When anything in our lives—physical things, concepts, or desires—are elevated above the divine principles or our worship of God, those things have become idols. Loving money and possessions certainly fall into this category, but so do things like power, identity, approval, convenience, pleasure, or an intense focus on entertainment.
Idolatry has always been the sin of self-destruction, because it is misdirected worship. Sadly, when we make anything or anyone more important in our lives than our love and worship of God, we find ourselves empty, lacking meaning, and distanced from God. Idolatry has been the downfall of every unrighteous nation, because it failed to place God on the throne as Lord.
In our passage today, Israel has been entrenched with idolatry. God sends Jeremiah to tell Israel they must abandon their idols and turn to God. They refuse and Jeremiah knows it spells disaster for Israel. So, this man of God shares a prayer and places the Lord in His rightful place as his source of strength in his weakness, his fortress [stronghold] in his times of fear and uncertainty, and his refuge of rest when all hell comes against him. In other words, regardless of what the nation does, Jeremiah honors the Lord. With God in His rightful place, Jeremiah experiences a sense of inner peace and security even when the nation and world struggle in turmoil.
These days in which we live are filled with demands, pressures, and challenges of all kinds. Naturally, we may want to escape and run from it all, but where do we go? We must be careful because the temptation arrives to idol-medicate rather than God-meditate. Even excessive busyness can be an idol of escape; we must bow to divine Lordship and ask God for what we need.
The Lord has promised to be our shalom [peace/wholeness]. Down deep beyond our tendency and desire to escape every difficult place, we must hold on to the promises of God to be what we lack. When we worship the Lord, we have the power and grace of heaven as our sustaining resource. No idol of our making can bring us the peace of God—in fact, idolatry causes humans to wander farther and farther away from God’s glorious presence making us more vulnerable. We must place our confident trust in our Lord.
Jeremiah 16:19-21 NLT Jeremiah’s Prayer of Confidence
19
Lord, you are my strength and fortress,
my refuge in the day of trouble!
Nations from around the world
will come to you and say,
“Our ancestors left us a foolish heritage,
for they worshiped worthless idols.
20
Can people make their own gods?
These are not real gods at all!”
21
The Lord says,
“Now I will show them my power;
now I will show them my might.
At last they will know and understand
that I am the Lord.
Prayer: Lord, you faithfully offer yourself to be the Source of our strength; to be a fortress and refuge when life is overwhelming. We have read your Word and know the self-destructive work of creating idols that self-medicate to help us cope. So, we turn and bow before you as our Lord and Shepherd to ask for your power, might, and grace to lead and provide for us the wisdom and strength we need to be victorious. We worship only you and pray for the nations to do likewise. In Jesus’ name. Amen.