Jeremiah's Confession: Fire in My Bones

Illustration of Jeremiah's Confession: Fire in My Bones
Beaten, mocked, and ready to quit, Jeremiah told God exactly how he felt - and found the word still burning in his bones like fire.

After being beaten and put in the stocks by Pashur the priest, Jeremiah poured out the rawest complaint any prophet ever prayed: 'O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.' He resolved to quit - to speak no more in God's name - 'but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.' Within the same prayer he swings from cursing the day of his birth to singing 'Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor.' The confession legitimizes a kind of praying most believers are afraid of: accusation, exhaustion, and praise in one unedited breath - and a calling that outburns the desire to abandon it.

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Details

Category
Distress
Prayed by
Jeremiah

Key Chapters

Jeremiah 20 Jeremiah's Persecution 4 min read

Key Passages

Fire Shut Up in My Bones

Jeremiah 20:7-13

O7 LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. 9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. 10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. 12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause. 13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

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Characters

Jeremiah Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet active in Judah during the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC,โ€ฆ

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Jerusalem Jerusalem stands as the ancient capital of Israel and holds profound religious importance as a holy cityโ€ฆ

Themes

Suffering The Bible never promises a life without suffering. Instead it promises something harder to believe: thatโ€ฆ Hope Hope in the Bible is not wishful thinking - it is confident expectation anchored in the character of God.โ€ฆ Faith Without faith it is impossible to please God. From Abraham leaving everything for an unknown land to aโ€ฆ

Did You Know?

1

'His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones' has become the defining description of an unshakeable calling - spoken by a man actively trying to quit.

2

Jeremiah prayed this after Pashur the priest beat him and locked him in the stocks - the complaint was earned in a torture device at the temple gate.

3

The prayer swings from 'cursed be the day wherein I was born' to 'sing unto the LORD' within a handful of verses - Scripture preserves the whiplash unedited.