We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
We have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers - (Ezra 9:7).
Remarks: (1) The injured husband is seldom willing to take back the adulterous wife, yet God, whom backsliders have so much more grievously wronged, is most willing to receive them back, on their penitence, with open arms. He lovingly beseeches these who, have declined from their first love to Him, 'Wilt thou not from this time-now at last, now at once-cry unto me, My father, who wast the guide and husband of my youth, be my guide and my Lord now again' (Jeremiah 3:4). Happy it is for those who from early childhood take God for their father, and the Lord Jesus and His Spirit for their guide through this wilderness journey. Happier still is the portion of those who, having begun early, never decline afterward from His service. Those who have not yet been by adoption "put among the children" (Jeremiah 3:19), whether young or old, should not lose a moment in praying for the gift of the spirit of adoption, whereby they may cry, Abba, Father.
(2) It is an awful proof of the obstinacy of corrupt man, that he is not moved to fear even by the judgments inflicted on his fellows, just as Judah feared not to go on in apostasy, though warned of its awful consequences in the ease of exiled Israel (Jeremiah 3:6-9). Or if he undergoes an outward reformation, such as Judah submitted to under Josiah, he does not "turn to God with his whole heart, but feignedly" (Jeremiah 3:10). And without a thorough change of heart, and an inward repentance worked by the Holy Spirit, there is no security for such a one not falling back again, as Judah did at Josiah's death, and then "the last state of that man is for such a one not falling back again, as Judah did at Josiah's death, and then "the last state of that man is worse than the first."
(3) How graciously God uses every means to stir up sinners and backsliders from their perilous state! He would provoke us to emulation by the case of others (Jeremiah 3:12) who have found pardon and peace. All He asks of us is. "Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God" (Jeremiah 3:13). Judah had asked (Jeremiah 3:5), "Will he reserve His anger forever?" God replies, "I am merciful ... I will not keep anger forever" (Jeremiah 3:12). His character and His promises are a double ground for assurance of pardon, if we will "return" to Him.
(4) The Lord has an elect people to whom He "is married" (Jeremiah 3:14) in the bonds of everlasting love. Not one of those whom the Father gives the Son (John 17:9) is suffered to be lost. Not the least grain of the spiritual harvest falls upon the earth (Amos 9:9). However sifted by Satan, as was Simon Peter (Luke 22:31-32), the believer is restored by the intercession of the Lord Jesus. As literal Israel shall hereafter be gathered out of all the cities (Jeremiah 3:14) in which they have been scattered, so that not one solitary Jew shall be overlooked, but all shall be restored; so not the least one of "the remnant according to the election of grace," the spiritual Israel, shah be forgotten when Yahweh "makes up his jewels" (Malachi 3:17).
(5) Meanwhile they are now drawn to God by His pardoning mercy, His tranquilizing peace, and His renewing grace. With, weeping and supplication (Jeremiah 3:21), relying on God's invitation, "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings," they cry "Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God" (Jeremiah 3:22). They disclaim all hope of relief from anyone except the Lord (Jeremiah 3:23). They renounce all past confidences, and say, "Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel." They justify God in their troubles, and condemn themselves for their past sin and shame. Reader, hast thou these marks of the true penitent? If so, be of good courage, Christ saith, "Son, thy sins are forgiven thee."
(6) Let believers never cease to pray for the blessed time, fraught with such spiritual joy to the whole earth, when, according to the promise, which should be the stimulus to our prayers, "Men shall call Jerusalem the throne of Yahweh, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it; ... neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination of their evil heart" (Jeremiah 3:17). "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!"