Jeremiah 20: 7 - 18 Jeremiah's Sixth Confession

You tricked me, Lord, and I was really fooled. You are stronger than I am, and you have defeated me. People never stop sneering and insulting me. You have let me announce only destruction and death. Your message has brought me nothing but insults and trouble. Sometimes I tell myself not to think about you, Lord, or even mention your name. But your message burns in my heart and bones, and I cannot keep silent. I heard the crowds whisper, "Everyone is afraid. This is our chance to accuse Jeremiah!" All of my so-called friends are just waiting for me to make a mistake. They say, "Maybe Jeremiah can be tricked. Then we can overpower him and get even at last." But you, Lord, are a mighty soldier, standing at my side.
Those troublemakers will fall down and fail - terribly embarrassed, forever ashamed. Lord All-Powerful, you test those who do right, and you know every heart and mind. I have told you my complaints, so let me watch you take revenge on my enemies. I sing praises to you Lord. You rescue the oppressed from the wicked. Put a curse on the day I was born! Don't bless my mother.
Why did I have to be born? Was it just to suffer and die in shame?

These passages conclude the confessions of Jeremiah. The instant case is one of lament. He wishes he would have never been called by God because of his great persecution. Yet the word of God is on fire from within. Though he feels betrayed by both men and God, still his hope is in God. Many in the New Testament went through similar trials. The Apostle Paul was scorned by his own people, yet he felt that such suffering led to endurance and endurance to his hope in Jesus.

Daily Prayer: Father it is true that being a follower of you will lead us down a path of persecution. Jesus said whatever they have done to me, they likewise will do to you. Trouble will come from the world, but we need not worry because greater is he that is in me than he who is in the world. Amen.