Remaining Rooted
Notes
Transcript
The Text: Contrasts those who trust in human wisdom/flesh (like a stunted shrub in the desert) with those who trust in the Lord (like a tree planted by water). It concludes with a prayer for healing and salvation.
The one who trusts in human wisdom:
He makes his flesh hi strength
His heart turns away from the Lord
Then there’s the one who trusts in the Lord
He does not fear when trouble comes
He does not become anxious when faced with uncertainty
And when in such difficult circumstances, he continues to show forth that he trusts in the Lord.
The problem with relying on human wisdom to navigate the complexities and difficulties of life is that the human mind, that is his will, desires, motivations and natural loves have been corrupted by sin. Jeremiah knew this about himself, he knew this about the people to whom he proclaimed the Word of the Lord, so he pleads with the Lord to intervene in the hearts of men to prevail over their rebellion against Him:
Heal me
Save me
You are my praise
Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is he who gets riches but not by justice;
in the midst of his days they will leave him,
and at his end he will be a fool.
A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
O Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth,
for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for you are my praise.
