Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 17:14
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou [art] my praise.
14. See introd. note on Jer 17:9-10. Jeremiah prays that God’s character for faithfulness may be vindicated in his own case.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
14 18. See introd. summary to section.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 17:14
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.
The Lords healing
I. The prophets cry. Sin is the sickness of the soul. It has seized upon all its powers. Not one single faculty has escaped; all are polluted, all diseased. Its very vitals are affected by sin. The understanding is darkness (1Co 2:14). The will is stubborn; the conscience is impure (Tit 1:15). The very memory is impure. But the chief seat and residence of sin is the heart (Jer 4:18). Oh, how little do we know its deep defilement (1Ki 8:38). The leprosy of the law was a type of it. It is poison (Psa 140:3). It is the mire in which the sow wallows, the vomit of dog (2Pe 2:22). One sin has in it all enmity, rebellion, distance from God, all deceitfulness, hardness; and yet, how slight are our deepest views; how poor and feeble our most heartfelt repentance; how unfeeling our most touching sorrow. Sin is by all human skill and human power incurable (Jer 2:22).
II. Is this so? Then no one but Jesus the Lord can heal our spiritual diseases.
1. It requires omniscience to know them. There is in all sin, in every one sin, a depth which human wisdom can never fathom–a depth of baseness, ingratitude, contempt (Psa 19:12).
2. It requires omnipotence to subdue them. It requires the same putting forth of Divine omnipotence to bring light into the darkened soul as to bring light into this darkened world (2Co 4:6).
3. It requires infinite patience to bear with these soul-diseases.
4. It requires an infinite sympathy, and a boundless love.
III. His healing.
1. The means whereby He heals are various. Indeed, there is not a single circumstance which He does not employ for this very end. By things pleasant, things painful; comforts and crosses; by what He gives, by what He takes away; by friends, by foes; by saints, by sinners; by the Church, by the world; by sickness, by health; by life and by death; He heals the sin-sick soul.
2. The character of His healing.
(1) Most wise healing. How infinite that wisdom which suits His skill to every individual case. Some are confident, He checks them; others depressed, He cheers them. Some love nothing but high cordials, He brings them down to that hunger that makes every bitter thing sweet.
(2) Most tender healing. His is the tenderness of Him who in all our afflictions is afflicted, a friend, a brother, a nurse. Is the medicine bitter? He administered it with His own hand.
(3) Most mysterious healing. He makes us wise by discoveries of our own folly, strong by unfolding our own weakness.
(4) Most efficacious healing. He blesses His own remedies.
(5) Most holy healing. All this healing is to conform to the Divine image.
Conclusion–
1. Our wisdom is to be willing to have our spiritual maladies discovered, yea, thoroughly searched.
2. Our wisdom is to be willing to have them thoroughly cured, honestly to wish this, cost what it may, Heal me.
3. To expect no cure but what is promised.
4. To put ourselves fairly into His hands.
5. Above all, to trust not only in Him, but in the blessed confidence of a simple faith that He is able to heal, and will heal, to come to Him with the prophets cry, Heal Thou me. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
A cry for healing and saving grace
I. Sin is the disease of the soul and is so felt.
1. Loss of rest.
2. Deprivation of taste.
3. Loss of sight.
4. Loss of hearing.
II. Christ is the only Physician.
1. The infinite efficacy of Christs atonement, as showing Gods readiness as well as ability to pardon.
2. Since God requires forgiveness without bounds of us, will not He extend the same to sinners?
3. The direct statements of Scripture.
4. Great instances of mercy.
III. Prayer is our only refuge. The appointed means. Has never failed.
IV. Praise should be our truest delight. (S. Thodey.)
A prayer for salvation
1. These words express a deep concern about salvation, and an earnest desire to obtain it.
2. A firm persuasion that God alone can save.
3. A heartfelt application to God for salvation through the medium of prayer.
4. An unwavering confidence that the salvation which God bestows in answer to prayer will be a salvation suited to the wants of fallen man. (G. Brooks.)
The penitents prayer
I. As expressing a deep concern about salvation and an earnest desire to obtain it. He not only cherishes a lively aversion to all that stings him with remorse, or that fills him with alarm; he mourns also the loss of those positive blessings of which his apostasy has deprived him, and thirsts for their recovery.
