The Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 33:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

An invitation to prayer.

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE INVITATION. (Jeremiah 33:1.)

1. It was to Jeremiah; i.e.

2. The invitation came to Jeremiah in prison. Stone walls cannot shut out God from us, nor prevent our souls from rising in prayer to him. The persecutor cannot rob his victim of his choicest jewel. God often visits the soul in scenes of earthly distress.

3. The invitation came a second time. God repeatedly visits his troubled children. The prayer of yesterday will not make that of today needless.

4. The invitation to prayer did not bring deliverance from trouble. Though God visited Jeremiah in prison once and again, the prophet still remained there. We have no right to think that when God visits us for good he will remove our earthly trouble; he may find it better to bless us in it. Therefore, on the other hand, the continuance of the trouble is no evidence that we are deserted by God—perhaps the reverse, because "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."

II. THE GROUNDS OF THE INVITATION. (Verse 2.) God gives to Jeremiah good grounds for assurance in prayer before inviting him to pray. We cannot pray to an unknown God with intelligence and earnestness. To pray with faith we must have grounds of confidence. These are offered to the prophet in the manifestation of the nature of God in his works, and the revelation of his higher character in the sacred Name, Jehovah.

1. The manifestation of God in his works.

2. The revelation of his higher Name, "Jehovah;" "The Lord in his Name." This revelation not only suggests the self-existent and eternal supremacy of God, so infinitely superior to all those evil powers of life feared by us timid mortals; it is also associated with the willingness of God to save, since it was revealed in connection with the deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 3:14), it may well be quoted in anticipation of the deliverance from Babylon.

III. THE CHARACTER OF THE INVITATION. (Verse 3.)

1. God invites to prayer. Therefore

2. God promises a revelation in response to prayer. Here is an encouragement that the prayer will not be fruitless. The Bible does not represent prayer as a mere subjective exercise; it treats it as a power prevailing with God, securing from him blessings asked. We have here a special encouragement for the perplexed to pray for light. Mysteries are not necessarily eternally hidden. Some once hidden have been revealed (e.g. Colossians 1:26); others may yet be made more clear. The seeker after truth should be a man of prayer. The deepest spiritual truth is not discoverable by speculation; it is revealed in communion. It is seen through spiritual thought and sympathy with God, aided by his Spirit's inspiration.

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Jeremiah 33:1-13Those who expect to receive comforts from God, must call upon him. Promises are given, not to do away, but to quicken and encourage prayer. These promises lead us to the gospel of Christ; and in that God has revealed tr…Matthew Henry commentaryEncouraging Prospects. (b. c. 589.)ENCOURAGING PROSPECTS. (B. C. 589.) Observe here, I. The date of this comfortable prophecy which God entrusted Jeremiah with. It is not exact in the time, only that it was after that in the foregoing chapter, when thing…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 33:1In the court of the prison; rather, of the guard (Jeremiah 32:2).Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 33:1(Cf. Jeremiah 32:1-5.)—M.Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 33:1-3Revelation of God's purpose to him who performs his will. Jeremiah had resolutely witnessed to the truth, and now he was confined in the king's prison in order to his being silenced. But so far from the Divine communica…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 33:2Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, etc.; rather, Thus saith Jehovah, who doeth it, Jehovah who frameth it that he may establish it, whose name is Jehovah. It was needless to express the object of the verbs. Jehovah…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 33:3Mighty things; rather, secret things (literally, inaccessible). It must be admitted that this introduction hardly corresponds to the sequel, which does not contain any special secrets, as we should have thought. Either…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 33:3The reasonableness of prayer. "Call upon me, and I will answer thee" etc. This is one of the blessed promises of God given for the help of sorrowful and struggling men. None but God knows how many have been helped by it…Joseph S. Exell and contributors