Jeremiah 20:17

Because— Because I was not slain in the womb, so that my mother might have been my grave, even the womb of her that conceived me, for ever.

REFLECTIONS.—1st, They who will be zealous for God, and faithful to men's souls, must expect to be abused and insulted. We have here,

1. The prophet smitten by Pashur, a priest, and a chief governor of the house of the Lord, probably the head of his course, or captain, of the temple, see Acts 4:1. Hearing the prophet's discourse, or being informed of it, though his sacred character should have been a protection, and his own station and profession should have restrained him from such violence, he fell into a rage and struck the prophet himself to silence him, or commanded some inferior officer to beat him; and, to add ignominy to the insult, he ordered him to be set in the stocks, or prison, at the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord, that he might there be exposed, his person rendered contemptible, and his prophesies despised. Note; (1.) False prophets and worldly-minded priests have been ever the bitterest persecutors of God's faithful ministers. (2.) They who dare remonstrate against the iniquity of wicked priests and an abandoned people, must not wonder if even the formalities of justice are not observed to oppress them.

2. God's judgment upon this proud priest and persecutor, and the sentence on the land confirmed. In silent suffering the prophet all night submitted to his ignominious confinement; but on the morrow, when brought forth for examination before the sanhedrin, or discharged because no real charge could be supported against him, he has a revelation from God, which he denounces against this wicked man. The Lord had changed his name from Pashur into Magor-missabib, Terror to all around, importing the horror which would seize him and all his wicked adherents, when the Chaldean army should compass the city, and verify Jeremiah's prophesy. His eyes should see his dearest friends and relations massacred, his country enslaved by the king of Babylon, the people slain or carried captive, the fortifications of Jerusalem razed to the ground, the treasures of the kings of Judah given for a prey to their invaders; and himself, with all his house, should be led into slavery to Babylon, and die in that polluted land, with all his friends deceived by him, and to whom he had prophesied visions of peace. Note; (1.) God can soon make those who would frighten his prophets with menaces, a terror to themselves. Let every persecutor tremble at Pashur's doom. (2.) They who think by stopping the mouths of God's prophets to procure themselves ease, only bind on their sentence, and hasten their doom.

2nd, Jeremiah, though a good man and a true prophet, appears compassed with infirmities. What he suffered seems to have exasperated his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
1. He is tempted to find fault with God. Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; either in not bringing on the judgments which God had sent him to foretel, or not protecting him from the insults of his enemies, as he had promised him, chap. Jeremiah 1:18. But this was his impatience and hastiness: God will ever be found true, and never deceive those who trust in him. Or the words may be rendered in another manner, Thou didst over-persuade me, and I was over-persuaded; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed; silencing his pleas to be excused, by unanswerable arguments, and injunctions not to be disobeyed: and therefore, since he was at it were pressed into the service, he was ready to think it hard in God, that he should leave him exposed to such ill-usage.

2. He complains of the affronts that he met with, and the injuries that he received. I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me; and nothing wounds a generous mind deeper than scorn. But what hurt him more than any personal insults was, their contemptuous disregard of the word of God that he preached. They ridiculed the earnestness with which he delivered his message, and treated the charges that he brought against them, of violence and oppression, with derision at his preciseness; or the threatenings of the ravages which their enemies should make, with contempt and disbelief. He heard the vilest misrepresentations of his words and conduct, as seditious, false, and dangerous to the state; and his enemies stopped at no lies to blacken his character. Report, say they, and we will report it; ready to spread the most malignant aspersions, and, on the least shadow of offence, to accuse him before the governors, and procure his condemnation. For this purpose they set spies around him, who, under the guise of most cordial friendship, watched for his halting, in hopes that he would be taken in some or other of the snares which they laid for him, give them a handle for accusation, and an opportunity to revenge themselves, in his destruction, for the threatenings which he had denounced against them. Note; (1.) Ridicule and contempt are the common weapons of infidels and ungodly men against the preachers of the truth. (2.) It is grievous to a pious soul to hear the word of God treated with levity and derision. (3.) The fairest professions often cloak the foulest designs. (4.) Neither the purest innocence, nor most consummate prudence, can protect us from malignant tongues, resolved to find or invent some cause of accusation.

3. Discouraged by ill treatment, he owns himself ready to give up his ministry. Since he despaired of doing any good, he though that he might as well be silent, as exasperate them with fruitless rebukes. Note; It is a most discouraging thing to the preachers of God's word, to see their labours vain, and themselves rendered odious for their fidelity; but we must leave the event to God: our duty is, to persevere.

4. He resolves, notwithstanding, to go on, and trust God; nay, he was constrained to speak: the word of God was as a burning fire in his bones, which must have vent: or, there was in mine heart as a burning afire, such zeal for God, and love of men's souls, that he could not keep silence; and now his faith triumphs over his fears. The Lord is with me, and therefore their malicious devices shall be disappointed, and return in vengeance on their own souls; for he is as a mighty terrible one, strong to avenge, and jealous to return the wrongs of his insulted ambassadors. Therefore their persecutors will with shame and grief see their mischievous designs abortive, and stumble and fall into the pit that they have digged, covered with an everlasting confusion, never to be forgotten: and such shall be the end of all the enemies of God's church and people. No weapon formed against them can prosper; and every tongue that shall rise up in judgment against them, he will condemn.

5. He appeals to the heart-searching God for the goodness of his cause, and, conscious of his integrity, expects to see justice done him on his enemies, and vengeance poured on their devoted heads. Note; (1.) It is a comfort to us, when, in the sight of that God who trieth the reins, we can boldly appeal for our simplicity and sincerity. (2.) In all our sufferings it is a great relief to have a gracious God, into whose compassionate bosom we can pour out our complaints.

6. He rejoices in the confidence that God will hear and grant his requests. Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord; the few faithful in Zion are called upon to join in his thanksgivings, for he hath delivered the soul, or life of the poor, from the hand of evil-doers; he means himself, now rescued from the hands of Pashur; or, since he can by faith embrace God's promises, he exults in the performance of them as equally sure as if already fulfilled.

3rdly, Dire is the change between the just-mentioned notes of praise, and the melancholy sounds which follow. Some have supposed, that this is here recorded as the humbling acknowledgment of what passed in his mind during his confinement in the stocks or prison, from which sad prevalence of impatience he was now recovered, but remembers to his shame how ill he had borne it. He utters imprecations,
1. On the day of his birth, that ushered him into a world of misery. Instead of celebrating its return with joy, he regards it as ominous, and brands it with a curse.
2. On the messenger who carried the tidings to his father, and made him glad with the news that a son was born; he wishes that he might be destroyed as the inhabitants of Sodom, and be in perpetual terrors, as in the agonies of death, from some invading foe: an imprecation shockingly severe and uncharitable. Into such unbecoming extravagancies may passion, when prevailing, transport us, and leave us deep cause to repent their rashness, if we do not watch unto prayer.
3. He wishes that the messenger of his birth had been his murderer, &c.; wishes unnatural, as they were wicked and wilful.
4. He expostulates with God. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb? as if God had done him injustice in bringing him into the world, that my days should be consumed with shame, exposed to a continued series of insult, derision, and contempt; and herein, to say the least, he shewed much, very much of human infirmity. Let it serve to warn us against such a hasty spirit; which is not only highly criminal before God, but makes us appear absurd and brutish, and must expose us to just censure from men.