“Why do you boast of your valleys, Oh faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?”
-Jeremiah 49:4
Jeremiah 49:4 is a powerful picture of pride in the heart, boasting about valleys, trusting in treasures of this world, thinking, “Who could come against me?” Thinking that having stuff in this world, having position in this world, makes one invincible in this world. Oh, see the foolishness of trusting in possessions and position, even power in this world. See the foolishness of trusting in any of these things. Your possessions could be gone in an instant. Your position in an instant, your power in an instant, gone. Don’t boast in any of these things.
Trusting in possessions or position in this world is a recipe for disaster. God help us not to boast in anything other than Christ.
Don’t think, “All right, I’m set because I have these things, because I’m in this role, because I’m in this situation.” No, no, no. Don’t believe it. That’s a lie straight from the adversary. It’s a lie that’s being reinforced in all kinds of messages in the world. Don’t believe it. Trust in God. He is your security. He is the one. If God is for us, who can stand against us? It’s God.
So don’t seek more and more and more possessions. Don’t seek a higher and higher and higher position. If the Lord gives some of these things then use them for his glory, absolutely. But keep your eyes fixed on him. Know that your security is in him, not the size of your house, not the size of your 401(k), not the position that you find yourself in. No, no, no. Don’t trust in these things, those things. Trusting in those things is a recipe for disaster, for fall in your life. Don’t trust in them. Trust in God. He is your treasure. He is your greatest possession.
Jeremiah 49:4 Reminds Us of How Our Possessions Are Temporary
So God, we pray, help us to live very different from the way this world thinks and the way this world lives and what this world desires. Help us not to boast in what we have in this world. It’s all going to burn up in the end. Lord, help us to boast in you, and knowing you and worshiping you and walking with you and trusting in you. God, please, please, please, especially in such a wealthy part of the world that I live in and most everybody who listens to this lives in. God, please, please, please, keep us from trusting in our treasures, seeking more treasures, storing up treasures.
Lord, keep us from living like this. Help us to live for what matters most for you. May you be our prize possession. May we use any treasures we have in this world for your glory, any possessions we have in this world for the advancement of your Kingdom. In God, we pray. Oh, God, we pray for a humility before you and a right perspective of the treasures this world offers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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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.
