Jeremiah 9:1-4 5/18/25 A.M.
This morning I want to go to the Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 9. Jeremiah is known as the WEEPING PROPHET. A. I have known some people who LIVE a LIFE of MISERY. Some people are MISERABLE mainly because of their own attitude. They think everyone OWES them something. We’ve all known someone like that haven’t we? Always complaining and whining. Really they have an easy life. Plenty of money and a decent place to live. They may even have family that cares about them but they’re just MISERABLE. Man it is hard to take people like that. Do you know what would do them folks some good? Drop them off in the middle of AFRICA and let them spend a month over there. I bet they would get a NEW PERSPECTIVE of LIFE. Maybe drop them off in South Dakota.
B. ILLUS: Back around 8 years ago, a group of us from church went to Red Shirt Village on the Sioux/Lakota Reservation in South Dakota. Sister Donna Craig had done mission work there and she still had friends there. So that gave us an opening to get into the School Gymnasium. We gave away food, clothing and household items for the folks up there. We put NEW WINDOWS in Peter Two Bulls home. We had a church service there in the evening. Looking back now, I was naive in what I thought we could accomplish. I know now after talking to Peter Two Bulls and Sister Donna that it would take a regular presence there in the village to really make an impact.
Just showing up there for a few days didn’t really make much difference to them. They were glad to get what we gave them but it didn’t really change their lives.
But I said all of that, to say this. It made an IMPACT on MY LIFE. It was an EYE OPENING EXPERIENCE to see how some people, even here in the United States of America, still live. It made me APPRECIATE WHAT I have but more than that, it made me APPRECIATE WHERE I was BORN and HOW I was RAISED!!! The things my MAMA and DADDY taught me. You see, so many of the people of Red Shirt Village LIVE IN MISERY but there’s a WAY OUT. Peter Two Bulls has spoken here at our church since then. He’s not miserable. Others have broken free from what, I Believe to be, SPIRITUAL BONDAGE. It’s almost like there’s a DARKNESS over that RESERVATION. But here’s the KEY. Most of the folks there have never came to the REALIZATION that there’s a better way to live.
And I’m gonna get POLITICAL HERE, but a lot of the POLICIES of the United States Government have ENSLAVED them there on that RESERVATION.
And so some people are MISERABLE because of the SITUATION they find themselves in.
C. And then I’ve known people who are MISERABLE and they have BROUGHT IT on themselves. The CHOICES they have made and the LIFESTYLE they have lived have brought MISERY to them.
And listen, it’s hard to watch, but I’ve seen people lay in UTTER AGONY as they take their last breaths. What a HORRIBLE thing it is to see someone in MISERY.
After reading through the Book of Jeremiah, I think you could say “the WEEPING PROPHET” lived a miserable LIFE. AND FOR GOOD REASON!!! This guy had it rough.
He was BEATEN.
Put in STOCKS.
Thrown in a CISTERN full of MUD and left to DIE.
He was SENTENCED to DEATH.
He was called by God to PREACH against all kinds of SIN and IDOLATRY but yet he was told by God that the people wouldn’t LISTEN!!! Look at what God told him in …
Jeremiah 7:27
“Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.”
AND ..... THEY ..... DIDN’T ..... LISTEN.
As we look at these Verses this morning I want you to see the BROKENNESS of Jeremiah.
Let’s go ahead and read Verses 1 -4 of Jeremiah Chapter 9.
“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.
4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.”
So let’s go ahead and pray and then we’ll get into the message that I think God wants us to hear this morning.
Brother ____ would you lead us?
Verse 1 and 2 start with two words that are interesting to me. “OH THAT” What does that even mean? “OH THAT”
Well, I think it’s something that Jeremiah LONGED FOR. Something he felt might do him some good. Maybe even something he NEEDS. I think “OH THAT” means IF ONLY.
I think we use this term quite a bit.
IF ONLY I had $10,000 dollars I could BUY THAT.
IF ONLY I had the RIGHT TOOL I could FIX THAT.
IF ONLY I had the TIME I would DO THAT.
And so, in these Verses, Jeremiah was LONGING for some things that he needed. And that’s what I want to look at today.
I. “OH THAT … MY HEAD WERE WATERS”
“OH THAT … MINE EYES A FOUNTAIN OF TEARS”
“IF ONLY my head was FULL of WATER and that my eyes were like a FOUNTAIN.”
Jeremiah is being very poetic here. But I think he was just expressing how heartbroken he really was. He is wishing that he wouldn’t run out of TEARS to CRY!!!
“OH THAT” “IF ONLY” … “MY EYES WERE a FOUNTAIN of TEARS.”
