The prophet Jeremiah uses two contrasting pictures here to encourage us.
• He paints for us two pictures that are very different – a dried up bush and an ever-green tree.
• Jeremiah is contrasting two different types of people - "the one who trusts in man" (v.5), who he says will be like a bush in the wastelands, and he contrasts this person with "the man who trusts in the LORD" (v.7), whom he says will be like a tree planted by water.
Where they put their trust set them apart. Where is your trust?
• Jeremiah narrows it down to these two choices - is it in man or in God.
• Who do you trust today? We all have to put our trust in someone or something. Ultimately, you are relying upon something or someone in life.
• It might be God, or it might be someone else. For many people that trust is in themselves.
Jeremiah describes these two choices to us and explains the consequences of each.
• The word ‘trust’ here means to rely on something.
Those who trusts in man alone, is like the bush in the wastelands.
• It is not the same bush we see around Singapore, most are green, well-groomed.
• Jeremiah says this bush is found in the “parched places of the desert” (v.6b).
• It is something barely alive. It may not be dead, but it is struggling to stay alive.
• They are dry, they have no fruit.
The one who trusts in man, he explains, depends on the flesh for his strength.
• This is all we’ve got – the strength of our flesh. It is limited, it is weak.
• Jeremiah says it is foolish for man just to rely on himself or any man, for that matter. We are all frail.
• The older we get, the more we realize this fact – that we are feeble and weak.
People might not mean to fail you, but they often do not have the power not to.
• They wanted to help, but they could not. We are overwhelmed at most times by the circumstances that are beyond us.
• Even the strongest and the bravest fear and falter.
Jeremiah says man relies on something weak for strength. This is unwise.
• But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that such a mindset causes man not to rely on God.
• The next line says, his “heart turns away from the Lord.” He fails to acknowledge God.
• If God is absent, man becomes the lord of his own life.
This is why the Bible says man is sinful. Trust in God is something that God demands.
• When God reveals His way to the people of Israel by giving them the Ten Commandments (a summary of how you ought to live your life) – His very first commandment is: “You shall have no other gods.” (Exo 20:3).
• If God is God, then He demands obedience. Trusting Him is right and expected.
• If God is truly God and cannot be trusted, then who else can you trust?
We will be disappointed if we continue to place our trust in man and the things that only man can do.
• No wonder he looks more like a bush, living in a place where there is little life.
• Jeremiah says, “He will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." (v. 6)
• He will be struggling through life. Life will just be all about survival. There is little meaning and purpose.
But Jeremiah went on to paint another picture. "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him." (v.7)
What a contrast! Not “cursed” but “blessed.”
• Blessed is this man who finds his strength in the LORD. If man is weak and sinful, then he needs to find his strength and righteousness somewhere else.
• In God, there is something that is sure and reliable.
• If it is foolish to put our trust in man, then it makes sense to trust the Lord, if He is truly God. Who else can you trust if you cannot even trust God?
But this is easily said than done. It is not easy to trust God, even though we know we ought to.
• When something happens, we are more of a bush in the wilderness than a tree by the stream.
• We are quick to put our confidence and our trust in ourselves and what we can do.
We turn to our own accomplishments, wisdom and successes to find happiness and security.
• We rely on our job and our pay cheque, and our future depends on the degree we hold.
• No actually. Our future and happiness is in God’s hands. He provides for us, and we fail to recognize the gifts He gives.
Jeremiah wants to remind us. He describes the man who trusts in the LORD this way.
• "He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream." (v. 8)
• Not a dry bush, but a tree, most likely a tall and strong tree with deep roots.
Now this is not a tree that just happened to grow up there, or one that sprung up there naturally. This tree was planted.
• It was purposefully planted there. Trees do not plant themselves. Someone planted it, just like the trees along the streets in Singapore.
• It was strategically planted. Note the placement of this tree. It was purposefully planted in a place where it would be well fed, by the streams of water.
The one who trust God finds God to be the source of his blessings and strength.
Dear bros/sis, we are blessed today not because of something we did or decided, but purely because of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
• By grace we received what we neither earned nor deserved - the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, peace with God.
• He planted us properly, also giving to us the means to live well and live right.
• Through His Word we are nourished, and like a tree by a stream of water, we grow strong.
The bush in the wasteland is barely alive.
• But the tree planted by the water “sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (v.8)
Both plants are alive, but what’s the difference?
• The tree is growing. It is growing taller and stronger each day. And it is bearing fruits.
• It is able to take in the water, which is ever flowing. The Lord is our constant Source of help and strength in life.
The bush, however, "does not see when prosperity comes."
• In other words, it does not see the blessings that God offers. And so it survives on its own. Life is a struggle.
• Are you barely surviving in life? If you are, you need to turn your attention away from yourself and to God.
These plants have something else in common.
• Both of them face similar dangers. Heat and drought threaten to cause both plants to wither and die.
• They face the same external elements. Just because the tree gets plenty of water doesn’t mean the sun shines less brightly. It doesn’t mean that a drought will never happen there.
• In fact, the verse makes it clear that those things will happen. They are part of nature. “The heat will come; the year of drought will come.”
But those same natural elements will not affect the well-watered tree.
• The heat beats on the tree, but it does not fear. The heat will not kill it; its leaves remain fresh and green.
The one who trusts in the Lord, who has been planted by the water and who uses that source of water grows.
• You and I grow in our faith because God has given us His Word. We know what is good and right, and the promises God has for us.
• We are able to stay strong and resilient because of His help. That is why is it important to know Him and His Word.
• It is not always important to hear what man has to say, but it is very important for us to know what God has said.
• That is why we want to do it regularly, every week. We want hear Him.
Hardship and trials come upon those who come to church and those who don’t.
• But when trouble comes, when sadness or loneliness comes, when the heat of life beats down on you, the tree that is planted by the streams of water "does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (v. 8)
You want this kind of life? I want this kind of life.
• God not only provides our nourishment, He protects and preserves us not necessarily from hardship, but in hardship.
• Even with the heat and the drought, you will be able to weather through.
• We are able to stay ‘ever-green’ because of His provision and His grace.
What a contrast, between what happens when you trust in the Lord and find your strength in Him, and when you don’t.
• I hope you recognize by now, that by the grace of God, we are all fruitful trees. That is, if you can really put your trust in God.
• We can grow and survive in all weather, in all seasons.
This is the thing that distinguishes the two types of lives – trust.
• Do you trust God today?
• If you do, obey Him. Receive Jesus into your life. You will experience a new and abundant life in Christ.
Let close with the reading of Psalm 33:12-22.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth -
15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.
