Jeremiah 17:7–8

Of each of these two men it is said, he "shall not see." Both are blind to something! How great the contrast is, though! The cursed man is blind to the coming good; the blessed man is blind to the coming evil. The cursed man's heart is away from the Lord, and he trusts in man and in human strength. So he has no power to lift up his eyes and see the abundant blessedness that Christ's coming will bring. The blessed man, on the other hand, has the Lord Himself as his confidence. He lives in faith and in the Spirit's power surrounded by plenty. He does not see the parching heat that comes with withering force, because his living fountains never fail. This precious portion of the blessed man is open to every one of us today in Christ Jesus.

But what will be the result for the individual who has the Lord as his confidence? Instead of being in parched places, he will find himself where the living waters never stop flowing. Like a tree planted where moisture never fails, he will always be fresh and fragrant. He keeps his greenness and fruitfulness at all times, because his wide-spreading roots take in the plentiful supplies of God. Today the Holy Spirit strengthens him in "the inner man," so that Christ dwells in his heart through faith. He is rooted in God's unchanging and unfailing love, and there he finds divine abundance, despite all the outward failure.

This is how it is with the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. He is nourished by those eternal springs that flow from the heart of God. He drinks at the Fountain, life-giving and free. He finds all his resources in the living God. There may be "heat," but he does not see it. "The year of drought" may come, but he is not anxious. Ten thousand creature streams may dry up, but he does not notice it, because he is not dependent on them. He stays close by the ever-gushing Fountain. He can never lack any good thing. He lives by faith.

In Jeremiah 17:5-8 the man who trusts in the Lord is not taken up with the barrenness, but with God — the fountain of living waters. He spreads out his roots by the river, and so he does not stop yielding fruit. See also Psalm 1, where we see separation from evil men and meditation on the word of God day and night!

There was One of whom all this was true in perfection, and it is that One we are to consider well, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He lived by the Father; His love was the joy and rejoicing of His heart, as He trusted in Him alone every day. And, oh! what rich fruit in immeasurable bounty comes from this for eternal ages.

And we may notice here that the remnant have the same character of blessing, though He alone has it in its fullness. Indeed they receive their blessing for an altogether different reason, as Jeremiah declares in this very passage. This looks onward to millennial peace and joy. Israel restored will enter into the joy of their King; their prosperity will take its colour from His joy.