II. The true penitent being thus awakened to a sense of his need of salvation, and to unfeigned and anxious concern about obtaining it, he applies for it to Almighty God. Save me, O Lord. The nature and exigency of his situation compel him to have recourse to God as alone able to deliver him. The Divine mercy exhibited in the Gospel encourages him to put his confidence in God, as perfectly willing to bestow the deliverance he is so anxious to attain. Every new proof that he discovers of Gods kindness gives him a more forcible impression of the heinousness of his guilt and of the folly of his conduct, and shows him still more clearly how much he must lose by remaining in a state of alienation and impenitence, and thus adds a fresh and double impulse to the anxiety that he feels, and the desire that he cherishes, for pardon and reconciliation.
III. The true penitent applies to God for salvation through the medium of prayer. Save me, O Lord. The moment that the sinner feels the real burden of his transgressions, and is made fully sensible of his need of Divine mercy, that moment he as naturally, and as necessarily, cries to God, for the requisite communications, as the hungry child craves bread from its bountiful parent, or as the condemned criminal supplicates pardon from his compassionate sovereign. And the penitent transgressor not only feels his heart naturally lifted up to God in prayer, when convinced that it is He from whom cometh his aid, he also applies in that way, in conformity to the Divine institution. He knows that prayer is the appointed method of seeking for and of obtaining the blessings of salvation.
IV. The confidence which the true penitent feels, that if the salvation which he asks be granted, it will be altogether such as his circumstances require, and such as will more than gratify his utmost wishes. It is as if the penitent said to God whom he is addressing, Were any other being to undertake my salvation, I should not be saved. There would be some imperfection in the achievement. It would be an attempt, but not attended with success. But if Thou Thyself save me, I shall be saved indeed. There will be no feebleness in the purpose; no inadequacy in the power; no deficiency in the means; no failure in the result. The perfection of Thy nature must reign in all Thy works; and that provides a security that nothing can occur to frustrate or to impair the work of my salvation. (A. Thomson, D. D.)
Prayer for healing and salvation
These are great biblical words: heal and save. We all know what it is to get a wound healed. The man with the gift of healing is sent for, and he binds up the wound and anoints it with the ointment. But Gods healing goes far deeper than bodily wounds. Each heart is here its own interpreter. And then, save. That means more than heal. We shall have to wait till the hereafter to know all that is meant by that great word. Now the prayer implies a helpless condition, in which we can only cry to God for healing and salvation. There is a place sometimes called the back o beyond, another name for it being wits end (Psa 107:1-43). With regard to the soul, it is well to find ourselves there, and the sooner the better; for it is not a hopeless place by any means. The Help of the helpless is ready there at the call of distress. He can do little for us indeed till we thus learn that really there is no other help but He. The Earl of Aberdeen tells how on one occasion, going up the Nile in his yacht, he saw a little steamer coming puffing rapidly down. He was told it was Gordons steamer, who was Governor of the Soudan at the time. On hearing that, he was anxious to speak with Gordon, if possible; but the question was how to accomplish it, for in a few minutes the steamer would be past. Suddenly a brilliant idea struck the earl. He gave orders to his men to hang out signals of distress. He was sure Gordon was not the man to pass by heedless a signal of distress. The ruse proved successful. The steamer began at once to veer round, and in a very short time was alongside the yacht. Now we all know that the helpful spirit was very characteristic of Gordon, but where was it he learned it? Just by sitting at Jesus feet. And we may be sure that the disciple is not greater than the Master in that readiness to heed and help at the call of need, and that what Jesus was in the days of His flesh, He is now and ever will be. One thing more is implied in the text–the assurance that the help will be all-sufficient. The prophet is sure that God will perfect His work of healing and saving. And that is a great matter, to know that it is something that lasts. Our soul shall be restored and shall bless the Lord who healeth all its diseases. Yea, and so will the world in the good time coming, when all lands shall be healed, and Gods saving health shall be known among all nations. (J. S. Mayer, M. A.)
Thou art my praise.
God the believers praise
I. The nature of true effectual healing.
1. Spiritual healing is a gradual and progressive thing. It begins with a sinners principles, for if the principle of our actions be not a part of Gods holy teaching, and grafted by the Spirit of Christ into those who are the children of His adoption, it is one of the unsanctified impulses of nature. It is the souls worst enemy, a wandering, faithless state, that will never lead us to Bethlehem, and as the seed of the bond woman must be utterly cast out. When this terribly diseased principle is healed, the Spirits work is in operation; and we begin to apprehend what that unearthly life is, which leads every other life that is worth possessing after it. From the principle the work of healing is carried forwards to the various actions that branch from it; the wild grape is no longer the curse of the vineyard. When the husbandman takes the plant itself in hand, it yields naturally to the superior excellency of the graft, and partakes of its very character and condition. We cannot now indulge the senses as we did; we were once their slaves, they are now our handmaids, and enter freely with us into the liberty of the Gospel.
