Boast About This — Jeremiah 9:1–26

The recording, chapter markers and searchable transcript appear here once the Sunday video is available.

In this message

Jeremiah delivered God’s hard words with tears because he felt both anger at sin and compassion for his people.
Failure to acknowledge God inevitably lowers the way people treat one another and erodes righteous behaviour.
God calls people away from boasting in education, power, and wealth toward boasting in knowing him personally.
Religious ceremonies without inward reality are a false confidence, because internal reality matters more than external religiosity.
Persistent sin carries consequences, including persistent suffering, because God visits transgression and refines for correction and punishment.

The passage

The verses Lee stops on. Read Jeremiah 9 in full.

Jeremiah 9:1

1Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.

John Courson – Jeremiah didn’t deliver his prophecies condemningly, with fingers pointing. He delivered them from a broken heart and with tear-filled eyes. That’s why God chose him.

Jeremiah 9:23–24

23This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, 24but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

Two directives God gives as He uses people in His service: (1) – that they do not glory in themselves or any personal achievement, and (2) that they give the glory to God. Psalm 33:16-18 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

God doesn’t delight in human wisdom, power, or wealth, but in people who know him personally and practice kindness, justice, and righteousness.

What we have seen

Jeremiah felt conflicting emotions concerning his people.
A person who understands and knows God does not stop at accumulating information about God but pursues a personal relationship with Him.
Though a man may have the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Samson, and the riches of Abraham, he has nothing to glory in compared to the lowliest Christian who knows the Lord.
Circumcision went back to the time of Abraham.
People today who depend on baptism and other church sacraments (ordinances), but who have never repented and trusted Christ, are in the same situation as the Jews in Jeremiah’s…

Why does Jeremiah start Jeremiah 9 with so much grief?

Jeremiah begins with personal heartbreak because he saw his people spurn what was described as the tender solitude of God. Jeremiah was not a hard, condemning critic; he delivered the message with tears because the message itself broke his heart. Jeremiah also felt conflicting emotions—anger at sin and compassion for sinners—because he was set apart by his mission but still one of them.

What does Jeremiah 9 show about how to speak hard truth to people?

Hard truth should be spoken accurately but with weeping compassion rather than finger-pointing condemnation. Jeremiah’s example was a broken-hearted messenger rather than someone saying “Woe is you” from a distance. The teaching pressed the idea that there is no right to judge another person or situation without being broken-hearted about it and willing to get involved in restoring and caring.

How does Jeremiah 9 connect knowing God with how people treat each other?

Jeremiah 9 presents God’s case that treatment of God inevitably affects treatment of other people. Refusing to acknowledge God leads to deceit and a general lowering of righteous behaviour. The passage was tied to Hosea 4:1–2 to underline that where there is no acknowledgment of God, patterns like cursing, lying, stealing, adultery, and violence spread.

What does it mean to “know God” in Jeremiah 9:23–24?

Knowing God means more than accumulating information about him; it means pursuing a personal relationship with him. The chapter contrasts boasting in wisdom, strength, and riches with boasting in understanding and knowing the Lord. The point made was that the lowliest Christian who knows the Lord has more to glory in than a person with extraordinary wisdom, strength, and wealth.

Does Jeremiah 9 say education, power, and wealth are enough to secure God’s blessing?

No amount of education, power, or wealth can guarantee the blessing of God. Jeremiah 9:23–24 was used to say God does not delight in a nation’s learning, political influence, armies, or gross national product. God delights in a people who practice kindness, justice, and righteousness because they know and fear the Lord.

Why does Jeremiah 9 connect suffering to sin?

Jeremiah 9 answers the question “why are we suffering” with specific grievances: forsaking God’s law, not obeying his voice, refusing to walk according to his law, following the desires of their own hearts, and worshiping other gods. One stated consequence of persistent sin is persistent suffering. The passage also framed God’s “visiting” as discipline that can be for correction and improvement as well as punishment, linked with Psalm 89:32 and Job 23:10.

Why are professional mourners mentioned in Jeremiah 9?

Jeremiah 9 describes calamity so great that people would be unable to grieve properly, so the call goes out for skillful wailing women to help the grieving. The scene was contrasted with Matthew 9:15, where mourners are removed rather than summoned. The difference given was that in Jeremiah’s day there was reason and need to mourn and repent, while in Matthew’s account there was no need to mourn because Jesus himself was in their midst.

What is Jeremiah 9 saying about circumcision and outward religion?

Jeremiah 9:25–26 confronts pride in external religiosity by saying God would judge circumcised and uncircumcised alike. The point drawn from Romans 2:25–29 was that internal reality matters more than external rituals, and that circumcision of the heart is what counts. Circumcision was traced back to Abraham as a covenant sign, but by Jeremiah’s time the spiritual significance had been forgotten even while the ritual continued.

What does Jeremiah 9 imply for people who trust baptism or sacraments but haven’t repented?

People who depend on baptism and other church ordinances but have never repented and trusted Christ have a false confidence like the Jews in Jeremiah’s day. The claim was that submitting to religious ceremonies is not the same as having the inward reality God requires. Philippians 3:1–11 was used to show Paul as an example of someone who had to lose religious righteousness in order to gain Christ.

How does Jeremiah’s grief relate to Jesus?

Jeremiah’s conflicting emotions—anger at sin and compassion for people—were said to be similar to Jesus’ feelings toward Jerusalem. Matthew 23:37 was cited to show Jesus longing to gather the city even as it would reject him. The connection made is that deep compassion can coexist with a hard message.

Where else scripture speaks

Every passage Lee reaches for. The ones he teaches from open here; the rest link out.

Psalm 89:32 Job 23:10 Romans 6:1–2Psalm 33:16–18 Romans 2:25–29

Passages picked up elsewhere in the series:

Matthew 23:37 — The Ruined Loincloth
Job 23:10 — The Cost of Speaking Truth
Romans 6:1–2 — Trust Issues: When Man Fails and God Remains
Matthew 9:15 — God Will Restore Them
Philippians 3:1–11 — Unfaithful Israel, Continued., God’s Plan to Prosper You

Take this with you

J. Vernon McGee - As a nation, what are the things we glory in?