“Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD, for he rescues the life of the needy from evil people.” (Jeremiah 20:13)
When life is a struggle, praying to God can be a struggle. In today’s passage, the prophet Jeremiah prays a difficult prayer to God. This prayer challenges your prayer life in three ways.
First, engage with God. How do you engage with God? First, remember who God is, as He has revealed. This will bring you to praise Him, despite whatever pain you’re experiencing. When Jeremiah recalls God is the Lord of Armies, who will bring justice to his enemies, Jeremiah then remembers God is with him, and then he finds joy in his pain, and even praises: “Sing to the Lord! Praise the LORD, for he rescues the life of the needy from evil people.” When you remember who the living God has revealed himself to be, you can confidently approach him.
Next, pray honestly and fearlessly, knowing God cares. Know that God can handle your honesty! You may cognitively know that God knows everything, but here Jeremiah is painfully honest with God – although his complaints aren’t always pure: He calls God a deceiver – a trickster! He does not clean up his thoughts or feelings before coming to God. Being honest can be painful– for us. But the Lord knows your pain, so you can pray through it! Be direct, like Job and the psalmists, lamenting and giving thanks to God. When there is injustice, ask God, “How long?” Fill your prayers with pain and praise.
Lastly, trust God and know His ways are higher. When Jeremiah remembers who God is, he learns to trust Him. Remembering that God rescues, Jeremiah wonders why God, who called him to be a prophet, has not protected him from the suffering and mockery he has endured. Jeremiah’s lament/complaint takes up the voice of the innocent sufferer of the Psalms, which prefigures Jesus. As Christ suffers innocently for God’s mission to rescue sinners, Jeremiah suffers innocently as well. For us, we do not know the full picture of how suffering fits into God’s plan, but God knows, understands, and is involved in our pain. We can trust Him because His Son experienced pain and shame on the cross. And He is working to bring redemption. As Paul writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). We have a hope in Christ that Jeremiah does not fully see here, so we can know God is working all things for good.
Have faith in God, and pray boldly, saints.