Imagine you're writing a letter to the one you love. You've made sure it has all the necessary elements; sincerity, compassion, inside jokes relating only to experiences between the two of you, some mushy embarrassing language that you wouldn't say in public... and you're wondering how to end this epistle of love. A poem! Yes, a poem! Perfect!
You're preparing a Sunday School lesson. You've got an intro. You decided against telling a story and chose to talk about the genre of the text instead. You've done your studying, you've found the gold nuggets in the passage, you've even got some good illustrations. But as you come to the conclusion you just don't know how to close. Then it hits you! I can close with a poem!
We love poems. They make us laugh, make us cry, make us push ahead through trying times. They put into words the feelings we never can. When we use poems though they're usually designed to evoke a specific response. Our poems come with an agenda. This passage is a poem found in one of the most unlikely of places... amidst the words of a prophet. Prophets aren't known for saying things designed to make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. They are heralds of truth... and truth that's often unpopular at that. Truth takes no prisoners. It rises above the wasteland of opinions, feelings, beliefs, and hearsay to command our attention. It says, "whether you accept me or reject me... I won't go away."
Our poem brings a dichotomy between two realities; the reality of the cursed man and that of the blessed man. In these realities an implied question is asked of us, "Who will I trust?" This message is so simple it could be offensive. We want answers that are complicated because we believe we are complicated people. We want to shun simple truths of black and white because we think we are gray. But what if the very thing we think we have mastered is what we need? When did our maturity bring us past the simple truths? Let's look at this poem today and ask, "Who will I trust?"
Turn with me if you would to Jeremiah 17:5-8.
5 Thus says the LORD:"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit." (ESV)
Look with me at V. 5, "Thus says the Lord, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man. And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord.'" We begin as we look at (1st Main Point) The State of the Cursed Man. V.5 tells us why he is cursed. He is a man who trusts in fallible human beings. When bad things happen to us where do we usually turn first? We look to our own ingenuity. We turn to ourselves. We analyze all the possible scenarios until we can confidently take a course of action... if that time ever comes. We pool all our life experiences, all we've heard, and yet we still find ourselves wanting. We are cursed. If that doesn't work we go to other fallible human beings. At some point we believe their set of life experiences (being different than ours) will have the answer to the problem. Augustine said, "trusting in others is the wrong humility. Trusting in yourself is dangerous pride."
Am I saying it's impossible for God to use the counsel of others? Am I saying we should never consult the wiser among us? No. We certainly shouldn't walk in the counsel of the wicked. The world begins and end with a frame of reference that always trusts in self and God is not considered. Don't walk in the counsel of the wicked. But Scripture also says, "for lack of counsel many plans fail." We are to go to others, but the question is who are you trusting? "Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength." Seek counsel. But do so knowing that this book (Bible) is wiser than any man. Know that God is bigger than your human counsel.
Cursed is the man who...
-trusts in mankind
-makes flesh his strength
-and... whose heart turns away from the Lord
These 3 lines are a package deal. To trust in mankind is the same thing as making them your strength and turning away from God. God is saying we can't have it both ways. We can't put confidence in men and Him at the same time. It's one or the other. To trust in mankind at all is to turn away from the Lord. He knows every corner of our heart. If there is even a hint of false trust in our motives and our decisions... we are cursed.
And if v.5 gives us the why of the curse, v. 6 describes the how of the curse.
V.6, "For he is like a shrub in the desert. And shall not see any good come, But will live in parched places in the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land."
Jews debate about what kind of bush is thought of here, but the point is it's a plant that has the mere appearance of life. Is a desert bush a beautiful creature? Does it give the aroma of fresh roses? Not at all. The NASB translates "bush." This isn't a fluffy bush, it's a shriveled shrub. When we're trusting in anyone but God we can hold an exterior that seems alive to others, but God knows we are dead inside. This is also a bush that doesn't see any good come. We assume that once either we or our fellow man gives us the answer that we'll then see good outcomes. This is so indicative of how we often approach situations too... at least at first. We operate on the horizontal level of what we perceive to be reality (what our senses fool us into thinking is the extent of our reality). Because we live in this world we often forget that we are not of this world. It's not our home. We are children of the King! He's not called Father for nothing! When children have a problem do they go to other children to fix it? No, they go to their parents. They recognize on some level that their parents have a wisdom they don't. I think we often get old enough that we grow out of our childlike dependence only to place it in ourselves or others. The truth is (after salvation) we merely shift that dependence to a Father that is wiser than the one we had before. I want you to notice though the Bible's emphasis for the cursed man. The majority of what's said about him relates to his state, it refers to where he's currently living.
He is a shrub that lives...
-in parched places (the dry places within the desert)
-in the desert
-in a land of salt
-that is uninhabited (lonely)
So, God's message to the cursed man is essentially this: "Pay attention to where you are." Look where your trust has brought you. When you trust in my creation and not in me, you will find yourself desolate and dying of thirst."
So we saw the State of the Cursed man, now let us look at... (2nd Main point) The Stability of the Blessed Man.
V.7 says, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. And whose trust is the Lord."
