Jeremiah 17:5 & 17:7-8
Thus says the LORD “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength . . . Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but her leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
What of Today’s Verse…
Again, we consider Jeremiah’s contrasting the two options on trust. As we noted, there are only two choices: man or God. When man is the object of our hope, the result is the curse of spiritual barrenness. “Cursed is the man who trusts in man.” Contrariwise, when God is the object of our dependence, the result is great blessing. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.”
The spiritual blessing that comes from trusting in the Lord is likened to a tree that is growing by the continual flow of a river. “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters.” The riverside is the ideal location for developing a flourishing tree. Trusting in the Lord is the only setting in which a flourishing spiritual life can be developed. A tree that is located by the river sends out its roots to take in more and more life-giving water: “which spreads out its roots by the river.” The Christian who is hoping in the Lord finds the life his inner man cherishes, and he reaches out for more of that life for which he yearns.
When the heat of drought comes, it is a dreadful threat to plant-life (unless the plant is located beside a sufficient river). When the heat of battle or impossible circumstances arises, they can pose a fearful threat. Even a child of God is tempted to be anxious. However, if the Lord is our hope, we “will not fear when heat comes . . . and will not be anxious in the year of drought.” Instead, we will continue in growth and spiritual fruitfulness. “Her leaf will be green, and will not . . . cease from yielding fruit.”
What radically different results come from trusting in God (instead of hoping in man). We receive spiritual blessing (instead of a cursing). Our spiritual life is like a luxuriant tree beside a river (instead of like a shrub in the desert). We experience the grace resources of God (instead of the flesh resources of man).
Let us Pray:
Dear God, I praise You for the abundant grace that flows from You into my heart every time I trust in You. It is blessing beyond measure. Nothing else could ever keep me from fear and anxiety. Nothing less could ever bring growth and fruitfulness in the midst of threatening circumstances. You are my hope day by day, Amen.
Words of Wisdom
The World To Come
If the least of us could only anticipate the eternal issues that will probably spring from the humblest services of faith, we should only count our sacrifices and labours unspeakable heritages of honour and opportunity, and would cease to speak of trials and sacrifices for God.
The smallest grain of faith is a deathless and incorruptible germ, which will yet plant the heavens and cover the earth with harvests of imperishable glory.
Lift up your head, beloved, the horizon is wider than the little circle that you can see. We are living, we are suffering, we are labouring, we are trusting, for the ages yet to come.
“Let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not,” and with tears of transport we shall cry some day, “Oh, how great is thy goodness which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men.”
Help me to-day to live under the powers of the world to come, and to live as a man in heaven walking upon the earth.
“In due season we shall reap if we faint not.” Galatians. 6:9
