In these closing words of his prayer, Jeremiah speaks of his trust that the Lord will certainly hear him and destroy all his enemies. With this confidence he encourages his fellow Judeans who fear the Lord. These words are very similar to previous prayers of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 12:3; Jeremiah 15:15; Jeremiah 17:18; Jeremiah 18:23. In these prayers, he always committed his case to God instead of taking vengeance himself. These prayers were also directed specifically against his persecutors among his own people. That shows us that here he is probably not praying for God’s justice against the Babylonians, but for God’s justice against God’s own people who disobeyed his Word and persecuted his prophet.
God will judge these people by putting a veil over their hearts—that is, blinding them for all wisdom and truth. This is indeed what happened with the Judeans who could remain behind in Jerusalem, but who rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and fled to Egypt.
God also answered Jeremiah’s prayer to destroy his enemies from under the heavens. This can especially be seen in what happened to all the leaders of Judah (Jeremiah 39:4–6; Jeremiah 52:24–27).
Christians today can also ask God to punish the wicked. In this way, we leave the vengeance to God. We pray not for the sake of our own honour, but for the sake of his. God did justice to Jeremiah and his fellow sufferers, punishing their enemies. In the last day, God’s Son will also give them final justice (Revelation 20:12).
64 “You will repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.