I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land.
– Jeremiah 24:6
Now I could keep going and the rest of this verse and the next verse, God is just speaking about all the good he is promising to do for his people. But that’s the point and why I want to just start really with the first phrase in verse six. “I will set my eyes on them for good”. Just let that soak in.
Jeremiah 24:6 shows that God’s eyes are lovingly fixed on his people.
God saying to his people, “I have set my eyes on you for your good”. In other words, “I see you, I see where you are, and I am working for your good. I have plans for your good. I have purposes. And what’s happening for your good, all that you are going through is going to be for good”.
Like what a picture, what a promise. And this is not God, just saying wishfully, “I would love to see your good, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen”. God’s plans and purposes are all accomplished. So when God sets his eyes on you for good, then you are guaranteed good. And this is, and we pray about it all the time, Romans 8:28, God working together, all things for our good, and we know that our good is conformity to the image of Jesus, closeness to him, ultimately eternity with him, remade in his image.
That’s the good toward which God is working all things. So this means we can trust today. Just let it soak in. For all who’ve trusted in Jesus. If you’ve never trusted in Jesus, hear him saying he desires your good. He desires your salvation. Put your trust in Jesus is the Savior of sin and Lord of your life today.
And when you do, and for all who have, know this, the eyes of God… Just let this soak in today, the eyes of God are set on you for good. That’s amazing, that’s breathtaking, that’s awesome. Beyond words, just let’s pray in light of that. God, thank you. We don’t deserve this. Lord, we deserve judgment for our sin against you. We deserve eternal hell.
Jeremiah 24:6 reveals God’s unwavering intention to do good to his people.
Thank you, God, for setting your eyes on us for good. Thank you for sending your Son to die on a cross for our sins, for his resurrection from the grave, for us to have life. God, thank you for all the ways you set your eyes on us for good. And so we say together today that we trust you. We trust that no matter what’s going on in our lives and no matter what we understand or don’t understand what we see or we don’t see, we trust that your eyes are on us right now for good, and we rest in that reality.
We praise you for that reality, and we live today in light of that reality. Thank you, God, for setting your eyes on us for good. Help us all day long to remember. Your eyes are set on us for good. No matter what happens in our lives, help us to remember that your eyes are set on us for good.
And God, we pray you help us to reflect your love for others in this way. Help us to set our eyes on others for their good. Obviously, we can’t do it in the same way you do. But God, we pray that you would help us to look at others and live for others’ good today, around us. Whatever that might mean today. Help us to set our eyes on others for their good. As a reflection of your love for them. And help us to point them to the reality that your eyes are set on them for good.
Prayer for the Mahanta People
Help us to lead people to you. God, we pray that you’d help us to lead people to you around the world. Hear our prayers right now, God, for the Mahanta people of India, for 105,000 men, women, and children worshiping all kinds of Hindu gods. God, please, we pray for their good. We pray for their eternal good. Please, God, cause the gospel to spread to the Mahanta people of India. Please, God, please may it be so. We pray for their eternal, everlasting good. We praise you as the God who sets his eyes on sinners like us for good. Help us to live in light of remembering all day long that reality. In Jesus’ name, we pray in the name of the One who makes all this possible. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
