boast in this

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

If you’ve been around Christianity in America for any time, you’ve heard this verse. If not in a sermon, you’ve sung it in a song, or seen it on a coffee cup. It’s a great verse, and it can stand on its own. But when taken in context, it’s not all warm and fuzzy, and doesn’t really end well, like it does in the songs.

The context of the chapter, and surrounding chapters, is that God’s people don’t know him. In verse 3 he says:

They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:3)

He goes on to say that the people have forsaken God’s law, disobeyed his voice, and stubbornly followed their own hearts into idolatry. Then, in verse 22, right before our beautiful chorus, he says this:

Speak, “Thus declares the LORD:
‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’” (Jeremiah 9:22)

That isn’t a pretty, feel-good picture he’s painting for us! It’s quite disturbing actually. And the few verses at the end of the chapter, immediately after our text, are nearly as bad. There God pronounces judgment on those who outwardly follow him, but whose hearts are far from him. He says they are worse than people who openly do not follow him.

So what’s the point? Only this. Verses 24 and 25 are poetic and I’m not saying we shouldn’t sing them. I’m saying we shouldn’t sing them without considering them as the stinging rebuke they are. They are a sober warning to God’s people who trust in their own intellect, their own strength, money, anything other than the cross of Christ. This text is a warning to all of us who call ourselves Christians. Do we know him? Do we understand the things he delights in?

So sing away. Sing heartily. And sing soberly with humility, considering your own heart and your own relationship with God. Do you know him? Do you understand what delights him (love, justice, righteousness)? Are you so exuberant that you boast in the cross, which makes knowing him possible?


Comments

One response to “boast in this”

  1. Nice thoughts Brance! Perhaps the way that we boast in the cross is to emulate the One who died on that cross by being filled with love for God and for others? Love requires us to deny ourselves daily as we follow the One who is Love in doing the works of love.

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