September 29, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“I called on Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: ‘Do not close Your ears to my cry for relief.‘

You came near when I called You, and You said, ‘Do not fear.‘”

(Lamentations 3.55-57)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Keeping it simple for Jeremiah and for us, this part of the conversation is essentially true for all of us:

We say: ‘Do not close Your ears to my cry for relief.‘

God responds: ‘Do not fear.‘

For many, God’s response seems like famous last words. Do not fear. Do not be afraid. Depending on translations of the scriptures which have been created over time, there are approximately 300 variations of that command. In the gospel story, the announcement to Mary and to Joseph begins with the appearance of an angel and the command to “do not be afraid.” The royal shepherds in Bethlehem were commanded to “not be afraid” as the heavens burst with the heavenly chorus declaring the birth of the Savior whose name was Jesus. During the Seder Feast, after which Jesus was arrested, then tried and ultimately crucified, He told His disciples, “have no fear of tomorrow for I have overcome the world.” His resurrection was the evidence of that “overcoming.” It came as Jesus Himself did not worry about tomorrow but trusted explicitly (with a momentary waver in the Garden Prayer) the promise of His Father and our God. Let’s go back for just a moment to His command “do not worry [have no fear] about tomorrow, for I have overcome the world.” Before His crucifixion and resurrection, before His Garden Prayer, before the Upper Room Seder feast, before He sent Judas of Kerioth to be the first domino to fall and engage the chain of events which would ultimately lead to our salvation, Jesus had already “overcome the world.” At the beginning of His ministry, following His baptism by His cousin John, He overcame the world by resisting the three-fold temptation of the Devil at the conclusion of His forty-day fast in the wilderness. He did so by adhering to the strength and promise of God’s word. His teachings concerning the true nature of righteousness were all fruits of the seed planted by the very word of God which preceded His testimony in the world. They demonstrated how He had overcome the world’s “false gospel.” His refutation of His greatest challengers, the scribes and Pharisees and teachers of the Law were also based on the pre-existing “Law of the Lord” which even His accusers knew since they were children. Those conversations were also demonstrations of how He had already overcome the world. Jesus lived without worldly fear. How?

Jesus lived without worldly fear, and urged all believers to do the same, by having only “one” fear. That fear, mighty ones of God, is found in Proverbs 9.10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” In Solomon’s wisdom the truth was revealed to those who would follow after him. Without a healthy respect for the power of God to give and to take life, to express justice on the faithful (good) and the unfaithful (rebellious) and to save His people with just a word, there was no wisdom and there was only worldly fear left to lead, guide and direct all our thoughts. To have a “fear of the Lord” truly meant to live in awe and wonder at all God had done, was doing and would do in the days to come. The call to embrace the reality that there is only One True God was not punitive nor meant to be coercive. It is the statement of ultimate truth. If there were many “gods” vying for power and attention, then the world would be in chaos. We see that truth exposed in today’s world and its broken culture and climate. The inability of humans to collaborate and cooperate in achieving the good of all demonstrates worldly fear (the lack of trusting God in all things, especially in His Word in all of its manifestations) and the need for godly fear (the trusting of God in all things by His Word as it is written and as it was lived out in Jesus the Christ.)

We see Jeremiah’s struggle between the two realms in his laments. He wholeheartedly believes in God and God’s power to save. Jeremiah was sent on a mission to find one holy and righteous person in all of Jerusalem. If that person was found, the God would spare Jerusalem the execution of justice for the people being ungodly and bound in worldly fear. Jeremiah was unable to find one. What Jeremiah failed to understand was an awareness of himself as God believed him to be a holy and righteous man. In his fear, he overlooked the obvious. He didn’t even go so far as to confess like Isaiah that he was unrighteous amid a population of unrighteousness. To cure Isaiah’s fear, God addressed the problem, as Isaiah declared it, and purged his lips with a burning coal from the fire used for sacrifices. To facilitate Jeremiah’s healing, God answered with isolation because Jeremiah felt he was being isolated and cut off from the world. Why did he think so? Was it not because he dared to speak the “word of the Lord” to all the people regardless of their desire to listen, repent and be reconciled. He was already demonstrating “the fear of the Lord” and being persecuted for it. He believed the persecution was a sign of unrighteousness. He was nearly his own worst enemy. No wonder he wept. He wept for the confusion of the people when the answer was simple to conceive but difficult to execute. Having “no fear” means having “great faith.” Jeremiah believed that God would rescue him. He committed himself to it. In the next breath, he considered the punishment to be because he was seen as unrighteous. Perhaps it was that the unrighteousness for which he was accused was merely the expression of those who stood against him and the God he served.

We have a right to lament, mighty ones of God. Our heart is torn between two worlds. We do not truly wish to see everyone suffer any more than God wills the death of anyone. We know, however, that not everyone will receive the word of salvation and bind themselves to “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” To be wise in worship and praise is to live through the hardships of this world and receive the joy of our salvation which is in the House of the Lord forever.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.