Jeremiah 17:5

Further Confirmation of this Announcement in General Reflections concerning the Sources of Ruin and of well-being. - This portion falls into two halves: a. On the sources of ruin and of well-being (Jer 17:5-18); b. On the way to life (Jer 17:18-27). The reflections of the first half show the curse of confidence in man and the blessings of confidence in God the Lord, Jer 17:5-13; to which is joined, Jer 17:14-18, a prayer of the prophet for deliverance from his enemies. Jer 17:5-6 "Thus saith Jahveh: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, while his heart departeth from Jahveh. Jer 17:6. He shall be as a destitute man in the wilderness, and shall not see that good cometh; he shall inhabit parched places in the desert, a salt land and uninhabited. Jer 17:7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jahve, and whose trust Jahveh is. Jer 17:8. He shall be as a tree planted by the water, and shall by the river spread out his roots, and shall not fear when heat cometh; his leaves shall be green, and in the year of drought he shall not have care, neither cease from yielding fruit. Jer 17:9. Deceitful is the heart above all, and corrupt it is, who can know it? Jer 17:10. I Jahveh search the heart and try the reins, even to give every one according to his way, according to the fruit of his doings. Jer 17:11. The partridge hatCheth the egg which it laid not; there is that getteth riches and not by right. In the midst of his days they forsake him, and at his end he shall be a fool. Jer 17:12. Thou throne of glory, loftiness from the beginning, thou place of our sanctuary. Jer 17:13. Thou hope of Israel, Jahveh, all that forsake Thee come to shame. They that depart from me shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, Jahveh.…

It is excellent doctrine that is preached in these verses, and of general concern and use to us all, and it does not appear to have any particular reference to the present state of Judah and Jerusalem. The prophet's sermons were not all prophetical, but some of them practical; yet this discourse, which probably we have here only the heads of, would be of singular use to them by way of caution not to misplace their confidence in the day of their distress. Let us all learn what we are taught here, I. Concerning the disappointment and vexation those will certainly meet with who depend upon creatures for success and relief when they are in trouble (Jer 17:5, Jer 17:6): Cursed be the man that trusts in man. God pronounces him cursed for the affront he thereby puts upon him. Or, Cursed (that is, miserable) is the man that does so, for he leans upon a broken reed, which will not only fail him, but will run into his hand and pierce it. Observe, 1. The sin here condemned; it is trusting in man, putting that confidence in the wisdom and power, the kindness and faithfulness, of men, which should be placed in those attributes of God only, making our applications to men and raising our expectations from them as principal agents, whereas they are but instruments in the hand of Providence. It is making flesh the arm we stay upon, the arm we work with and with which we hope to work our point, the arm under which we shelter ourselves and on which we depend for protection. God is his people's arm, Isa 32:2. We must not think to make any creature to be that to us which God has undertaken to be. Man is called flesh, to show the folly of those that make him their confidence; he is flesh, weak and feeble as flesh without bones or sinews, that has no strength at all in it; he is inactive as f…

17:5-10 This meditation on the folly of trusting in humans is contrasted with the wisdom of trusting in the Lord. 17:5 Trust is the disposition of the heart that results in obedience (cp. 11:4; Deut 27:15-26).