Words Without Worship

MEMORY VERSE: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.” —Psalm 19:14

JEREMIAH 7:1-15

THIS lesson helps to reveal the depth of Judah’s degradation, which led to the nation’s downfall and the captivity in Babylon. They were a people who drew near to the Lord with their lips, but their hearts were far from him. (Isa. 29:13) In their feigned worship of their God they seemed to think that the temple had some magic power which could save them from impending doom, thus the cry, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”

In their lack of faith and true devotion they had lost sight of the fact that God is the caretaker of his people, not of buildings made with stone and gold. The temple, built by Solomon as a house for the Lord, originally served as a symbol of the divine presence in the midst of his people, but as a result of their disobedience to God’s Law and their perversion of worship, the Lord had ceased to meet with his people in this building, and the building itself had no power to bless them.

The lesson indicates that even in Jeremiah’s day, when the nation was about to be taken into captivity because of its sins, a genuine repentance could have turned the course of events. But the Lord realized that the people would not repent, so he forecast the destruction of the temple and of the city, saying that he would do to it even as he had done previously to Shiloh.

In the time of Joshua, and under his leadership, the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh, and the worship of God was established there. But it was from here that Israel’s enemies carried away the ark of the covenant. (Josh. 18:2; I Sam. 4:10-22) The ark of the covenant was a symbol of the Lord’s presence with his people and of his blessing upon them. So, just as he withdrew his presence from them at the time the ark fell into the hands of Israel’s enemies at Shiloh, so now again his favor was to be withdrawn, and they were to be permitted to be taken captive to Babylon.

God’s dealings with Israel during the Jewish Age were on a national basis. If the leaders—the priests and kings—were faithful to the Lord, the entire nation prospered; if not, then the people of the nation suffered. So it was in connection with the Babylonian captivity.

Even at that time there was a remnant of faithful Israelites who served the Lord with their whole hearts. We are informed of some of these. There were Daniel and his three young friends who, as captives in Babylon, rose to high positions in the government, yet they were loyal to their God. Because of Daniel’s faithfulness he was thrown into a den of lions. His three friends refused to bow down to the image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they were cast into a fiery furnace.

In the 11th chapter of Hebrews the Apostle Paul mentions many faithful servants of God of the ancient past. In the days of Elijah, when for a time nearly the whole nation of Israel became worshipers of Baal, the Lord said that there were more than seven thousand who had not followed this course. Nevertheless, because God was dealing with the nation as a nation, the righteous suffered together with the unrighteous. In Jeremiah’s day, for example, all were taken into captivity in Babylon.

Worship that is acceptable to God must be the outgrowth of a heart desire to know and to do his will. The prayer contained in our memory verse is rich with meaning in this connection—“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.”

The preceding verses of the psalm from which this beautiful text is taken stress the importance of the statutes and laws and Word of the Lord. God does not miraculously give us an understanding of his will. Rather, he has supplied his Word and his law, and it is by meditating upon these, humbly applying their precepts as the governing principles of our lives, that we learn his will, and gain strength to do it.

God is now dealing with his people on an individual basis. No child of the Lord today is deprived of God’s blessings or is punished because others are unfaithful. All who endeavor wholeheartedly to devote themselves to him, and through his Word seek his guidance and strength, will be richly blessed. God’s rich blessings toward us are mostly spiritual, and in these we rejoice.

QUESTIONS

What was the moral and religious state of Judah just before the Babylonian captivity?

Explain the lesson’s reference to Shiloh.

What was the result of God’s dealing with Israel on a national basis?

How do we now learn the Lord’s will?

How does God deal with his people today?

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