The danger of self-pity

Sermon notes

Sometimes the message God gives comes with a name. Here is a personal word from God, v2. Cp Ezek 1:3. We should look for such a word from the Lord.

I  AN OLD MESSAGE COMES WITH A FRESH FOCUS.

1. Date. This message is dated 18⁺ years before. It is the sequel to events recorded in Chapter 36.
2. Relevant. It is again relevant to Baruch in his present circumstances. Cp 43:1-3. Again Baruch finds himself the target for abuse because of his support for Jeremiah. Those who have rejected the word of the Lord target him. It is a good sign when a man is targeted in the same way as before. His loyalties are clearly the same after 18 years! He can find comfort in the same message.
3. Reminders. We need reminders of God’s word.

II  SELF-PITY IS A COMMON FAULT AMONG GOD’S SERVANTS.

1. God heard. His words of complaint were known to the Lord.
2. A self-pitying view of his circumstances. The lens of self-pity always magnifies our troubles. He was sighing/‘groaning’ under the trouble.
3. Blaming God. Baruch speaks in an accusatory manner.
4. Fainting. Such perverted vision always produces faintness in the work of God. He had become exhausted and weary. No work can be done for the Lord in such a condition.

III   HOW WE ARE TO THINK IN A DAY OF APOSTASY.

1. Judgement. Baruch is here told to recognize that God was going to judge the wickedness of the land. This is what lay ahead. These considerations were to colour his thinking about himself and his own circumstances while that judgement lay in the future. But it has now come!
2. Great things. The quest for personal advance and the experience of great things was to be abandoned by the command of God. This is simply the denial of self in order to be faithful to God. Disappointment in his desire for great things had led to his self-pity.
3. Promise. God gave a gracious promise to preserve his life even in the midst of judgement. We have the record of that preservation in the previous chapters! Being included at this point, this message serves to specially remind us how the Lord keeps His word—even promises given years previously!