2. It is free and unpurchaseable by any creature who has the heart and disposition of a sinner. There is no buying the skill and medicines of our Physician. When He heals, it is without money and without price. Nay, He was Himself compelled to purchase at the hands of justice, the power of stopping the ravages of corruption, and drawing a line, beyond which the sin of leprosy should not spread. No one, neither man nor angel, will ever be capable, I say not of estimating, but of imagining, the greatness of that purchase.
3. It is an effectual and everlasting healing. Christs balm goes down to the very depth of the diseased places; He sifts, and tries, and searches the wound before He closes it.
II. The distinction between healing and salvation. Both of these blessings are the precious and enduring treasures of redemption; though one of them is but a mean to an end; if I am not healed I cannot be saved; my earthly heart must not only be emptied of its enmity and rebellion, and deceivableness of unrighteousness, but of whatever hinders it, on its way to glory. Yea, and it must be refilled, with that measure of Divine love which will spur it forward, and strengthen and advance it on its journey towards Zion. When I am healed, my bosom glows with delight that I shall not go down in my natural uncleanness to the grave: my self-interest has quite wrapped itself up in the sweet security of the blessing; the depths of a wounded spirit are fathomed by the only hand that can get to the bottom of them. I have lost the distress, and pain, and poignancy of guilt; the scars are indeed mercifully left upon me, to be my remembrancers of what a gracious and loving Jesus has done for my sick soul, but the killing sickness is gone, and I seem to apprehend the wonderful reality of my being plucked as a brand out of the burning. The act of healing may, perhaps, with more propriety belong to the office of the Holy Spirit, than to the incarnate Son,–but salvation is that chariot of fire which exclusively holds the triumphs, the royalties, the priceless riches of Christ. We identify salvation with conquests and suffering, and a vesture stained with blood; it calls us, in special language, to draw near, and kiss the Son, and to support our everyday trials, by giving our thoughts to that surpassingly severe trial which He passed through as a Conqueror upon the Cross.
III. In what way the Lord is glorified as the believers praise. It is no question of conjecture in this place, whether God, under every one of His providences, in dark and clouded clays, as well as in clear bright sunshine, is worthy to be praised; for that will admit of no discussion, if we believe that He is the perfection of wisdom, and goodness, and love; but this is a matter for individual, experimental inquiry, and so is limited to a narrower space. Have you, and have I the right apprehension of our God as a Father? and of ourselves as His children? to be able to go down deep into the spirit of the text, and to say, Thou art my praise?
1. If the Lord is your praise, your hearts will be full of desire to honour Him in every act of your lives; and your continual longing will be to plead with Him, that every fresh song you sing to His glory may savour of this unselfish spirit.
2. If God be our praise we shall labour to be conformed to His likeness.
3. If God be our praise, all the heart springs must be so full of it as to throw the precious living water into the life. (F. G. Crossman.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. Heal me – and I shall be healed] That is, I shall be thoroughly healed, and effectually saved, if thou undertake for me.
Thou art my praise.] The whole glory of the work of salvation belongs to thee alone.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Most interpreters here understand the prophet speaking in these words to God for himself; he represents himself to God as a person wounded or sick, either with his sense of Gods dishonour by the sins of the people, or with their reproaches or threatenings, and beggeth of God to heal him, he being he in whose hand or power it was to heal him, and who could certainly do it. The argument is in those words, for thou art my praise, he whom alone I have reason to praise for mercies already received, to whom alone I owe all my good things.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14-18. Prayer of the prophet fordeliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithfuldenunciations.
Heal . . . savenotonly make me whole (as to the evils of soul as well as bodywhich I am exposed to by contact with ungodly foes, Jer15:18), but keep me so.
my praiseHe whom Ihave to praise for past favors, and therefore to whom alone I lookfor the time to come.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed,…. These are the words of the prophet, sensible of his own sins and backslidings, and of the part which he himself had in these corrupt and declining times; and being conscious of his own impotency to cure himself; and being fully satisfied of the power of the Lord to heal him; and being well assured, if he was healed by him, he should be thoroughly and effectually healed; therefore he applies unto him. Sins are diseases; healing them is the forgiveness of them; God only can grant this: or this may have respect to the consolation of him, whose soul was distressed, grieved, and wounded, with the consideration of the sins of his people, and the calamities coming upon them on that account:
save me, and I shall be saved; with a temporal, spiritual, and eternal salvation; save me from the corruptions of the times, from the designs of my enemies; preserve me to thy kingdom and glory; there are none saved but whom the Lord saves, and those that are saved by him are saved to a purpose; they can never perish:
for thou [art] my praise; the cause of it, by reason of mercies bestowed; the object of it, whom he did and would praise evermore, because of his favours, particularly the blessings of healing and salvation by him; see Ps 103:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Vs. 14-18: A PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE AND VINDICATION
1. In a very discouraging situation, Jeremiah calls, for healing and deliverance, to Jehovah Who is the object of his praise, (vs. 14; comp. Psa 54:1; Psa 109:1; Deu 10:20-21).
