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
If you are anything like me, you have probably displeased a couple of people over the years by your driving. Sometimes I have the best of intentions, at least that is what I tell myself, but I anger someone on the road. I put a lot of miles on my truck every year, and there have been times when people have expressed great, sometimes violent displeasure with my driving. Now, while that startles me and might even make me sorry that I did what I did or be confused as to what I may have done, it is never hurtful to the extent that it is when someone I know who loves me is displeased with me. You see, when someone gets angry at me on the road, it is a stranger. If someone is not right with me or I am not right with them in my house, that is a different story.
Jeremiah was a man who was attacked not just by enemies, Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, or foreigners and strangers, but by people from his own country. In fact, people that were of his own kindred and town attacked him. They wanted to silence him. He was prophesying things they did not want to hear, so they wanted to silence him.
Whenever people attack you, especially if it is someone who can genuinely hurt you not just because of what they do but because of who they are, you have one of three choices. First, you can complain about it. Complaining is saying anything to anyone in a negative manner when the person you are speaking to can do nothing about it. So, there is some kind of conflict in your life and you tell other people about it. You complain to them. You tell them how bad things are and how bad someone else is. If they cannot remedy the situation, then they are not the ones who need to hear about it and that is by definition complaining. It is speaking negatively to someone who cannot help your situation. It may make you feel better, but it is complaining. It is not remedying the problem.
Another option is to gossip. It might be to start a whispering campaign. People have been speaking ill of you, so you speak ill of them. That would have been very easy for Jeremiah to have done when he was attacked by other people.
But Jeremiah takes the third option which is found in Jeremiah 11:20. Jeremiah says, “But, O LORD of hosts…” “LORD of hosts” is a designation of God as a warrior. That is used in this verse by design. The verse goes on, “O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for under thee have I revealed my cause.” That is a synonym for prayer. I can reveal my cause to God; I can tell God about it. Why? It is because God is a righteous judge Who judges righteously because God knows my very heart. He tries the reigns of the heart. He is the God Who can take care of things.
If I take revenge in my own hands, that is sin. We don’t like to think of God as a God of vengeance, but that is because the only kind of vengeance we know anything about is small, petty, vindictive, and hateful. God is none of those things. God is the righteous Judge of the universe and He will make things right as no one else can. So, you relieve your soul when you reveal your soul to God.
Whom did Jeremiah tell? He didn’t begin some kind of gossip campaign about those who were trying to silence him. He didn’t complain to others. He revealed his cause to God. You know, if you have a cause, but you don’t reveal it to anyone, that can be really frustrating. If you have a cause, and you reveal it to God, that is a source of answer because that is what prayer is. You relieve your soul when you reveal your soul to God.