O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
Since I (my nation) must be corrected (justice requiring it because of the deep guilt of the nation), I do not deprecate all chastisement, but pray only for moderation in it (Jeremiah 30:11; Psalms 6:1; Psalms 38:1); and that the full tide of thy fury may be poured out on the pagan invaders for their cruelty toward thy people. Compare Psalms 79:6-7, "Pour out thy wrath upon the pagan that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name:" a psalm to be referred to the time of the captivity; its composer probably repeated this from Jeremiah. The imperative, "Pour out," is used instead of the future, expressing vividly the certainty of the prediction, and that the Word of God itself effects its own declarations. Accordingly the Jews were restored after correction; the Babylonians were utterly extinguished.
Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name
- knowledge of God is the beginning of piety; calling on Him the fruit.
Heathen ... Jacob - he reminds God of the distinction He has made between His people, whom Jacob represents, and the pagan aliens. Correct us as thy adopted sons, the seed of Jacob; destroy them as outcasts, (Zechariah 1:14-15; Zechariah 1:21, "I am jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the pagan that are at ease. ... These are the horns which have scattered Judah ... but these are come to cast
out the horns of the Gentiles which lifted up their horn over Judah," etc.) Remarks:
(1) True religion alone can set us free from the bondage of superstitious fears (Jeremiah 10:2). Idolaters and infidels, though in opposite extremes-the former the slaves of credulity, the latter enslaved in self-worship-are both alike prone to superstition. He who fears the living and Almighty God has none else to fear. Let us therefore stand in reverent awe of Him who is "great" in His essential being, great in His manifested "might" (Jeremiah 10:6).
(2) The anthem of the Church militant should accord with the anthem of the Church triumphant (Revelation 15:2-4), "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations, for to Thee doth it appertain" (Jeremiah 10:7). God the Father hath given the nations to Christ as His inheritance by right of purchase with His blood, as well as by right of creation, (Psalms 2:1-12.) The actual possession is not yet entered upon, but in His own good time Christ is coming to take His great power, and to reign. They alone are "wise" (Jeremiah 10:7) who give unto Him, in His visible absence, the "fear" and honour due unto His name. The so-called wise men of the world lose the true dignity of manhood, and sink to the level of the brute, by severing themselves from the God in whose image man was made. "Fools" is the true name given to all such by revelation (Romans 1:21-28).
(3) All knowledge that does not ultimately emanate from God, and lead man to God, is a "doctrine of vanities" (Jeremiah 10:8). Faith teaches man to love and adore Yahweh as "the true God, the living God, and an everlasting King" (Jeremiah 10:10). This humbling of ourselves before Yahweh not only does not degrade, but truly exalts us, by linking us, dying creatures of earth, to Him who liveth forever and ever. The glory of the Creator, who "hath made the earth by His power," and "established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His discretion" (Jeremiah 10:12), is in some measure reflected on His true worshippes.
(4) All other objects which men idolize "shall perish in the time of their visitation" by the Almighty and All-righteous Judge. But not so He who is th e abiding "portion" of believers. He shall be theirs, and they His, throughout the countless ages of a happy eternity. As He is their "crown of glory," so, by a blessed reciprocity, they are His (Isaiah 28:5; cf. Isaiah 62:3). While the souls of His enemies shall be "slung out, as cut of the middle of a sling" (Jeremiah 10:18; 1 Samuel 25:29), the souls of the saints shall be "bound in the bundle of life with the Lord God."
(5) It is a hopeful sign when men in affliction are brought to "bear" their "grief" submissively, as a chastisement sent by the Lord; but many, like the Jews, fortify themselves with a stoical and forced resignation, which is a token rather of sullen impenitence than of unfeigned humility and repentance (Jeremiah 10:19-20).
(6) Such as would not hear the loving voice of God were forced to hear the terrible "noise of the bruit" of the invading enemy (Jeremiah 10:22). Even at the time when a judgment is descending, if men would humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, He would raise them out of their afflict ion at the last. The believer at such times comforts himself with the thought that "the ways of man" are not at his own disposal, but under the never-failing providence of God. The saint feels utterly incompetent to "direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). God can overrule the things which His child fears most, to ultimate good: He can restrain the furiousness of the enemy, even as He caused Nebuchadnezzar to give charge for the kindly treatment of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 39:11). So that the believer prays in affliction, not 'O Lord, do not correct me,' but "O Lord, correct me with judgment, not in thine anger" (Jeremiah 10:24). We may bear the smart of His rod, but not the weight of His wrath: that, indeed, would "bring us to nothing."
(7) "There is an everlasting distinction between God's dealings with His covenant-people and His judgment, on "the families that call not on His name" Jeremiah 10:25). His people are chastised, and are thereby brought to repentance, faith, and love. His hardened enemies are destroyed everlastingly, alike for their disregard of and rebellion against Him, and for their oppression of His people. Let these who do not honour God as families, and with family worship, be warned before it is too late.