2. The threatened judgment upon Judah’s sins has been so long suspended that Jeremiah’s enemies, in arrogant smugness, are beginning to taunt him with ridicule and scorn -charging him with being a false prophet, (Deu 18:21-22); “Where is the word of the Lord?” (the fulfillment of what has been threatened), they ask; “Let it come NOW” (vs. 15; comp. 2Pe 3:4; Amo 5:18).
3. The prophet looks to the Lord for grace to endure; he is not seeking release from shepherding God’s people – though he clearly does not understand God’s ways, (vs. 16; comp. Jer 20:8-9).
a. He has not, personally, yearned for the Day of the Lord -the day of divine reckoning with His people – though he has forcefully proclaimed God’s word.
b. What he has spoken has been at God’s command, and in His presence, (Jer 12:3).
4. Thus, He looks to Jehovah for refuge and hope, rather than terror, (vs. 17; Jer 16:19; Nah 1:6-8).
5. And he asks for deliverance from shame and dismay, (comp. Jer 1:17; Jer 20:11; Psa 35:4; Psa 35:26); but, he now sees that God will be righteous in bringing upon His rebellious people a “day of evil,” wherein they will reap the harvest of their sins, and prays that the destruction may be complete! (vs. 18; Psa 35:8; comp. Jer 19:3-4). 6. He who cannot resist condemning Jeremiah’s call for judgment, upon this erring people, reveals the shallowness of his spiritual experience!
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the Prophet, as though terrified, hides himself under the wings of God, for he saw that apostasy and every kind of wickedness prevailed everywhere throughout the land; he saw that the principal men of his nation were wicked despisers of God, and that they vainly boasted of their own descent, while yet destitute of all care for justice and uprightness. When therefore he saw that the land was thus infected, in order that fainting might not overcome him, he presents himself to God, as though he had said, “What shall become of me, Lord? for I am here surrounded with wickedness; wherever I turn I find nothing but what allures and leads me away from true religion and the sincere worship of thy name. What then will be the case if thou forsakest me? I shall be immediately seized, and it will be all over with me, for there is no safety in the whole land, and no healing, it is as though pestilence prevailed, so that no one can go forth lest he should meet with some contagion.” Thus the Prophet in this passage, on seeing the whole land so polluted with crimes that there was not a corner free from them, flees to God for help, and says, “O Lord, I cannot be safe except thou keep me; I cannot be pure except my purity comes from time.” We now understand the design of the Prophet, and how this verse is connected with the preceding verses.
He says first, Heal me, and I shall be healed; as though he had said that he was now diseased, having contracted a taint from corrupt practices. He therefore seeks healing from God alone, and through his gracious help. And for the same reason he adds that then only he should be safe when saved by God.
We are taught by these words, that whenever stumbling-blocks come in our way, we ought to call on God with increasing ardor and earnestness. For every one of us must well know his own infirmity; even when we have not to fight, our own weakness does not suffer us to stand uncorrupted; how then will it be with us, when Satan assails our faith with his most cunning devices? While therefore we now see all things in the world in a corrupted state, so that we are allured by a thousand things from the true worship of God, let us learn by the example of the Prophet to hide ourselves under the wings of God, and to pray that he may heal us, for we shall not only be apparently vicious, but many corruptions will immediately devour us, except God himself bring us help. Hence the worse the world is, and the greater the licentiousness of sin, the more necessity there is for praying God to keep us by his wonderful power, as it were in the very regions of hell.
A general truth may be also gathered from this passage, that it is not in man to stand or to keep himself safe, so as to be preserved, but that this is the peculiar kindness of God; for if man had any power to preserve himself, so as to continue pure and unpolluted in the midst of corruptions, no doubt, Jeremiah would have been endued with such a gift; but he confesses that there is no hope of healing and of salvation, except through the special favor of God. For what else is healing but purity of life? as though he had said, “O Lord, it is not in me to preserve that integrity which thou requirest:” and hence he says, Heal me, and I shall be healed. And then, when he speaks of salvation, he no doubt intended to testify, that it is not enough for the Lord to help us once or for a short time, except he continues to help us to the end. Therefore the beginning, as well as the whole progress of salvation, is here ascribed by him to God. It hence follows that all that the sophists vainly talk about free-will is reduced to nothing. They indeed confess that it is not in man’s power to stave himself; but they afterwards pull down and subvert what they seem to confess, for they say that the grace of the Spirit concurs with free-will, and that man saves himself while God is co-operating with him. But all this is mere trifling; for the Prophet here not only implores help, and prays God to succor his infirmity, but he confesses that it is God’s work alone to heal and to save him.
