(Wednesday, 11-14-07) Prayer 33 - Jeremiah's Praise for God's Wisdom

Read First:
Jeremiah 32:17-27

Hear It! Jeremiah 32

Jeremiah was in trouble. He was an outspoken prophet who had declared God’s judgment on Jerusalem. King Zedekiah had heard enough doom and gloom and had imprisoned Jeremiah in the court of the guard.

Meanwhile, the Babylonians were besieging Jerusalem. God also sent word to Jeremiah that he was to buy a field from his cousin, Hanamel. That field stood as a kind of window of optimism, a hope that although Babylon would take Jerusalem, at some point in the future God would bring his people home.

Jeremiah’s prayer acknowledges God’s wisdom foretold to him in prophecy.

What Can We Learn?
1. The first thing we might consider is whether this prayer is one of confidence in God, or one of hesitation and doubt. Some translations make 32:25 read like Jeremiah is questioning why God instructed him to buy the field.
2. Note the following points of praise in Jeremiah’s prayer:
(a) God is creator, thus nothing is too hard for him
(b) He dispenses loving-kindness yet holds people responsible for their sins
(c) He is wise and understands the ways of men
(d) Through signs and wonders he has made a name for him self
(e) He brought Israel out of Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land
3. 32:23 is a concise statement identifying Israel’s problem
4. 32:24 is a statement about the inevitability of God’s judgment

Questions to Ponder
1. Natural attributes of God Incomparable 2 Sam. 7:22
(a) Invisible John 1:18
(b) Inscrutable Is. 40:28
(c) Unchangeable Num. 23:19
(d) Unequaled Is. 40:13–25
(e) Unsearchable Rom. 11:33, 34
(f) Infinite 1 Kin. 8:27
(g) Eternal Is. 57:15
(h) Omnipotence Jer. 32:17, 27
(i) Omnipresence Ps. 139:7– 12
(j) Omniscience 1 John 3:20
(k) Fore-knowledge Is. 48:3, 5
(l) Wise Acts 15:18
(from Nelson’s Topical Bible Index)


2. If God possesses these attributes, should it encourage our trust in him? How?
3. From Jeremiah’s prayer, what does he seem to think is the thing that gets in the way of God’s ability to accomplish whatever he wants?
4. Comment on the following verses: Isa. 46:9-13; Dan 2:20-22; Eph 3:8-13; Ps 65:1-2