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Jeremiah 15:18

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Wilt thou be altogether unto me as - waters that fail? - Leaning either springs, which in the height of summer grow dry; or, like that phenomenon in the sandy desert, where, by a peculiar action of the air on the rising vapors, the resemblance of water is produced, so that the traveler, deceived, rejoices that he is come, in the sandy desert, to the verge of a beautiful lake; but the farther he travels, it is still at the same distance, and at last vanishes; and he finds the whole was an illusion, for the waters have failed. Nothing can exceed the disappointment of the farmer whose subsistence absolutely depends on the periodical rains, when these fail, or fall short of their usual quantity. Some times the rice is sown and springs up in the most promising manner; but the latter rains fail, and whole fields of young rice wither and perish.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible
Verses 15-18

This is the prayer of a man in bitter grief, whose human nature cannot at present submit to the divine will. God‘s long-suffering toward the wicked seemed to the prophet to be the abandonment of himself to death; justice itself required that one who was suffering contumely for God‘s sake should be delivered.

Rebuke - i. e., reproach, contumely.

Jeremiah 15:16

Thy words were found - Jeremiah‘s summons to the prophetic office had not been expected or sought for by him.

I did eat them - i. e., I received them with joy. This eating of the divine words expresses also the close union between that which came from God and the prophet‘s own being.

I am called by thy name - i. e., I am consecrated to Thy service, am ordained to be Thy prophet.

Jeremiah 15:17

Rather, “I sat not in the assembly of the laughers, and was merry.” From the time God‘s words came to Jeremiah he abstained from things innocent, and a gravity came over him beyond his years.

I sat alone because of thy hand - As a person consecrated to God he would also be “separated.” See Jeremiah 1:5; compare Acts 13:2.

With indignation - The prophet thus taught of God sees the sins of the people as offences against God, and as involving the ruin of His Church.

Jeremiah 15:18

Why is my pain perpetual - i. e., Are all my labors to be in vain?

As a liar … - Really, “as a deceitful brook,” a brook which flows only in the winter, the opposite of the “perennial stream” of Amos 5:24. Jeremiah had expected that there would be a perpetual interference of Providence in his behalf, instead whereof things seemed to take only their natural course.

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
It is matter of comfort that we have a God, to whose knowledge of all things we may appeal. Jeremiah pleads with God for mercy and relief against his enemies, persecutors, and slanderers. It will be a comfort to God's ministers, when men despise them, if they have the testimony of their own consciences. But he complains, that he found little pleasure in his work. Some good people lose much of the pleasantness of religion by the fretfulness and uneasiness of their natural temper, which they indulge. The Lord called the prophet to cease from his distrust, and to return to his work. If he attended thereto, he might be assured the Lord would deliver him from his enemies. Those who are with God, and faithful to him, he will deliver from trouble or carry through it. Many things appear frightful, which do not at all hurt a real believer in Christ.