077. A Voice Of Weeping And Supplication From Israel.

A Voice Of Weeping And Supplication From Israel. The Prayer as recorded.—Jeremiah 3:21-25. The Lord’s Answer.—Jeremiah 4:1-2. The prophet in most touching and tender strains, represents Israel as weeping over their sad condition, confessing that they are suffering the consequences of gross sin and departure from God, acknowledging that from their youth up they have disobeyed the voice of the Almighty. In carefully reflecting on the beautiful language of the prophet, we find it teaching a lesson of deep significance to every heart, We cannot be truly penitent without being conscious of our depravity, and of the iniquity of even our most holy things, and while God invites us to come to his mercy-seat with all this guilt upon us, and thus glorifies the abundance of his own grace, he requires the knowledge and humble confession of our sin. In this frame of mind the greatest transgressor has nothing to fear. God offers everything to the penitent and nothing to the presumptuous. There are tears mingled in this petition; for the prophet tells us it was a “voice of weeping and supplication.”