The Faith We Sing, hymnbook, contains a beautiful song by gospel pioneer, Dr. Margaret P. Douroux that says,

“Give me a clean heart

so I may serve thee.

Lord, fix my heart so that I

may be used by thee.

For I’m not worthy

of all those blessings.

Give me a clean heart,

and I’ll follow thee.”[1]

This beautiful song speaks of the deep longing within our souls—a longing to be made new and to follow the LORD, our God, with all our heart. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of a time when all people, from least to greatest, would come to know the LORD. A time when God’s instructions would not be engraved on tables or printed on paper but etched in hearts—so all our moments of knowing, thinking, reflecting, deciding, and willing would be aligned with God’s supreme will. God told the people that a new covenant would be established, not something like the covenant from Sinai, an external covenant that people broke. A new type of covenant imprinted in their hearts. At a time when the people were disconnected from their culture, their religion, and their land the words of the prophet offered hope, hope that God had not forgotten them. Hope that salvation was still possible. Hope that the challenges of the past will not dictate the future. Hope that we can live lives pleasing to God.

The prophet Jeremiah lived through some very difficult times in the life of his nation. The Bible tells us that he began his ministry at a time of hope and excitement during the reign of King Josiah.[2] Josiah, who had assumed the throne at the tender age of eight, brought forth serious religious and political reforms to the nation.[3] In the eighteenth year of his reign, during a renovation of the Temple, a scroll of the Book of Law was discovered. Encountering the Law of God, encouraged the King to bring great changes into the life of the kingdom. Josiah sought to return the nation to worship practices as prescribed in the Law. He worked to eliminate all traces of foreign worship and false gods throughout the kingdom.[4] The book of 2 Kings tells us, “There’s never been a king like Josiah, whether before or after him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, all his being, and all his strength, in agreement with everything in the Instruction from Moses.”[5] As the great Langston Hughes said, life for the kingdom “ain’t been no crystal stair / It’s had tacks in it / And splinters / And boards torn up / And places with no carpet on the floor / Bare.”[6] Josiah was assassinated and within a short period of time, Judah was overpowered by Egypt. His reforms, though worthy of praise, did not last and the people returned to their old practices. The Prophet Jeremiah experienced an era of lived hope and as well as seasons of decline and hopelessness.

The words we have heard today, are words the prophet spoke to a people who had been defeated in battle and carried away from their land. A people whose king had been deposed and whose Temple had been destroyed. We will miss the power found in the words of the prophet if we do not understand the depths of despair of the people. As the king, the queen-mother, the court officials, the government leader, the craftsmen, and other skilled laborers were exiled, the prophet sent a letter to those in Babylon saying, “get comfortable… you are going to stay away for a long time.”[7] God, speaking through Jeremiah, told the people, seventy years! Don’t let the prophets among you mislead you, they are telling you lies! So, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce; marry and give your children away in marriage; work so the city where you are a prisoner will prosper. These were difficult words to receive. Then the people heard, what today has become one of the most misquoted verses in the whole of the scriptures, “I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.”[8] In the midst of their exile, when their temple was destroye