

 do not forsake us!

 

Sin took its toll, not only on the people of Judah, but on the land and the animals.  The water was gone; the ground was cracked, and the animals abandoned their newborn babies because there was no grass (vs. 1-6).

Amazingly, in the midst of the drought, the false prophets said there would not be a famine.  In the name of the LORD, they said everything was going to be fine.  God said they were preaching the deception of their own minds (vs. 13-14).

As you read Jeremiah, does the attitude of the people and the false preachers remind you of today?  False teachers preach that God just wants you to be happy, prosperous, and blessed.  People do whatever feels good with no regard for what God thinks about their behavior.

Do not be deceived!  Just because current laws or religious teachings legalize and condone sin, God still hates sin and punishes those participating in and approving it. Surround yourself with God’s Word and with people who are not afraid to teach what the LORD says.

Pray Jeremiah 14:20-22 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“We know our wickedness, O LORD.

 __________ and I have sinned against You.

Do not despise us for Your name’s sake;

do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.

Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

We hope in You, O LORD our God, Jesus Christ~”

 

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 13 - Praying God's Word

 

 

Please read Jeremiah 13.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/13/1/s_758001

Meditate on verse 15.

 

Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,

 for the LORD has spoken.

 

God told Jeremiah to create an interesting sermon illustration.  Jeremiah took a waistband, put it around his waist, went to the Euphrates River, and hid it in a rock crevice.  After many days, he returned to the Euphrates and dug out the waistband, which was totally ruined (vs. 1-7).

The waistband was a picture of Judah’s pride.  Like a waistband clings to the waist, the people clung to their foolish pride instead of clinging to God.  In their wickedness, God declared them totally worthless just like the worthless waistband (v. 10).

Jeremiah begged the people to listen to the LORD, but they refused.  They were eventually taken captive by the Babylonians and marched from Jerusalem to Babylon.  Their route took them by the Euphrates River where Jeremiah had once buried a waistband.  The sermon illustration was no longer ridiculous to them.  “Oh, if we had only heeded the Word of the LORD before it was too late!”

God’s Word is timeless truth, carefully preserved, so you do not repeat mistakes from the past.  Hear and heed His Word!  Let go of pride and cling to God.

Pray Jeremiah 13:11 and 15-16 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, as the waistband clings to the waist of a man,

__________ and I want to cling to You. 

We want to be Your people for

Your renown, praise, and glory. 

Help us listen to You!  We want to listen,

give heed, and not be haughty. 

We give glory to You, God! 

Do not let our feet stumble.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 12 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 12.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/12/1/s_757001

Meditate on verse 3a.

 

But You know me, O LORD; You see me,

and You examine my heart’s attitude toward You.

 

Jeremiah preached to people who said the name “God,” yet He was the farthest thing from their mind (v. 2).  They did not think about the LORD and His Word as they made decisions and walked through their days.  They pleased themselves, their idols, and the wicked people around them (vs. 14-17).  They refused to listen and take God and His Word to heart (vs. 11,17).

Jeremiah was the opposite.  He had an intimate relationship with the LORD. Jeremiah discussed matters with God, and he knew the LORD saw him and was listening to him (vs. 1, 3).

Think about your walk with the LORD.  Do you attend church, sing a few songs about God, then go through the rest of your week without giving Him another thought?  Or do you live life with the LORD, wanting to please Him, discussing everything with Him, aware that He knows everything about you?

Pray Jeremiah 12:2-3 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, You have planted _________ and me. 

We have taken root; we grow and produce fruit.

 Make it good fruit for You! 

LORD, be near to our lips and on our minds. 

You know us, O LORD;

You see us, and You examine our

heart’s attitude toward You. 

Make us pleasing to You.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 11 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 11.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/11/1/s_756001

Meditate on this phrase from verse 4.

 

Listen to My voice and do according

 to all which I command you.

 

Jeremiah’s next sermon was in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem (v. 6). The message from God was simple: “Hear the words of this covenant and do them” (v. 6).  The people responded to the sermon as their ancestors had done before them; each person walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart (v. 8).  God promised to respond with disaster.

When Jeremiah delivered the message to his hometown of Anathoth, the people wanted to kill him (Jeremiah 1:1; 11:21).  It is not always easy to tell people the truth of God’s Word.  Thankfully, the LORD protected Jeremiah from those who did not want to hear about His covenant.

