Jeremiah’s Complaint About The Wicked

LORD, you always give me justice

when I bring a case before you.

So let me bring you this complaint:

Why are the wicked so prosperous?

Why are evil people so happy?

You have planted them,

and they have taken root and prospered.

Your name is on their lips,

but you are far from their hearts.

But as for me, LORD, you know my heart.

You see me and test my thoughts.

Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered!

Set them aside to be slaughtered!

Jeremiah 12:1-3

Have you ever wondered why people who don’t fear God often seem so well off in life? Have you questioned God about it? Jeremiah did. This prophet of the Lord had a hard time understanding why wicked people were prosperous and happy. After all, he had devoted his life to telling Israel that true happiness and security would come only through obedience to God. Though Jeremiah questioned God about this, it seems that ultimately he knew the final destiny of the wicked was destruction. He also knew God sees through the false religiosity of the wicked.

Ask God to show you your true heart. Can you assert, as Jeremiah did, that your thoughts are pure? If not, ask him to cleanse you of your evil thoughts, for these things will only cause you great harm in the end.

• Dear Lord, help me not to envy the wicked, and cleanse me from my own wicked ways . . .