7 O LORD , you deceived me, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.

8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the LORD has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.

9 But if I say, "I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,"
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.

10 I hear many whispering,
"Terror on every side!
Report him! Let's report him!"
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
"Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him."

11 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonor will never be forgotten.

12 O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.

13 Sing to the LORD !
Give praise to the LORD !
He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.

There is a lot here in this passage, and it has been coming to mind a lot lately. The word decieved actually can be translated seduced, and is in the book of Exodus. In common vernacular (warning a little off color) Jeremiah's complaint is that God made Jeremiah his "b*tch". That he is being taken advantage of and used by God and that he does not see anything but heartache and rejection that he gets in return. In the eyes of the world, Jeremiah is just God's whipping boy.

Yet, on the other hand Jeremiah does not feel like he can do anything other than what he is doing. He feels like there is a fire burning in him that compels him to continue to preach and teach, even with the absence physical comfort, with no support from his people and his friends, and with the shame and embarrassment that he suffers.

Sometimes I feel like Jeremiah. Like I am doing everything I should be doing, and yet the rewards, the benefits, and the blessing do not appear to be there. Yet, at the same time I feel like I am called to do what I do, and to do anything different would be turning my back on God, and denying who I truly am.

Through it all it is good to know I am in good company--good Biblical company. Amen.