When God told Jeremiah the message, he responded with: “Amen, O LORD” (v. 5). When the people heard the message, they responded with: “Let us cut him off from the land of the living that his name be remembered no more” (v. 19).

What is your response to the Word of God?  Jeremiah’s “amen” meant, “so be it.”  Do you respond to the LORD by saying, “So be it God; I am ready to do whatever you tell me”?

Pray Jeremiah 11:4-5 and 8 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, help _________ and me listen to Your voice

and do according to all which You command us. 

We want to be Your people, and

we want You to be our God. 

Do not let us walk after the

 stubbornness of our evil hearts. 

Amen, O LORD Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 10 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 10.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/10/1/s_755001

Meditate on verse 8.

 

But they are altogether stupid and foolish.

In their discipline of delusion—their idol is wood!

 

God expressed clearly what He thinks about idols and the people who put their trust in them.  Idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field that have to be carried because they cannot walk; those who trust in such things instead of trusting the LORD “are altogether stupid and foolish” (Jeremiah 10:5, 8).

 

God used the word stupid three times in this chapter.  People are stupid and devoid of knowledge when they trust in the works of their hands and do not seek the LORD (Jeremiah 10:14, 21). 

 

God contrasted Himself to idols in verses 10 and 12 of Jeremiah 10.

            The LORD is:

·      The true God

·      The living God

·      The everlasting King

·      The One who made the earth by His power

·      The One who established the world by His wisdom

 

What are you hoping will make your life better, but it is actually adding to your burden? Do not be stupid; let the true and living God, who made the earth by His power, establish and care for you and those you love. 


Pray Jeremiah’s prayer of confession in Jeremiah 10:23 and 24 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“O LORD, the way You want _________ and me to go is not in ourselves.

It is not in us to be able to direct our own steps; we need You.

O LORD, correct us with your justice;

not with Your anger.

For Your name’s sake, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 9 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 9.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/9/1/s_754001

Meditate on verse 24.

 

Let him who boasts boast of this,

 that he understands and knows Me,

that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness,

 justice, and righteousness on earth,

for I delight in these things, declares the LORD.

 

Jeremiah is described as the “weeping prophet.”  His eyes were a fountain of tears as he grieved for his people steeped in sin (vs. 1, 10).

Instead of annihilation, God offered the people something truly remarkable, something they could even boast about.  Their Creator desired these sinful, idolatrous people to understand and intimately know Him.

Ponder that truth because God’s invitation is for you and those you love.  The LORD wants you to understand and know Him.  He even gives you permission to boast that you do.  Why would anyone choose to know sin when the Creator of your soul draws you into a personal relationship of knowing Him?

Pray Jeremiah 9:13-14, 23-24, and 26 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, __________ and I have forsaken Your

 law which You set before us.

Forgive us for not obeying Your voice nor

 walking according to Your Word.

Help us stop walking after the stubbornness of our heart.

LORD, we are done boasting about our

 wisdom and our might and our riches.

Let us boast of this, that we understand and know You,

that You are the LORD who exercises lovingkindness,

justice, and righteousness on earth.

 You delight in those things.

 LORD, circumcise our hearts!

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 8 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 8.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/8/1/s_753001

Meditate on what God said in verse 7.

 

“My people do not know the ordinance of the LORD.”

 

Jeremiah preached to people who chose to live in sin and wickedness instead of the LORD’s righteousness. Choosing sin was choosing death, and the time would come when the people would be left with only dead bones to spread out to the sun, moon, and stars they worshipped (vs. 1-2).

The people were in a pathetic place. They surrounded themselves with others who condoned their sinful behavior. The scribes wrote lies and rejected God’s Word. The people were not ashamed of their disgusting behavior (vs. 8-9, 12).

Jeremiah preached God’s Word; he told about the coming judgment for refusing to repent. The horrible sin, lack of repentance, and impending destruction caused Jeremiah to be sorrowful beyond healing. He was broken for the brokenness of his people (vs. 18, 21).

What is your attitude toward sin? Does it break your heart to see lives destroyed by it? Your world is grievously similar to Jeremiah’s. Do not be tempted to condone behavior that is an abomination to God. Hear and heed the Word of the LORD and share it with others.

Pray Jeremiah 8:7 and 13a over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, even the stork, the turtledove, the swift,

 and the thrush know the seasons and

 the migrations You have appointed for them. 

LORD, make ________ and me know Your ordinances,

so You will not have to snatch us away.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell