In Jeremiah 36 God told Jeremiah to write down all the words He had spoken to him. Jeremiah had Baruch take dictation. Then Baruch read the words aloud in the Temple. The people were frightened by the words. But King Jehoiakim burned the scroll when he heard it. God punished him and the people of Jerusalem and Judah. God had Jeremiah rewrite the scroll.

God is trying any means available to reach the people of Judah. Some listen and are afraid. Some continue to reject God’s attempts at reconciliation. They certainly cannot say they weren’t warned about what was going to happen to them. God is very explicit. And yet, it is as though they are fooling themselves into believing somehow it couldn’t happen to them. Isn’t that the way all of us are. We hear advice and warnings of many kinds and yet we continue to do things we know we shouldn’t, telling ourselves that somehow we are immune to the effects. We read the scriptures and know how we are supposed to live and yet are surprised when things fall apart because we go our own way. Will we ever learn?

In Jeremiah 37 Zedekiah was now king. He didn’t pay attention to Jeremiah’s prophecies. But Zedekiah did ask Jeremiah to pray. He asked what God had said and was told that while Egypt had come in support of Judah Babylon would eventually prevail.

In Psalm 119:25-48 the writer is struggling but is putting his trust in God’s word. He asks that God will preserve his life. He promises to continue to be faithful to the word.