And this he further confirms by saying, Thou art my praise; (181) for he thus declares that he effected nothing, but that all the praise for his salvation was due alone to God; for how can God be said to be our Praise, except when we glory in him alone? according to what is said in the ninth chapter. If men claim even the least thing for themselves, they cannot call God their praise. The Prophet then acknowledges here that he contributed nothing towards the preservation of his purity, but that this was wholly the work of God. And then he confirms his own hope, as he doubted not but he would be heard by God, for he asks of him whatever was necessary for his salvation.
We have then this general rule, that if we desire to obtain from him the beginning and the end of our salvation, his praise must be given to him, so that we may glory in him alone. If then we own ourselves destitute of all power, and flee to God under the consciousness of such a want, we shall doubtless obtain whatever is needful for us; but if we are inflated with the conceit of our own power, or of our own righteousness, the door is closed against us. We now then see the benefit of this confirmation; it assures the faithful that they shall find in God whatever they may want, for they do not obscure the glory of God by transferring to themselves what peculiarly belongs to him, but confess that in him dwells what they cannot find in themselves. The rest I defer till to-morrow.
(181) Both the object and the ground of praise: Thou art he whom I praise or glorify; or, Thou art he who givest me an occasion to praise. “Thou art my boasting ( καύχημα,”) is the Septuagint. — E d.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) Heal me.The prophet, consciously or unconsciously, contrasts himself with the deserters from Jehovah. He needs healing and salvation, but he knows where to seek for them, and is sure that his Lord will not leave the work incomplete. The prayer of the prophet is like that of the Psalmist (Psa. 6:2; Psa. 30:2). In thou art my praise we have an echo of Deu. 10:21; Psa. 71:6.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
PRAYER FOR PROTECTION AND SAFETY, Jer 17:14-18.
14. Heal save Here begins the prophet’s prayer for himself, and the paragraph division should come here.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou [art] my praise.
Ver. 14. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. ] Viz., of that cordolium heartfelt grief that my malicious countrymen cause me. The prophet was even sick at heart of their unworthy usages, and prays help and healing, ne totus et ipse labescat inter auditores deploratissimos, lest he should perish by them, and with them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Thou art my praise. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 10:21).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Heal: Jer 31:18, Deu 32:39, Psa 6:2, Psa 6:4, Psa 12:4, Isa 6:10, Isa 57:18, Isa 57:19, Luk 4:18
save: Jer 15:20, Psa 60:5, Psa 106:47, Mat 8:25, Mat 14:30
thou: Deu 10:21, Psa 109:1, Psa 148:14
Reciprocal: Psa 103:3 – healeth Jer 30:13 – hast Jer 33:6 – I will bring Hos 14:4 – heal Mal 4:2 – healing Mat 9:12 – They that be whole Mat 13:15 – and I Rev 22:2 – healing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 17:14. The general principles revealed in this verse could be affirmed at any time and from any standpoint. The healing that had been done by the false leaders (Jer 6:13-14) was a deception, and that which the Lord performs is true. Individuals of the country who proved worthy were promised restored health (forgiveness of sins) upon repentance. The nation also was promised a cure by the only treatment that would answer the needs of the case which was the Babylonian captivity.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 17:14. Heal me, O Lord, &c. Most interpreters understand the prophet as addressing God here in his own behalf. He represents himself as a person wounded, or sick, either with a sense of the dishonour done to God by the sins of the people, or with their reproaches poured upon himself, and he begs of God to heal him, God only having power to do it. Save me, for thou art my praise It is from thee only that I expect relief and comfort in all my troubles: and as I acknowledge that all the blessings I enjoy come from thee, so it is to thee I return all thanks and praise.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; {n} save me, and I shall be saved: for thou [art] my praise.
(n) He desires God to preserve him that he fall not into temptation, considering the great contempt of God’s word, and the multitude that fall from God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The prophet prayed to Yahweh, the One he praised, for healing and deliverance. Earlier he had spoken of his pain that refused healing (Jer 15:18).