Who has lost their joy and whose heart is sick within them?

The following passage (Jeremiah 8:18–9:11) in this larger section ( Jeremiah 8:4–10:25) is clearly a lament because of the judgment that is coming upon Judah. This is not unusual in the book of Jeremiah. One of the marks of his writing is that Jeremiah includes a great deal of his own personal experience and response to the message the Lord sent him to proclaim to Judah. We have already seen examples of this (Jeremiah 4:19–22; Jeremiah 5:3–5), and there are more to come (Jeremiah 11:18–23; Jeremiah 12:1–6; Jeremiah 15:10–11, Jeremiah 15:15–21; Jeremiah 17:14–18; Jeremiah 18:18–23; Jeremiah 20:7–13, Jeremiah 20:14–18). There can be no doubt that Jeremiah shared in the anguish and suffering of his people as they faced the Lord’s judgment. Many of the prophets had the same experience.

The difficulty in interpreting this particular passage of lament (Jeremiah 8:18–9:11) is deciding whose voice is heard. In Jeremiah 8:18–9:2 it seems fairly clear that Jeremiah is speaking, but in Jeremiah 9:3, Jeremiah 9:6, Jeremiah 9:7, Jeremiah 9:9 there are the phrases declares the Lord, and thus says the LORD. So, clearly, at least some of the words in this lament are attributed to the Lord. This raises very important questions: Does the Lord experience the rebellion of Judah as a source of sorrow? Does the Lord suffer the way Jeremiah does? In the Scriptures, the Lord reveals himself as the God who does not change: For I the Lord do not change, therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed (Malachi 3:6); God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind (Numbers 23:19). Theologians refer to this as the immutability of God. Closely linked to this is what is called the impassibility of God. In other words, God is not changed by passions and feelings the way human beings are. This doctrine of an unchanging God is central to the Bible’s doctrine of salvation. The link is made clear in the Malachi reference above, For I the Lord do not change, therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. It is because God is not changed by feelings and passions the way humans are that he is able to save his people. As the transcendent Creator, the Lord is not subject to what happens in his creations the way humans are. The transcendent Lord, however, is also the immanent Saviour who comes into his world to save it. But it is only because he is and remains perfectly transcendent as the perfectly loving and holy Creator that he is able to be immanent as Saviour. The Lord’s love and holiness is never compromised by him entering into his creation. If they were he would no longer be able to save his world. All of this is relevant to how we interpret our passage, especially Jeremiah 9:2–11. These verses, and many other parts of Scripture, clearly show the Lord experiencing emotions such as joy, delight, jealousy, anger, sorrow, and regret. The doctrine of impassibility certainly does not mean the Lord is unfeeling towards or detached from his creation. But it does mean that he is not changed by his creation in the way humans are. So, the approach taken in interpreting this passage is that the whole passage (Jeremiah 8:18–9:11) are the words of Jeremiah, but he includes in his lament words that the Lord has spoken to him. This allows him to express the depth of his own deep sadness, even suffering, because of Judah’s rebellion and the judgment that will come. It also shows that his lament is in harmony with how the Lord sees Judah’s rebellion without suggesting that the Lord is impacted in his being, character, and purposes the way Jeremiah is. Jeremiah suffers because Judah’s rebellion and judgment is going to mean loss for him. In some way he is going to be incomplete because of the destruction of his people. The Lord can never experience suffering in that way. Nothing in his creation can make him incomplete or cause him to be lacking in any way. The Lord is always perfect and complete in every way. He is the immutable Lord whose love and goodness is always complete and sufficient to save, even when he is saddened by his creation.

Jeremiah begins his lament by expressing his joylessness and grief as he is once again shown the judgment that is coming to Judah. He says that his heart is sick. He is torn by the deep love he has for the people of Judah, his own people, and his loyalty to the Lord who is going to judge Judah rightly.¹