“Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”
– Jeremiah 46:28
Oh, what a verse. There’s so much here. The one thing in particular I want to point out is how God disciplines his people in the context of love for them, and commitment to them, and mercy for them, and justice at the same time. All of this in one. This is God saying to his people, “Fear not,” don’t be afraid. From the very beginning, God is comforting them, encouraging them, saying, “I am with you.”
So we have that at the beginning of this verse, and at the end, God says, “I will discipline you in just measure.”
Jeremiah 46:28 Teaches Us of the Value of Discipline
In other words, “My discipline will not be unjust. It will be just. You will not be unpunished for your sin. At the same time, I am telling you this with a promise that I will be with you and I will bring you through this.” That’s the whole picture when God says, “I will not make a full end of you.” In other words, this discipline is going somewhere. It’s for your good. It’s for, in the end, your restoration. And we know this kind of picture in an earthly way.
I think about my mom and dad. There’s no doubt that they loved me. Loved me well. At the same time, growing up, I was disciplined in just measure. They disciplined me, why? For my good. Out of the overflow of love for me. This is what the Bible talks about in Hebrews. How nobody endures discipline in the moment, how nobody enjoys discipline in the moment, but we need to remember it’s for our good. And that’s the picture here.
Growing in Christ-likeness and Discipline
So God, we pray, help us to humbly receive your discipline in our lives. We ask for that, knowing that we’re not prone to enjoy discipline. But God, we want to pause right now and praise you for your just discipline. We are so glad that you are not unjust in your discipline, and that you are merciful in your discipline. That you are committed in love to us as we trust in you. And that as a result, we can trust your discipline in our lives is good.
So God, help us to receive it as such. To learn from it. To grow in Christ-likeness through your discipline. We ask, even, please discipline us. Please teach us to follow you in ways that are good for us, and good for others, and glorifying to your name. Oh God, we praise you for your loving discipline in our lives. And we say together, based on Jeremiah 46:28, we welcome it in our lives. In Jesus’ name, we pray. 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.
