Jeremiah 31:18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus;
It is God who is here speaking. There is never a moan, or a sob, or a cry,or a sigh, but God hears it. The Lord is very quick of hearing for the sorrows of penitent sinners; there is no mistake about this matter, for he says, «I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; «
Jeremiah 31:18. Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,
«No good came of it. I smarted, but I was not benefited: ‘Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised,'»
Jeremiah 31:18. As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou; art the LORD my God.
There was never a heart that spake thus, unless grace had been secretly at work with it; and depend upon it, if God has brought us to this point, that we are ready to declare him to be our God, and are anxious to be the subjects of his converting grace, it is because God has looked upon us in his wondrous love. If thou desirest to be turned towards God, thou art already in a measure turned towards him. The desire to feel is a kind of feeling, the longing to believe has some measure of faith in it. Be comforted by this thought, yet be not content to rest where thou art, but go on till thou hast all the blessing that the Lord is waiting and willing to bestow upon thee. Happy is the man who is saying to God at this moment, «Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.»
Jeremiah 31:19. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed yea, even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
‘When a man has «sown his wild oats,» and God in mercy helps him to come back from such a dreadful field as that, he recollects what he has been, and he is ashamed of himself; sometimes, he is more than half ashamed to mingle with God's people, for he is afraid that they will have nothing to do with such a wretch as he has been; but he is, most of all, ashamed to come near to his God, because of the reproach of his youth. Yet listen to the Lord's gracious words concerning him:
Jeremiah 31:20. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.
Here we seem to look into the very heart of God; and he is represented to us as though he had contending passions within him. He speaketh angrily one day, but he doth earnestly remember mercy the next day. God changes not, yet his dealings with men must change, because their state varies so much. He sometimes speaks in great wrath while they hold to their sin, but love lies even at the bottom of that wrath; and anon he changeth his tone, and speaketh comfortably, and putteth away the sinner's sin when he sees that his anger has wrought the due result, and the sinner quits his sin to come to his God. Some of you understand this treatment, for you have experienced it; but you cannot comprehend the fullness of mercy and love that is in the heart of God towards the repenting sinner.
Jeremiah 31:21-22. Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter?
How long will you be seeking comfort where you cannot find it, and pleasure where nothing but misery can come?
Jeremiah 31:22-23. For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
Jerusalem was cursed because of sin; but God declared that, in his great mercy, he would make it to be a place of blessing, and men should speak of it as the «habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.»
Jeremiah 31:24-26. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
He that can sleep and dream as Jeremiah did, may well say that his sleep was sweet to him. May God grant to us, whether we sleep or wake, to be always with him! Then our time shall be indeed sweet unto us.