Lamentations

The Cry of a Broken Heart - Part 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2026-04-19

Synopsis: In this sermon, John Weaver continues his exposition of Lamentations 3, focusing on verses 8–20. He explains that Jeremiah's broken heart stemmed not only from the rejection of his prophetic ministry but also from God's refusal to hear his prayers for Judah and Jerusalem. Weaver emphasizes that God had decreed judgment on the nation because of their persistent sin and rebellion, and He explicitly commanded Jeremiah not to pray for their good. The sermon underscores the biblical truth that there is a time when God's mercy is no longer available, and prayer cannot alter His sovereign decrees. Applications are drawn for individuals, families, churches, and nations to seek the Lord while He may be found.

[John Weaver] Well, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to the book of Lamentations, chapter 3, right after the book of Jeremiah, and right before Ezekiel. You have Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. And notice, if you would, today we're going to be reading verses 8 through 20. Last week I preached on verses 1 through 7. I will take a few moments to review, but The lesson today is the cry of a broken heart, part two. So part one was last week and part three is coming up next week, Lord willing. So notice he said in Lamentations 3 beginning with verse 8, Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

[John Weaver] He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. He was as of me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

[John Weaver] I was a derision to all my people and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness. He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes, and thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot prosperity, and I said my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering my affliction, my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled within me.

[John Weaver] May I remind you that the book of Lamentations is actually five poems, and each poem is on the fall and destruction of Jerusalem from a different aspect. And I'm going to also remind you, as I said last week, that the title of this message, The Crime of Broken Heart, has nothing to do with romantic losses, neither does it have anything to do with the loss of a family friend in death. Because obviously, clearly, everyone has experienced that in times past. But it does refer to being broken and contrite, not only over our personal sins, but over our societal sins, our national sins. And it also refers to being broken, not just simply over those things, but over all the false prophets and all the false preachers and teachers and all the lies and deceits that are being enunciated. in this land today. Jeremiah was concerned and wept because of the false prophets that were causing his people to err and to walk contrary to God as well.

[John Weaver] And then when you consider also the fact that we have sinned against a God that is so holy, so loving, so kind, so gracious, so merciful, and all he really deserves is our love, praise, honor, and worship, and yet we continually transgress and trespass against Him. And of course, we also understand that He is a just and righteous God as well. So, I gave you some verses last week, and I want to just reiterate three or four of them. And that is simply this, that God is especially close to those individuals who have a broken and contrite heart. For instance, the Bible says in Psalm 34 and verse 18, The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." And then, of course, in Isaiah 57 and verse 15, a very powerful verse,"'For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, Listen, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of contrite heart, and," notice the humble spirit, to revive the spirit

[John Weaver] of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. So God says, I dwell in the high and holy place, but I also dwell with that individual who has a contrite and a humble heart as well. And then, of course, I quoted Isaiah 66 and verse 2, which, Lord willing, I will be preaching on in a not too distant future. But he said, For all of those things have mine hand made, and all those things hath been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look, even to him that is of poor and contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." So Jeremiah, of course, is known as the weeping prophet, and he wept not only over the sins that he had committed, but also the sins of his people as well. And he wept over the fact that the people would not hear, they would not listen, they refused to return to God.

[John Weaver] So I mentioned last week the whole point of the message was this. Here's the first reason why Jeremiah had a broken heart and that was the rejection of his service or the rejection of his ministry. None of the people would hear. None were willing to listen. None were willing to repent. So if you look back, Holy Lamentations chapter 3, but if you look back to the book of Jeremiah chapter 5, I want to show you exactly how corrupt the entire society and the entire nation was in the day of Jeremiah so look if you would at what God instructs Jeremiah to do in Romans chapter 5 verse 1 he tells Jeremiah run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof now watch if you can find a man that is a single man if you can find a man If there be any that execute

[John Weaver] a judgment that speaketh truth, I will pardon it." That is the city, and though they say, the Lord bid them, surely they swear falsely. He says, O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

[John Weaver] Now look what he said concerning the average individual. Therefore I said, surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God. In other words, they are ignorant of the truth. Then he said in verse 5, I will get me unto the great men, and I will speak unto them, for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God.

[John Weaver] But these have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds. So it didn't matter which strata of society he went to, no one was willing to listen, no one was willing to repent, and God said, if you can find just one man in the entire city that executed truth and justice, why, he said, I will indeed pardon the whole city.

[John Weaver] Now, if you will skip down to verse 31, to show you the corruption of the entire strata of society, he says in verse 31, the prophets prophesied falsely, that is, they're liars, they're deceivers, and the priests bear rule by their means there in the higher upper echelon and my people ought to have it so and he said what will you do in the end thereof so it should not be a cause to wonder as to why Jeremiah was the weeping prophet because none of his people would listen to his words the words of warning the words of truth they were all full of deceits and lies A quote is attributed to George Orwell, whether he originated or not, I know not, but it's a true quote. He said this in a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. And that was true not only in Jeremiah's day, it's also true in our day as well.

