This is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father.

Devotion based on Jeremiah 31:7-9

The prophet Jeremiah had a difficult message to deliver. The people of Israel had turned from their God, and he was going to punish them. Jeremiah prophesied that Israel would be taken into captivity by a foreign nation. Because they had turned their backs on God, the Lord sent a punishment to show them the error of their ways.

But because he is a gracious and loving God, he also promised to deliver them from their captivity. The most outstanding feature of Israel’s deliverance was that it was all-inclusive. Traveling long distances was especially hard in Jeremiah’s day for those who had physical limitations. But because the Lord cared for them, even the lame, the blind, expectant mothers, and women in labor would be brought back safely.

Today, we can still stand in awe of God’s outstanding deliverance. We have given into sin like God’s people before us. Sin takes us captive, and we can’t save ourselves. But God showed his incomparable strength and love by sending Jesus to release us from the captivity of sin. He gave his life on the cross to pay for our forgiveness and release. Just as God delivered his people in Jeremiah’s day, he has delivered his people through Jesus today.

Prayer: