I’ll set my eyes on them for good and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord and they shall be my people, and I will be their God for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
– Jeremiah 24:6–7
Oh, the grace of God. To say to this people who have sinned against him, who’ve rebelled against him, who have left him for all sorts of other gods, who have presumed to worship him while actually worshiping all these other gods who have committed evils and injustices.
Jeremiah 24:6–7 shows us God’s gracious offer through Jesus Christ.
God looks upon his people and says, “I’m going to set my holy eyes on them, my pure, just, righteous eyes on them for their good. And I’m going to restore them, I’m going to save them from themselves…”
“I’m going to bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up, and I’m not going to tear them down. I’m going to plant them and not pluck them up. I’ll give them a heart. I’m going to give them new hearts to know that I am the Lord who loves them, and they shall be my people and I’ll be their God. I’m going to restore our relationship and they shall return to me with their whole heart.”
This is God promising to do what he ultimately has done in Jesus. Jesus, the fulfillment of all of God’s promises in the Old Testament, and it’s what you and I get to experience, new hearts, born again, new hearts, new lives, transformed by his grace. By his mercy, not because we deserve anything different than what God’s people in the Old Testament deserve. We deserve eternal judgment. And God says to you and me through Jesus, “I’m going to set my eyes on you.” Just let this soak into your own heart. God, setting his eyes on you for your good. Lord, building you up, planting you. God, giving you a heart to know him, to be his people, to be his child, to turn to him with all your heart.
Jeremiah 24:6–7 encourages us to reflect on our salvation.
So we pray, yes, God, all of the above. We want, we need all of the above in our lives. We praise you, oh God, for taking the initiative in your mercy and your grace to save from our sin and ourselves. For your mercy and grace, to not tear us down or pluck us up, not to pour out on us the holy judgment we deserve. All glory be to your name, Lord Jesus, for dying on the cross to pay the price for our sin, for rising from the dead, and victory over sin. We praise you, oh God, lord Jesus, for setting your eyes on us for good, for setting your eyes on me for good. Pray that personally that would soak in to every one of us praying right now that you, oh God, have set your eyes on us for our good.
So help us to live in this today as your people we pray. Build us up in Jesus. Plant us deeper in Jesus. Transform our hearts all the more to know you as the Lord, our Lord. And help us to turn to you all day long with our whole hearts. And oh God, to lead other people. We don’t want to keep this to ourselves. We want to lead other people to turn to you with their whole hearts… To see the good you desire for them. God, help us to share this good news. Here and around the world.
Prayer for the Miyako Ryukyuan People
God, we pray specifically for the Miyako Ryukyuan people of Japan… For 64,000 of them most having no knowledge of your love in Jesus. God, we pray that the Miyako Ryukyuan people would be reached with the good news of your love. Set your eyes on them for their good, oh God. Cause the gospel to spread to them and use our lives, our resources toward that hand. We pray all this according to your Word in Jeremiah 24:6–7… In Jesus’ name through whom your eyes are set on us for our good today. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
