Jeremiah 18:19-23 - Should good be repaid with evil?

18:19-21

Jeremiah learnt of these plans and then prayed to the Lord. Jeremiah is still feeling sorry for himself! We must admit that this is understandable. He has been faithful to God, yet he is being repaid with evil. This has been the finding of many people throughout the Bible, and throughout history. Jeremiah reminds God how faithful he has been, and calls on God to hand his enemies, and their families over to the sword. We find it difficult to cope with these sort of verses, but the Bible is far less squeamish than we are about being honest with regard to our feelings. Jeremiah gives a very comprehensive description of the harm he would like to be done to his enemies.

18:22,23

Jeremiah then comforts himself by envisaging the prospect of God pouring out judgement upon his enemies. Jeremiah does not have a lot of mercy for them! Why has God recorded this for us? One reason is that it is normal to have pretty horrible emotions in these sorts of circumstances, and God can handle it! What He does not like is our pretending to be fine when we are not, putting on a religious face! Also, maybe He is letting Jeremiah go through all this so that he can better appreciate why it is now necessary for God to bring judgement upon Judah.