Jeremiah 38

Well, in this chapter, Jeremiah found himself stuck in the mud because people didn’t quite like what he’d been saying: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’ And this is what the Lord says: “This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.”‘” (vs 2-3)

Apparently, Jeremiah’s message didn’t sound “good” enough for some people. They wanted more of a feel-good prophecy: “Then the officials said to the king, ‘This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.’” (vs 4)

Actually, the fact of the matter is, both Jeremiah and God had the good of the people at heart! Jeremiah may have been prophesying that Jerusalem was going to fall to the Babylonians, but the thrust of his message was aimed at helping the people to understand what they needed to do in order to live and not die! Had they listened to Jeremiah’s message, they would have been helped, not hurt!

God always tries to help us. Even when we have messed things up to the point that we are in dire straits, He still wants to help us understand what we can do that would be best for us. He tells us the truth as it is, even when it doesn’t sound nice, even when it doesn’t make us feel good.

This is something important for us to learn. Often, God’s truth may not sound like something we want to hear. It may not sound cheerful. It may not sound nice. But if we learn from the historical record of God’s dealing with His people, we can trust that God will tell us what is true—even when it doesn’t sound good to us.

Sometimes, the helpful thing also sounds good, but a lot of times, it doesn’t. And if God always tries to help, that means that a lot of what He has to say may not sound very good to us. So, at the end of the day, we must each answer this question for ourselves: Would we rather hear what is true or what sounds good?