“I Formed Thee”
Jer 1:5.
“I was not born Informed and fearless from the first, but shrank From aught which marked me out apart from men: I would have lived their life, and died their death, Lost in their ranks, eluding destiny.”
BROWNING.
GOD has a plan for each of his children. From the foot of the cross, where we are cradled in our second birth, to the brink of the river, where we lay down our armor, there is a path which he has prepared for us to walk in. Its roughness and steeps, its velvet grass and quiet glades, its climb up the mountain side and descent into the valley of dark shadow, have all been planned and laid out by his matchless wisdom, his unerring love. The path has been prepared; it is for us to walk in it.
On the other hand, God prepares us for the path he has chosen. We are his workmanship, created unto the good works which he has before prepared. There is no emergency in the path for which there has not been provision made in our nature; and there is no faculty stored in our nature which, sooner or later, shall not have its proper exercise and use. From the earliest inception of being God had a plan for Jeremiah’s career, for which he prepared him.
Before the dawn of consciousness, in the very origin of his being, the hands of the great Master Workman reached down out of heaven to shape the plastic clay for the high purpose which he had in view. Note the conjunction of those two expressions: “I appointed and sanctified thee a prophet to the nations;” and again, “I farmed thee.” God always forms those whom he has appointed and sanctified for any great work.
Ask what thy work in the world is–that for which thou was born, to which thou was appointed, on account of which thou was conceived in the creative thought of God. That there is a divine purpose in thy being is indubitable. Seek that thou mayest be permitted to realize it.
And never doubt that thou hast been endowed with all the special aptitudes which that purpose may demand. God has formed thee for it, storing thy mind with all that he knew to be requisite for thy life-work. It is thy part to elaborate and improve to the utmost the two talents which thou hast. Do not envy another his five.
Those three additional ones were not needed for the special purpose that thou was designed to fulfill.
And it is enough to answer the divine intention in thy creation, redemption, or call to service, whatever it may have been. Do not be jealous or covetous; it is enough for thee to be what God made thee to be, and to be always at thy best.
I. THE DIVINE PURPOSE.
“I knew thee, . . . I sanctified thee, . . . I have appointed thee a prophet.”
In that degenerate age the great Lover of souls needed a spokesman; and the divine decree determined the conditions of Jeremiah’s birth and character and life.
How this could be consistent with the exercise of personal volition and choice on the part of the youthful prophet, we cannot say. We can only see the two piers of the mighty arch, but not the arch itself, since the mists of time veil it, and we are dim of sight.
Some try to explain it by introducing the thought of foreknowledge; they quote the words, “Whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate.” But, after all, this only carries the difficulty one step farther back into mystery.
It is wise to ascertain, if possible, while life is yet young, the direction of the divine purpose.
There are four considerations that will help us: First, the indication of our natural aptitudes; for these, when touched by the Divine Spirit, become talents or gifts.
Secondly, the inward impulse or energy of the Divine Spirit, working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Thirdly, the teaching of the Word of God.
Fourthly, the evidence of the circumstances and demands of life.
When these concur, and focus in one point, there need be no doubt as to the divine purpose and plan. It was thus that God disclosed to Samuel and Jeremiah and Saul of Tarsus the future for which they were destined. And it is extremely delightful when, from the first bud of youth to the flower and fruit of maturity, the heavenly vision has molded the entire tenor and development of the life.
But in cases where the divine purpose is not so clearly disclosed, in which life is necessarily lived piecemeal, and the bits of marble for the tessellated floor are heaped together with no apparent plan, we must dare to believe that God has an intention for each of us, and that if we are true to our noblest ideals we shall certainly work out the divine pattern and be permitted some day to see it in its unveiled symmetry and beauty.
Perhaps the noblest aim for any of us is to realize that word which, according to the margin of the Revised Version, was addressed by God to Jeremiah, when he said to him, “On whatsoever errand I shall send thee, thou shalt go; and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak.”
To run errands for God!
To be like the angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word!
To resemble the boy messengers in some of our large cities, that wait in readiness to discharge any commission that may be entrusted to them!
To know that your message is as certainly given you as the letter which is placed under the wing of the carrier-pigeon!
To go on occupying the position in which we have been placed by the providence of God, but to hold it for God till he bids us do something else! Such are golden secrets of blessedness and usefulness.
II. FORMATIVE INFLUENCES.
It is very interesting to study the formative influences that were brought to bear an the character of Jeremiah. There were the character and disposition of his mother, and the priestly office of his father.
There was the picturesque beauty of his birthplace, the village of Anathoth, lying on the highroad three miles north of Jerusalem, encircled by the famous hills of Benjamin, and looking down the ravine on the blue waters of the Dead Sea, gleaming at the foot of the purple hills of Moab.
There was the near proximity of the Holy City, rendering it possible for the boy to be present at all the holy festivals, and to receive such instruction as the best seminaries of instruction could provide.
There was the companionship and association of godly families, which still preserved the religion of their forefathers, and treasured as sacred relics the literature, psalms, and history of our purer and better days. There were also the prophets Nahum and Zephaniah, who were burning as bright constellations in that dark sky, to be soon joined by himself.
