Jeremiah 17:9

 Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  God said that the heart, or the mind, is deceitful above all things and who can know it.  A person may say all the right words and go through all the right motions, but they may not believe in anything they are saying or doing.  We cannot know the heart of a person, and unless the heart, or mind, is devoted to God it will always be deceitful.  Verse ten adds, I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.  God tells us that He searches the heart of people, and He tries their reins, or what guides them.  He then rewards them according to what their thoughts say about the person.  People may be fooled by the words and actions of others, but God never will be.  God will never be fooled.  Verse eleven states, As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.  God said the person who got riches by illegal means were like a partridge that sits on eggs to hatch them, but they do not hatch.  Whatever they think they have gained will really amount to nothing in God's kingdom.  Verse twelve says, A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.  Jeremiah is meditating on the situation with Judah, spending time alone to do so as Matthew Henry says.  We too need to spend time alone meditating on God's word if we are going to be truly successful in obeying Him.  Israel, or Judah in this case, had started as a glorious nation under God's leadership, but now was a nation that had turned totally away from Him.  Verse thirteen declares, O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.  Jeremiah acknowledged the fate of Israel because they had forsaken God, the fountain of living water.  Jesus Christ is the fountain of living water today, and if we do not accept Him as Savior and Lord, we will never know this living water.  Verse fourteen add, Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.  This should be our first call when we realize that we need salvation.  We must cry out to God to heal and save us.  When God heals and saves us, then we are healed and saved forever, and we should give Him the glory.  Verse fifteen states, Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah were basically mocking him, asking him where this judgment of God was.  People today continue to do the same thing, even denying the existence of God.  We can only continue to share the gospel with them even if the mock and ridicule us.  Verse sixteen declares, As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.  Jeremiah declared his faithfulness to God, even if he did not like the message that God had him to preach to the people.  We can only be faithful to present God's word, even if we would like for everyone to be saved no matter what.  We should have compassion on the lost, even if they mistreat us, and we should never hope that they will be destroyed.  Verse seventeen adds, Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.  Jeremiah asked God to not be  terror to him, because God was his hope in the day of evil.  God should be our hope today, even if the whole world turns evil.  Verse eighteen concludes, Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.  Jeremiah said that even if the world were confounded to not let him be confounded by the world.  He then asked that God allow His destruction to come on the people who refused to believe Him.  Jeremiah's message from God was that God was going to allow Judah to be destroyed, and even though Jeremiah did not want that to happen, he realized that the way that God's word was going to be proven true was when this did happen.  We may not like the truth of God's judgment on the lost, but ultimately it will prove the truth of His word without a doubt.