“THEN .... I WOULDN’T RUN OUT OF TEARS TO CRY.”
“THEN .... I COULD CRY DAY and NIGHT for the SLAIN of the DAUGHTER of my people.”
Now THAT is a HEART that is BROKEN. Someone that is HURTING.
So what is he crying about? Well here’s what was going on. In the previous Chapter, Chapter 8, Jeremiah was prophesying about the coming EXILE. When the people of Judah would be over run by the Babylonians. People would DIE and many would be taken captive. And this is the last three Verses of Chapter 8.
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?”
I think Jeremiah realized it was TOO LATE. “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
The people WOULD NOT REPENT. He had PREACHED TO THEM. He had BEGGED and PLEADED with THEM. But they wouldn’t listen.
And here’s something else that was really bothering him. There was a CURE for their PROBLEMS. There was a way to STOP this INVASION. But they wouldn’t accept it. And I think Jeremiah had a HOPELESS FEELING.
And I think that there are times that we FALL into this, I guess you could call it, a trap. A CYCLE of DESPAIR and a HOPELESS FEELING. I’ve caught myself saying, “If only people would LISTEN but
It’s TOO LATE.
There’s NO HOPE.
They’re TOO FAR GONE.
It’s just a WASTE of TIME.
They’ll NEVER CHANGE.
And you know what I’m actually doing? I’m DOUBTING GOD. I’m DOUBTING His ABILITY and I’m DOUBTING His LOVE for MANKIND.
Listen God LOVES PEOPLE more than you and I do. He PROVED IT by sending His Only Begotten Son to DIE for our SINS.
He LOVES the HARD HEADED fellow who was RAISED in CHURCH but NOW refuses to serve God.
He LOVES the DRUNK down on 15th and Utica BEGGING for money.
He LOVES the VULGAR, POTTY MOUTHED so-called COMEDIAN who used His name in VAIN.
He LOVES these people and He draws them to Himself. I wouldn’t want anything to do with them but God wants them to be His children. That’s AMAZING. Romans 5:6-8,
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
II. Do you see what Jeremiah is saying here?
Look at Verse 2.
“Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them!”
“OH THAT” “IF ONLY” “I could just GET AWAY from these people.” Now Old Jeremiah is sounding more and more like you and I today.
“I am WEARY of CRYING for these people. I am SO TIRED of WORRYING about the SINFULNESS in their LIVES. “OH THAT” “Oh how I long for. Oh how I wish...”
“I could just go out into the WILDERNESS and GET AWAY!!!”
“I wish I had a LODGING PLACE of WAYFARING MEN.”
“I wish there was a HILTON HOTEL out there in the desert” “Well at least a Days Inn or a Motel 6.” Anything to just to get away from these people.
ILLUS: You know folks, you better be careful when you look for the cheapest hotel. Rachel and I were on a trip and she found a great bargain online. So we showed up and got our room and there wasn’t a bathroom in it. We had to share two bathrooms with the entire floor. Then there weren’t any towels. So Rachel went down to the desk to get some towels. He said, “How many do you need?” She said 4 so he handed her 4 and she started to leave and he said, “Hold it, you got to pay for those.” Folks, you had to RENT THE TOWELS!!!” So we showed them. We just stunk and didn’t take any showers.
But Old Jeremiah was looking for a place to ESCAPE. I think Jeremiah wanted to be FREE from the responsibility of telling these people the TRUTH. But yet he couldn’t do it.
Look what he says there in Jeremiah 20, Verse 9.
“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”
“I GOTTA A FIRE A BURNING in my BELLY and I GOTTA TELL THEM. I CAN’T KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT and I’M GONNA SAY IT!!!”
Folks, you might grow weary in the WORK of the Lord. Let me rephrase that. You ARE GONNA GET WEARY in the WORK of the LORD. You will get tired.
You may want to REST for a LITTLE WHILE at a MOTEL 6 somewhere off in the MIDDLE of NOWHERE.
But I guarantee you it WILL BE ONLY for a LITTLE WHILE. If God is in YOUR LIFE HE will be a BURNING FIRE. You won’t be able to KEEP QUIET. You’ll want to TELL SOMEBODY what GOD has DONE for YOU. WHAT He has brought you out of and WHERE He is gonna take you someday. You’re gonna want to tell them that He can do the SAME FOR THEM.
Let me say something else here. When you hear someone using our LORD’s NAME in VAIN it ought to EAT ON YOU.
When you see somebody mocking the Word of God it ought BURN YOU UP until you say something.