Some translators omit the second line for belief that it's simple repetition. This also is a package. Both lines certainly point toward the same thing. If any distinction is to be made the second line further defines the first to say the one who trusts in the Lord has Him as the entirety of their trust. Trust is not merely something from outside of God that's then placed in Him, but rather trust IS the Lord Himself. The why of the blessed man is that his blessing comes as his heart is turned toward the Lord and not in mankind. This is not easy. This takes a concerted effort by the power of the Spirit. We usually have to learn the hard way too don't we? We trust in ourselves, then in others, and we learn the lesson to finally trust God. How many times does God have to show Himself powerful in our circumstances before we believe that He is? How many times do things have to come together miraculously for us to really believe in the God we read about who parted the Red Sea and raised Lazarus from the dead? If He has done those things and we really believe that, why don't we think He can do miracles in the lives of us who only feel like we have the Egyptian army chasing us? Did God get smaller between the events of our Bible and now? We can trust Him and if we do we will be blessed.
V.8 gives us the how of the blessed man. How will he be blessed? For he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream.
Trees are some of the world's longest living organisms. Trees are known for their willingness to take years of children climbing all over them, tree-houses being built inside them, and tire swings being supported by them. It's planted by a source of nourishment. It isn't simply planted by it without drawing from it either. Here we also have the "roots" introduced. The roots of a shrub only extend into dry earth. They try to reach for something of nourishment as we do in mankind, but only find deadness and dryness. A cursed man is like one who dives into a pit of endless sand in search for a swimming pool. A blessed man is one who extends his roots by a stream. His source of confidence is not in mankind, but is rooted in the living water of God.
This is water that doesn't cheapen.
It won't be polluted.
It's not from a faucet and it's too good for a filter.
It is the living water of God Himself!
v.8 continues And will not fear when the heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.
This is a tree that stands in season and out of season. When the heat of circumstance bears upon us we sweat, we lose control, and we are terrified because we begin to wonder if we can handle it. But that's where the problem starts! The issue is not if we can handle our problems, but if God can handle them. We need to let our fear work for us to help us decide that we can't solve the problem. We should be worried because our strength is futile. Instead of wondering if we can and trying to figure out how we can, we need to admit up front that we are wholly inadequate and need the help of God! We need to acknowledge Him first! Those moments should drive us to talk to God first, not to ourselves or our friends. We also read its leaves remain green. When other plants are dying with the changing seasons, their leaves falling off and crunching beneath the feet of passers by, the man who trusts in the Lord will have leaves that remain green. This is an outward verifiable perseverance of the blessed man. His trust can be seen on the outside. His joy remains. He rejoices at trials of many kinds. He also is not anxious in the year of drought who will not cease to bear fruit. The stability that comes from trusting God doesn't just endure, but it continues to flourish. Most easily we see this to translate into the life of a Christian in his display of the fruit of the Spirit. Scripture's metaphor for spiritual growth is given in fruit. Fruit grows slowly and is usually seasonal. There are different fruits that grow during different seasons. The blessed man here however has fruit that always grows. His trust in God brings not only stability in tough times, but continued growth.
So notice the emphasis for the blessed man...
A tree that...
-does not fear when heat comes
-its' leaves remain green
-not anxious in drought
-continues bearing fruit
God's message to the blessed man is this, "Pay attention to where you're going." "Look at where your trust in Me will take you! When you trust in me you'll be able to survive the hardest of hard times in your life and not only survive, but continue to grow through them."
Two realities: 1. The State of the Cursed Man and 2. The Stability of the Blessed Man
Big Idea: God gives us this poem to teach us the simple truth that human trust leaves us to die of thirst, but divine trust brings us leaves of Green.
Now I think about one of our greatest difficulties in the Christian life. Regardless of our age, whether we're 23 or 53 we all experience those times when we feel distant or alone form the Lord and spiritually dry. We say we need to try to "work on" our prayer life and "work on" our Bible reading and our devotional life. Very often we have motivation to start but it doesn't last. It's like buying a treadmill only to eventually begin hanging your clothes on it. I believe it's not a matter of just trying harder. Could it be a matter of who we are trusting? You see if we focus so much on the lack of results and then blame our diligence we are operating solely upon what we can or can't do. We are trusting in our flesh. How can we trust in Christ for salvation and then trust in ourselves for sanctification? Why do we do this? We hear of a Bible reading program developed by our favorite Bible teacher or someone else's program and we adopt it... but it doesn't work.
If those things ever work for anyone else it's because they were trusting in God. If we ever want them to work in our lives we also need to trust the God in whom they trusted. Just as the entire system of salvation works to smack our pride and self-dependence that we may call on God for our strength so our sanctification is the same! We can't expect to rely on God any less in our walk as we do to get to heaven. If this is you today... you are a shrub. God is saying to you today, "Look at where you are. Look where this false trust has brought you. You are dry because you're ignoring the water only I can provide! You are stagnant because you are forgetting Who alone can bring progress!"
Some of you may be a tree. If you're like the rest of us you probably find yourself in times when you're a shrub and times when you're a tree. But you are trusting the Lord. You find that when trials come and the seasons change you stand firm. They may not be easy to go through, but you have an Advocate. You listen to the advice of others and consider it, but your trust is God Himself. You find that you can persevere and beyond that you come out blessed because of it. You are conformed more and more to the image of Christ with each heat wave that hits your life. God is saying to you today, "Look where your trust will bring you! Look at the things you can accomplish when I am supreme in your efforts! Look at the growth that will come when I am your trust!"
Some of you think you're a tree. Be careful. You may be a King Nebuchadnezzar, who in Daniel 4:30 said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" He made his own flesh his strength. Worse than that he said this after Daniel interpreted his second dream. His dream described the King as a strong tree that reached up to the heavens and "whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant" but because of his false trust he was to be chopped down and destroyed. If need be, God will chop us down and humble us that He may be our trust as He deserves.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord because when all those around him have leaves that are dying and scattering in the wind, his leaves will be green.
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