1 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles
beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder, together with your high places,
because of sin throughout your country.
4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.”
5 This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles
beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder, together with your high places,
because of sin throughout your country.
4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.”
5 This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
10 “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools.
12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
13 LORD, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD,
the spring of living water.
14 Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.
19 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. 27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
10 “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools.
12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
13 LORD, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD,
the spring of living water.
14 Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.
19 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. 27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”
TODAY IN THE WORD
The story is told of thirteen firefighters dropped from a plane to fight a Montana forest fire. Once they were on the ground, the fire jumped a ravine and surrounded them. With only moments to act, the captain ordered his men to light the grass around them, hoping to burn a space of safety before the fire arrived. But they cursed him and ran to higher ground, trusting in themselves and in their strength, rather than in the direction of their captain. They all died in the fire; only he survived.
Whom do you trust? This question occurs repeatedly in Scripture. In our passage today, God Himself asks the question and outlines the consequences of two very different answers.
Whom do you trust? This question occurs repeatedly in Scripture. In our passage today, God Himself asks the question and outlines the consequences of two very different answers.
In this passage, trust is defined in terms of where one chooses to live. The man who trusts in flesh, not the Spirit, and in human strength, not God’s, is imagined as a bush in a wasteland. He is isolated (v 6), cut off from other people, from water, and from God. Indeed, the three go together. The reason that “he will not see prosperity when it comes” is that he has settled away from its sources (v 6). How can you share in an abundant rainfall when you’ve chosen to live where no rain comes? How can you bear fruit without water? To trust in man is to live in a desert of no possibility.
The one who trusts in God, on the other hand, lives in a place of continual renewal. Like a tree rooted in a stream, this person lives at the source of prosperity. Drought isn’t scary because there is a constant water source; this person’s “leaves” remain green. Not only that, but this individual “never fails to bear fruit.” What a wonderful promise! Abiding in Christ will lead to a fruitful life; it is an inevitable outgrowing of life in the Spirit.
APPLY THE WORDTrees don’t try to bear fruit, they just do by virtue of being near good water and sunlight. In today’s Scripture God makes the wonderful promise that those whose confidence is in Him will remain green and will bear fruit.
