Jeremiah 11:20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Reveal your Soul to God
A few years ago I was pulling my 5th wheel down the interstate, when suddenly a tractor-trailer with two people in the cab passed me. The person in the passenger side leaned out the window, looked my direction, yelled some obscenities, and then punctuated it with some international sign language. They were angry. I was stunned. I don’t remember what I had done to upset them, but I had done something. It shocked me, but it didn’t hurt me because I don’t even know those people.
There are two ways that people can hurt you. They can hurt you by what they do or they can hurt you by what they are. The second is even worse than the first. A stranger yelling at me really doesn’t hurt me, but what if it had been my wife, a sibling, or one of my children? Sticks and stones may hurt your bones, but words can be even more hurtful.
Jeremiah had not just heard words; he had received a warning from God. The people in his own town, his own countryman, had conspired to kill him. They did not like what Jeremiah was saying, and apparently God had revealed this to him. Verse 18 says, “The LORD hath given me knowledge of it.” Jeremiah said he had been like a lamb brought to the slaughter. He was defenseless, and knew nothing about their evil plans.
Then, in verse 20, he does something interesting. He brings it to God. Jeremiah said to God, “But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reigns and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.”
I love the synonyms in the Bible for prayer. Prayer is not just some flat, colorless action. It is powerful, and here Jeremiah describes it as “revealing my cause unto God.”
When you pray as you should, you are revealing your cause to God. Jeremiah realized that he belonged to God, and that God would judge righteously. God tries the reigns and the heart. He knows me to my very insides. God may be testing me, but God knows and He cares.
Complaining is revealing my cause to someone else. It is obvious that I am not revealing my cause to God when I am bringing others down by complaining to them.
Gossip is the same kind of thing just in a different direction. It is talking about others and their problems. God is powerful, God is all-knowing, and God will judge righteously. So take your cause to Him.