Who calls on the Lord to act even though their iniquities testify against them and their backslidings are many?

The words in Jeremiah 14:7–9 are a response to the description of the drought in Jeremiah 14:2–6. These are Jeremiah’s words, but they represent the words that the nation of Judah should have spoken. The drought should have caused the nation to repent of its unfaithfulness. There is of course no evidence that the nation ever did and if these words form part of a counter-liturgy, then the irony is powerful. Jeremiah pleaded for his people, knowing that only judgment would come because of their refusal to repent.¹

The response begins with a confession of the nation’s iniquities, backslidings, and sins. These are all words that describe covenant disobedience and unfaithfulness.² Despite these failings the cry goes out to the Lord to act. The only reason given for the Lord to do so is for your name’s sake. The Hebrew noun sem translated as name often speaks of the person’s essential character. Jeremiah is appealing to the Lord to act according to his character as a God who is full of mercy and who has shown himself to be faithful to his covenant. The Lord is just as faithful to the covenant, however, when he acts in judgment against the treachery of his people.³