His mind was evidently very sensitive to all the influences of his early life. His speech is saturated with references to natural emblems and national customs, to the life of men, and the older literature of the Bible.
Take, for instance, his earliest sermon, in which he refers to the story of the Exodus, and the pleadings of Deuteronomy; to the roar of the young lion, and the habits of the wild ass; to the young camel traversing her ways, and the Arabian of the wilderness; to the murmur of the brook, and the hewing of the cistern.
His quick and sensitive soul eagerly incorporated the influences of the varied life around him, and reproduced them. Many fabrics were woven into the texture of his mind. Many flowers mingled their perfume in the enclosure of his heart. Many chords made up the music of his speech.
It is thus that God is ever at work, forming and molding us. Whenever you are called to pass through an experience which is unusually trying and difficult, comfort yourself by the thought that you are being fitted for some high purpose that has not yet been made known, but which will lay its demand on that very experience which has been permitted for that end.
And as you look back on your life, you will see how all has been ordered to fit you to fulfill a ministry to others that would have been less worthily fulfilled had you been excused from the tears, the hardships, the privations of a single day.
The plan of God threads the maze of life. The purpose of God gives meaning to many of its strange experiences. Be brave and trustful! If he serves himself of thee, he will recompense thee.
He is not unfaithful to forget.
There is a striking illustration of this in one of the closing scenes of Joseph’s life. Speaking to his brethren of the pit and the afflictions to which it led, he said, “Ye meant it for evil; but God meant it for good” (Gen 1:20). Standing on the eminence of the years, he was able to read God’s meaning in that dark and mysterious providence.
And if he had been asked to state his view of the divine reason in the trials and hardships of those early days, fast fading behind the mist of years, he would probably have answered, “God was forming me for my future; preparing me for what he had prepared for me; disciplining and equipping me for the position that awaited me; and there is no single incident in all those weary years through which I passed that I could have dispensed with, except at a serious disadvantage to my present standing.”
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III. THERE WAS ALSO A SPECIAL PREPARATION AND ASSURANCE FOR HIS LIFE-WORK.
” The Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”
In a similar manner had the seraph touched the lips of Isaiah years before. And we are reminded that the Lord Jesus promised that the Spirit of the Father should put appropriate words into the lips of his disciples when summoned before the tribunals of their foes. Words are the special gift of God.
They were the endowment of the Church at Pentecost. And it is always an evidence of a Spirit-filled man when he begins to speak as the Spirit gives him utterance.
God never asks us to go on his errands (Jer 1:7) without telling us what to say. If we are living in fellowship with him, he will impress his messages on our minds, and enrich our life with the appropriate utterances by which those messages shall be conveyed to our fellows. Do any read these words who, like Moses, lack this royal endowment–their words fall pointless and dead?
Let them offer their lips to speak, not with the wisdom of human words, or with the grace of human eloquence, but with the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost; and their appeal will not be denied. If only God’s glory be our object, God’s hand will be put forth to touch our mouth, and he will leave his words there.
Two other assurances were also given:
First, “Thou shalt go to whomsoever I shall send thee.” This gave a definiteness and directness to the prophet’s speech.
Secondly, “Be not afraid because of them, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord “–an assurance which was remarkably fulfilled, as we shall see in the unfolding of this narrative.
These are marvelous words, spoken to us all, as God sends us on a mission or errand into the world. It may be of greater or less consequence–to rule an empire or nurse a single babe; to be an apostle or to care for a few sheep in the wilderness. But we are no less sent than Jesus was from the bosom of the Father–sent to learn, sent to suffer, sent to achieve; sent on an errand as Joseph was from the patriarchal tent.
And just as long as we are on the prepared path, performing the appointed mission, he is with us. We may defy death. We bear a charmed life. We are more than conquerors. The music of his voice sounds in our heart, though defaming and terror are on every side (Jer 20:10). Men may fight against us, but they cannot prevail, for the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge (Jer 1:19).
IV. LASTLY, GOD VOUCHSAFED A TWOFOLD VISION TO HIS CHILD.
On the one hand, the swift-blossoming almond-tree assured him that God would watch over him and see to the swift performance of his predictions; on the other, the seething caldron, turned toward the north, indicated the breaking out of evil. So the pendulum of life swings to and fro, now to light and then to dark.
But happy is the man whose heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. He is hidden in the secret of God’s pavilion from the strife of tongues, and abides in the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High. Men may fight against him, but shall not prevail against him; for he is encircled in the environing care of Jehovah.
As he spake to Jeremiah, so he addresses us:
“They shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee” (Jer 1:19). “Man is immortal till his work is done.”
There was a period in Jeremiah’s life when he seems to have swerved from the pathway of complete obedience (Jer 15:9), and to have gone back from following the God-given plan. Surrounded by contention and strife, cursed as though he were a usurer, reproached and threatened with death, he lost heart and fainted in the precipitous path.
And immediately he had good reason to fear that ’the divine protection had been withdrawn. We are safe only when we are on God’s plan. But as he returned again to his allegiance, these precious promises were renewed, and again sounded in his ears:
“I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.”
