Jeremiah 17:5-8 - Cursed is the one who trusts in man

17:5,6

“Cursed are those ...” One of Israel’s besetting sins was turning to idols, but to trust in men is equally bad. We are meant to trust in God. “And who depend on flesh for their strength”. These are frightening verses, for everything tells us to look to our own strength, to look to others for help. Yet God says that if we do this we are under a curse, we are under judgement. Now this does not mean we don’t do anything, it doesn’t mean we don’t look to others for help. Read the Bible! But where do we put our trust? For when we trust in ourselves or in others we take our trust from the Lord. The people who do trust in others will come to nothing, they will be like a bush in the wilderness, stark and abandoned.

17:7,8

Conversely, “blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him”. Such a person is like a tree planted by a stream (Ps 1:3), able to cope with anything. We should take the contrast between these two states, trusting in men and trusting in the Lord very seriously. The world and our flesh tells us to trust in man, to trust in ourselves. And it is very demanding, insisting that we do this. But it is those who trust in the Lord who will prove to be truly resilient.