When the Holy Spirit gives you a MESSAGE to SHARE with someone else it’s gonna BURN INSIDE OF YOU until you get it out. YES!!! I’m talking from experience here.
So Old Jeremiah wanted to get away for a while. I can’t say that I blame him. Life was hard.
In Matthew 17, Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain and He was TRANSFIGURED right in front of them and Peter says, “Man, it’s GREAT to be here. Let’s build THREE TABERNACLES up here. One for Moses, one for Elijah and one for YOU.” But that wasn’t to be. They had to come off the mountain. They had to go back to the THRONGS of PEOPLE who were always wanting something from Jesus. And they had to go back down to the Jewish Rulers who were waiting for the time when they could put Jesus to DEATH.
And maybe you’re DEALING with a LOT of STRESS and ANXIETY in your life. TROUBLE with PEOPLE. TROUBLE from the PAST. TROUBLE with FAMILY. And you’d like to just find a LODGING PLACE. A PLACE where people aren’t so CRUEL and MEAN. A PLACE where you can have some PEACE.
Now some of you all may NOT be dealing with any of this today and you may never have to. But I have a FEELING that there’s somebody here that needs to hear this. You FEEL like you can’t get ahead. You can’t get PAST the PAST. You can’t make ANYONE HAPPY.
ILLUS: I’m gonna be OPEN with you all. I was just really stressed this week. I felt ANXIOUS. I had a LOT to do. I figured out that our Health Insurance was a SCAM!!! Since March we’ve paid over $1500 in premiums for NOTHING. And so I was trying to get that CANCELLED and get us set up with something else. I HATE dealing with those people. STRESS!!! And I’ll be honest, I just wanted to be LEFT ALONE. I was looking for that Motel 6. But a MOTEL 6 wouldn’t have done me any good. I wound doing what I should have done in the first place. I just turned it over to God and everything turned out ALRIGHT!!!
And listen, that’s what you’ve got to do. Just give it to God. Let Him take care of it. Let HIM be our RESTING PLACE.
III. In closing, Verses 3 and 4 talk about how there was so much LYING going on and Jeremiah just couldn’t trust anyone.
“They bend their tongues like their bow for lies”
“They proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.”
“Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.”
That sounds like you’re listening to a News Broadcast from May 18, 2025. People lying, Evil here, evil there. And why? “They know NOT ME, saith the Lord? Plain and simple.
You go on down through the rest of this Chapter and Jeremiah continues to tell us why he can’t stop crying. What’s getting ready to happen.
Verse 7, “I will melt them, and try them”
Verse 9, “Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”
Verse 11, “And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
Verse 16, “I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.”
Verse 22, “Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field”
These are just some of the things that are going to FALL upon the Nation of Judah. And just like God said, it happened.
But there is ALWAYS HOPE. Look at Verses 23 and 24,
“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
God was still going to EXERCISE LOVING KINDNESS.
JUSTICE and JUDGMENT were still going to PREVAIL.
And God would still EXERCISE RIGHTEOUSNESS. In other words. He would make ALL of these terrible things RIGHT!!!
Listen, maybe life is really hard right now for all kinds of reasons. Maybe it seems like LIFE is just not FAIR. Maybe it seems like there’s TROUBLE on every side. God is still EXERCISING HIS LOVINGKINDNESS to you today.
ILLUS: I remember a fellow telling the difference between KINDNESS and LOVINGKINDNESS. He said when he was a little boy he would come home from school and his mama would give him a piece of bread to eat. He said that was KINDNESS. But every once in a while she would put some BUTTER and JELLY on the bread. Now THAT was LOVINGKINDNESS.
And sometimes when life is hard God will send a special little blessing along besides the regular blessings and THAT is LOVINGKINDNESS.
God is still bringing JUSTICE to this world. Sometimes it might seem like the BAD GUY WINS and the GOOD GUY LOSES. But God is keeping track. He told us in Romans 12:19,
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
And God’s RIGHTEOUSNESS is still with us today. Never doubt it. Matthew 5:6,
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
Do you LONG FOR the Lovingkindness of God.
Do you want to see JUSTICE and JUDGMENT Prevail.
Do you HUNGER for God’s Righteousness? Listen, you can be filled up today.
Jeremiah, the WEEPING PROPHET. Trying to get the people’s attention. Trying to get them to turn back to God. KNOWING JUDGMENT WAS COMING. But they wouldn’t listen.
The Holy Spirit of God. Trying to get people’s attention. Trying to get them to turn their lives over to God. Knowing there is a JUDGMENT COMING. Is that you? Is God speaking to your heart today? God loves you today.
Let’s Pray
