Jeremiah 17:5-8

DISCOURSE: 1055
THE DUTY OF TRUSTING IN GOD

Jeremiah 17:5. Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out, her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green: and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

EVERY created being derives its existence and support from God: yet man is prone to depend on the creature rather than on him. Though constantly disappointed, he still leans on an arm of flesh; but such conduct is justly reprobated in the strongest terms.
We shall consider,

I. The characters that are contrasted—

Every man by nature “trusts in man, makes flesh his arm, and his heart departs from the Lord.” We need not go to heathens or infidels to find persons of this description. We need only search the records of our own conscience.
[In temporal things, we never think of looking above the creature: if they be prosperous, we trust in uncertain riches, and take the glory to ourselves; if adverse, we lean to our own understanding and exertions, or rely for succour on our friends. In spiritual things, we seek to establish a righteousness of our own; we expect to repent and serve God by our own strength.]

The true Christian “trusts in the Lord, and makes the Lord his hope”—
[He trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as the God of providence: he commits his affairs to him, expecting his promised aid. He trusts also in Jesus as the God of grace: he renounces all hope in his own goodness or resolutions: he cordially adopts the language of the Church of old [Note: Isaiah 45:24.]—]

These marks afford a sure line of distinction between the nominal and the real Christian—
[Both may be moral, charitable, and attentive to religious duties; but the regenerate alone trust simply in the Lord. Not that all the regenerate are alike delivered from self-dependence; nor do the same persons always exercise their graces in the same degree. There are remains of self-righteousness &c. in the best of men; but the unregenerate allow these things which are abhorred by the regenerate.]
Nor is this difference between them of trifling import.

II.

Their respective conditions—

Men’s eternal state will be fixed with perfect equity. The conditions of the characters before us are strongly contrasted:

1. Simply; “blessed,” &c. “cursed,” &c.

[What can be more important than these declarations? They are not the dictates of enthusiasm, but the voice of God; “Thus saith the Lord.” And may we not adopt Balak’s words in reference to God [Note: Numbers 22:6.]?—And what can be more reasonable? God has given his Son to be our Saviours; but while some confide in him, others, by not trusting in him, reject him: how reasonable then is it that a curse should attach to these, and a blessing to those! Such a difference in their conditions seems the necessary result of their own conduct. Spiritual life or death are dependent on our trust in the Lord, just as the life of the body is on our receiving or rejecting of animal food. Let every one then inquire, which of these conditions he has reason to expect?]

2. Figuratively—

To mark the contrast more clearly, it is further observed, that both the blessing and the curse shall be
Abundant—
[The unbeliever “shall be like the heath in the desert;” he shall be left in a state of extreme barrenness and wretchedness: and this too amidst all his boasted fulness [Note: Job 20:22.]. The believer “shall be as a tree planted by the waters,” &c.; he shall be made flourishing and happy by rich supplies of grace [Note: Philippians 4:19.]

Unmixed—
[The unbeliever “shall not see when good cometh:” he receives none of the heavenly dew that falls around him. The believer “shall not see when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be green, nor shall he be careful in the year of drought:” he may experience “heat” and “drought,” i. e. heavy afflictions; he shall, however, not be injured, but benefited by them [Note: His afflictions lose not their nature, but effect: tribulation, which fills others with vexation, works patience in him; the furnace, which consumes others, purges away his dross. Hebrews 12:11.]: free from all anxiety, he will say as the Church of old [Note: Hosea 6:1.]—]

Eternal—
[The unbeliever “shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited:” he shall be an outcast from God in the regions of misery. The believer “shall not cease from yielding fruit:” his present enjoyments are the pledge and earnest of eternal happiness.]

Infer—
1.

How glorious a person must Christ be!

[If he were a mere creature, it would be ruinous in the extreme to trust in him; but we are expressly commanded to trust in him [Note: John 14:1.]. He must then be “God over all, blessed for ever.” And this renders him worthy of our fullest affiance: on him must “hang all the glory of his Father’s house [Note: Isaiah 22:23.].”]

2. How are we all concerned to trust in Christ!

[God regards, not merely our outward conduct, but the frame of our hearts: on this our present and everlasting happiness depends [Note: Conceive Christ as making this declaration in the day of judgment. Compare Matthew 25:34; Matthew 25:41.]. Let us then trust in him for all temporal and spiritual aid; so shall we receive his blessing, and escape his curse.]