Jeremiah 4:14

O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

Ver. 14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness.] Which defileth it worse than any leprosy, a or jakes, doth the body. Mark 7:19,20 ; Mar 7:23 Thy hands thou often washest, and other outward parts, placing therein no small religion, thou canst not wash them in innocence; wash them therefore in tears, and when thou hast so done, cry to God with Augustine, Lava lachrymas meas Domine: ipsae enim lachrymae sunt lachrymabiles; Wash my very tears, Lord, for they are lamentable ones. Beg of him to bathe thy soul in the blood of his Son, to wash thee thoroughly from thine iniquity, and to cleanse thee from thy sin. Psa 51:2

That thou mayest be saved,] i.e., Have safety here, and salvation hereafter.

How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?] b Heb., In the midst of thee, in the very heart of thee. Creep in they will, but why should they lodge there? why should the devil be at inn with us? be any man's bedfellow, as he is the angry man's? Eph 4:26 David oft "communed with his own heart, and his spirit made diligent search" for such vagrants. Psa 77:6 Scopabam spiritum meum, c so some render it, I swept out my spirit. Carnal hearts are stews of unclean thoughts, slaughter houses of cruel and bloody thoughts, exchanges and shops of vain and vile thoughts, a very forge and mint of false political undermining thoughts, yea, oft a little hell of confused and black imaginations. They had need therefore to be carefully cleansed, and kept with all custody. Grace beginneth at the centre, and from thence goeth to the circumference. God and nature begin at the heart; art begins with the face and outward lineaments; so doth hypocrisy at outward paintings and expressions; it cleanseth the outside of the cup and platter, when the inside is full of ravening and wickedness. Luk 11:39

a Frustra sunt lavamenta, ubi nulla est innocentia. - Oecol.

b Hic mora cogitationis redarguitur et eius adlubescentia. - Oecol.

c Vulgate.