Commentary on Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

These two pieces of scripture from Jeremiah are pieces of communal lament. From a structural perspective, laments generally—though not always—include some approximation of an address, a complaint or reason for the lament, a petition that asks for a desired outcome, and a statement of hope and trust. More than this, lament includes naming of struggles and injustice, often a cathartic if vulnerable way to speak in front of God and one another. 

Lament also offers a framework for people to intercede for their neighbors. This is particularly true of communal laments like those in the assigned pericope. Naming a shared experience requires us to see one another, as does lament on behalf of those whose experiences are different from our own. Lament can be an aspect of resisting apathy and helplessness and a part of turning toward action on behalf of neighbors. Lament is far more than complaining and is an integral part of prayer.

The occasion for lament in this pericope is drought (Jeremiah 14:1–6), but the laments are broad enough to accommodate many different situations. Although the two sections of communal lament included in the pericope for Ordinary 30C are separated by intervening verses, they have the feel of being related. Read as a single whole, an outline might look something like this:

The missing verses in the middle include a warning to Jeremiah not to intercede for the people (verses 11–12), a statement of divine judgment on false prophets (verses 13–16), and a divine lament (verses 17–18). The Lord’s judgment, whether on false prophets or on the people as a whole, is not disinterested or mechanistic but rather drives the Lord to cry divine tears.

The two laments mirror one another, with the intervening divine response reminding us that the laments seek a response and are situational. Despite the seemingly firm statement in verse 10 that the Lord would not accept them but would remember their iniquity, the people return to their lament, questioning whether the Lord has completely rejected Judah. It is a remarkable feat of persistence to continue in the face of what feels like divine rejection, though there is precedence for this persistence in the Hebrew Bible. Abraham bargains for the city of Sodom. Moses intercedes for mercy after the golden calf incident in the wilderness. 

Likewise, the people of Judah continue to call out to their God in hopeful lament, calling on God to respond not with judgment but with mercy. This persistence is centered on the faithful confession that mercy and steadfast commitment are core to the Lord’s character. As the people lament their situation, including their own sinfulness, they call on God to act in accordance with God’s own character. A sermon focusing on lament and God’s faithfulness could be particularly helpful on a day when the community is not necessarily gathered for the purpose of lament and, in that way, could serve as a foundation for days when lament is the clearest faithful response to tragedy.

Images of God

These laments utilize several uncommon images for God. Imagery for God in laments often focuses on what people feel about God in a certain situation, rather than on confessional claims about God for all times and places. Even so, these images warrant exploration and curiosity. In these laments, the people experience God as a sojourner and an incapable warrior. A preacher could fruitfully explore one or more of these images in a sermon.

Sojourner

In verse 8, the people ask why their God should be “like a sojourner in the land, like a traveler turning aside for lodging.” Within the context of the lament, this signals that the people feel abandoned, a feeling augmented by the tradition that the temple in Jerusalem was the Lord’s earthly home. 

Sojourners were travelers dependent on hospitality for food, shelter, and protection from danger. Sometimes sojourners stayed just a night; sometimes they stayed much longer—even a lifetime. All required hospitality: food, lodging, and, for those staying longer, a means for ongoing survival and community participation. Deuteronomy commands love for sojourners, alongside other vulnerable groups of people like widows and orphans, and includes them in some forms of ritual and daily life (5:14; 10:19; 24:14–21; 27:19). 

What would it mean for the people to love the Lord as they do the sojourner? What would it mean for the people to invite God into their midst and for the Lord to accept hospitality? And what would this look like in our own communities and in the broader world?

Incapable warrior

The Lord as a warrior fighting on behalf of the Lord’s people in order to save them from their enemies is a common image in the Hebrew Bible. Thus, when an enemy like Babylon made incursions into Judah, even threatening and eventually conquering its capital city, the Lord was deemed either unable or unwilling to save. Thus, in verse 9, the lamenters ask the Lord, “Why should you be like … a mighty warrior who cannot save [or “give help,” per New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition]?” This expresses the experience of the people and also serves as a type of motivation, suggesting that enemies might view the Lord as weak or incapable—and what kind of God would want that? (See also Psalms 79 and 115.)

Hope of Israel

All of this is bookended with hope. In verse 8, lamenters address the Lord as the “hope of Israel” (see also Jeremiah 17:13), and verse 22 ends with the sentiment that the people’s hope is in the Lord, who is more powerful than an idol. Whatever the people feel like God is—sojourner, incapable warrior—they continue to raise their lament to the One they trust to enter the situation and have the power to act.