Jeremiah 8:18-22, Jeremiah 31

Memory Verse: Jeremiah 31:2-3 - “Thus says the Lord: ‘The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lord appeared to him[a] from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

Song: Wash Me Clean by Josh Garrels

How can we know joy when the torment of despair or grief distorts perspective and seemingly erodes access to any good or true thing?  There is something in the human condition that longs for wholeness and despairs when it cannot be found.  I don’t know about you but I have lived in depression for so long that I’m immediately suspicious of anyone with a simple answer to such a serious question. But this is not a devotional of answers and arriving, but rather of overcoming and becoming. The despair in this segment of scripture we will look at is not due to mental illness or any other trauma or devastation beyond one’s control.  Mental illness is quite complex, and this passage is not saying that all despair, anxiety, or depression is simply due to sin or unbelief.  However, the particular type of despair in this scripture is directly related to sin and corruption both on a personal level and on a national scale. The overall message, however, can speak to any type of despair or suffering.   

Read Jeremiah 8:18-22

First, let’s get some context. In chapter 7, God is judging His people for two issues: 1) defiling the temple and 2) child sacrifice. That which God loves does not matter to his people and, worse, is being abused and destroyed. Two things are at stake: 1) authentic love for God and 2) relationships between people. We see the people’s despair and dread of God’s judgment but not remorse. 

Read 8:18-22 again. Here, Jeremiah’s despair is quite different than the people’s. He feels what they do not. How would you describe Jeremiah in these verses?  Can you relate to what he is feeling, even if it is due to a situation beyond your control in which you are not at fault?  Can you relate to what the people are experiencing? Take some time to write down any thoughts or talk to God about it. 

In chapters 7 & 8, we see a parallel despair of the corrupt (the people) and the devoted (Jeremiah), and they differ in two key areas. First, Jeremiah knows God. The people do not.  Second, Jeremiah loves others, though they are corrupt and, at times, hostile toward him (Jer. 20:10). 

Read Jeremiah 31

This passage has been called the Great Reversal, the Gospel before the Gospel. It is a message of hope based on God’s unfailing love (verse 3), which has been described as “that which lies beyond the vanishing point.”[1]  His love is the undercurrent of all He does, and it exists in experiences we cannot fully see or understand. It is there.  He is there. “Everlasting” also speaks to that which is without limit.  Spacious. God can hold space for you. We are not in competition for His love. It is for all regardless of “color, class, or creed.”[2] 

As you read chapter 31, note the verb tenses of the situation from God’s perspective.  We see present, past, and future tense.  God sees us in our sin (present), but He also knows who we are without it (future). And He judges and loves us toward that end, meaning that His love and His purposes are not bound by the things that limit us.  What is dark to us is not dark to Him (Ps. 139:11-12).

Verses 31-34 can best be summed up as “To know God is not a formal affair, but a direct, dynamic, intimate, personal fellowship with God which controls the course of one’s life….It is astounding that 600 years before Christ, in the midst of the greatest loneliness, tragedy, and grief, Jeremiah could proclaim a teaching so profound, so spiritual, and so true…”[3]  Joy is birthed in the journey.  It is not just about gaining joy.  It’s about becoming people who embody joy in any season of life. 

Back to our original question. I can’t completely answer it. There is too much I cannot perceive, but I know one thing. God loves me in my depression, and He knows who I am without it. He knows who I am becoming. His is the ministry of presence whether I can access Him or not. His kingdom is the space where everything He loves matters, and I long for the day when our darkness finally and completely erodes to reveal God’s unfailing love intimately interwoven throughout every single season of our lives. He loves us. He loves you. He loves me.  He is the God who can transform an inner abyss into a well springing up into life (John 4:14). He is writing truth in my innermost being, and He can use a mind – even a mind as broken and unreliable as mine has been – to speak words of hope and healing to others. My favorite quote comes from Jurgen Moltmann, “Hope and the kind of thinking that goes with it cannot submit to the reproach of being utopian. It does not seek after things that have no place. It seeks after things that have no place as yet but can acquire one.” 

[1] Broadman Bible Commentary: Jeremiah-Daniel, p. 148

[2] P. 148

[3] P. 153-154