“It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” ~Jeremiah

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Counsel, God is Great, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah 32:16-19, Mighty, Power

 

After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ¹⁷ ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. ¹⁸ You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, ¹⁹ great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. ^[1]

Source: Jeremiah 32:16-19

God is God and nothing is impossible for him at all. God is great and powerful. God never runs out of time or energy. God’s purpose will be achieved.

God has an army of angels at his disposal. The number of angels at his command can’t be counted. God is waging war to reclaim our souls and restore us to his glory. God will not stop. God will be undeterred.

The power of God that created the universe is at play here. It is hard to comprehend that power, but it is real. God is real.  That power resurrected Jesus from the dead. That power is ours through the Holy Spirit.

In this prayer Jeremiah praises God as Creator, as merciful and righteous Judge in the historical process, and as the true God who chose Israel as his own. Also, he acknowledges that the Babylonian siege is God’s work. As a prose prayer it is not unlike that of Nehemiah 9:5–37. Both prayers intersperse hymnic elements that praise God with frank confession of sins.^[2]

God’s goal: God wants us to know and act like nothing is too hard for Him. That is real and always true. The creator of the universe is the sustainer of our lives. It is all about him and his power.

Good news: God is great. God knows what he is doing. God sees all our ways. God rewards us all according to the way he wants to not according to our demands and expectations.

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Je 32:16–19). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[2] Dearman, J. A. (2002). Jeremiah and Lamentations (p. 297). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.