Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus said the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.… 1. He that trusts in man is cursed in the weakness on which he relies. "The strong shall be as tow." In general, God employs weak and inconsiderable ones to break the arm of flesh; thus, the shouts of the Israelites, and the blowing of horns, brought down the walls of Jericho, and reduced it to the dust: the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, lay along the valley of More like grasshoppers for multitude, and yet the sudden display of only three hundred lamps, and the sounding of as many trumpets, put them all to flight: the champion of the Philistines defied the whole army of Israel, yet a shepherd boy overcame him with a sling and stone. So with all earthly strength on which man builds himself up; the moment God speaks the word it melts away. 2. He that maketh flesh his arm is cursed also in the short-lived nature of his ground of confidence. How often does man, in the very noonday of his journey through life, feel his heart sink within him on finding that the distant places, which in the morning of life he had looked forward to as fresh and beautiful, are but as the parched heath or thirsty sand; he thinks of the days of boyhood, when an untried world promised happiness and security, and sighs on learning the hard lesson, that neither is to be had on this side of the grave. 3. Deceitfulness is moreover part of that curse which those may expect to reap, and that abundantly, who trust in man and make flesh their arm. Put God out of the question; let there be no recognition of any other than human obligations, and you have no security in the faithfulness of the nearest or dearest friend. 4. There is a curse also in the bitterness of disappointment. This is what makes the wretched old worldling like the parched heath; friends, or children, or other relatives, have either died or forsaken him, or his riches have slipped out of his hands and flown away; all his worldly plans and schemes have failed; he has no love of God in his heart to bear him up against so many cruel disappointments, and the bitterness of his spirit has therefore increased day by day, till he is completely soured; he feeds on his morose temper, and in turn it preys upon him; the curse eats into his vitals, drying up every little show of better feeling which would have kept his heart still green and salt; he hates and suspects everyone; the world is looked upon by him as one great lie, and of the truth he knows nothing; or the things wherein he foolishly expected to find happiness, have proved incapable of affording it, even while he had them in his possession. (C. O. Pratt, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. |
    |