[John Weaver] I want you to stop and think about where we are in America, because we are just like these people, in Judah and Jerusalem. No one wants to upset the status quo. No one wants to rock the boat. Now the status quo may be wicked, it may be wrong, it may be rebellious, it may be humanistic, but it is our status quo and we like it just the way it is and we do not want anyone coming in and upsetting us and trying to change everything and get us to a place where we certainly do not want to be.

[John Weaver] The first reason that Jeremiah is known as a weeping prophet was simply because of the rejection of his service. Now, it is extremely heart-wrenching when you know the truth and you see the judgment of God on the horizon and you're trying to instruct your family and your friends and no one will listen. And that's exactly where he was. Now, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations chapter 3, we're coming to the second reason as to why Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. Not only was there a rejection of his service, there was secondly a refusal of his supplications. So, if you look in Lamentations 3 in verse 8, he says concerning God, also when I cry and shout, he shut it out my prayer. So God then shut the door to the prayers of Jeremiah so that they could not enter. He could pray, he could cry, he could shout, but God was not listening and God would not entertain his prayers. So if you look in Lamentations 3 and verse 44, he says it just a little differently.

[John Weaver] He says, Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud that our prayer should not pass through. Think about this. We now have a problem. And the problem is this. Jeremiah is saying that God is refusing to hear his prayer. He's not refusing for Jeremiah to pray. Jeremiah is welcome to pray, but God is not listening to Jeremiah and therefore God is not going to answer his prayer. Now. I'm going to show you another verse.

[John Weaver] I want you to understand this. It is possible, and it is scriptural, for God even to be angry with the prayers of his people. If you look in your Bible to Lamentation 3, but turn back in your Bible to Psalm 80, and look if you would please at verse 4, Psalm 80 and verse 4, and note if you would what the psalmist says very plainly. Psalm 80 and verse 4. Look at this. He asked this question, O Lord God of hosts, how long will thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? So it is possible for God to be angry for the prayer of his people.

[John Weaver] Now when we stop and think about this, Jeremiah said, he shouted out my prayer, He said he's made a cloud where my prayers can't go through. When we consider this, we do have a problem because there are so many verses in the scripture where God not only encourages prayer, he commands prayer, and he tells us that our prayers are his delight. So let me give you some verses. First of all, in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17, the word of God says, pray. without ceasing. Once we pray without ceasing, that is God's command, that is not stopping. And then when you get to Luke chapter 8 and verse 1, our Lord said it like this, men ought always to pray and not to faint.

[John Weaver] So there should never be a time when we're not praying in one sense of the word. Then Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6, he said, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." So again he tells us that we are to pray about everything. And then when you get to Colossians 4 and verse 2, he gives this command, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving.

[John Weaver] Now I want to just read to you part of Nehemiah's prayer. I want you to listen carefully, you'll find this in Nehemiah chapter 1 and verse 6. Nehemiah prayed, and he says to God, Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against thee, both I and my Father's house have sinned." So Nehemiah said, Lord, let your ears be open to my prayer. Let your eyes see, Lord, this is a prayer that I'm praying day and night. So he was praying it constantly. He's praying it continually, and he's asking God to hear and see. David said it like this in Psalm 6 and verse 9. He said, the Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord will receive my prayer. Now here's another verse that I think that would be appropriate, and that would be Psalm 65 and verse 2.

[John Weaver] The psalmist said, O thou that hearest prayer, to thee shall all flesh come. Wow. O thou that hearest prayer, to thee shall all flesh come and then when you get to Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 8 the Bible says the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord but the prayer of the upright is his delight so it delights God when his people pray the prayer of the upright is his delight one more and that is Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 29 the Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous." So, we know, based upon these scriptures and a whole lot more that could be quoted, that God's ears are open unto his people.

[John Weaver] He has told us that if we knock, the door will be open, that if we seek, we will find, and that if we ask, we shall receive. Yet, it seems at times when we do pray, that God does not hear her prayers this is what Jeremiah is complaining about he said when I cry and shout he shuts out my prayer now this was not unique to Jeremiah Job also had this problem because in Job chapter 13 verse 20 Job said I cry unto thee but thou dost not hear me I stand up but thou regardest me not." So, Job was saying, I'm crying, and I'm praying, and Lord, you're not listening.

[John Weaver] When you get to Psalm 22, of course, it is a psalm that David has written, but Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 24 are a trilogy, that is, they go together, and each of these psalms happens to be a messianic psalm there about Jesus Christ the Messiah. So in Psalm 22 you have Jesus Christ as the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. In Psalm 23 you have Jesus Christ as the great shepherd who guides and protects his sheep. And then in Psalm 24 you have Jesus Christ as the chief shepherd who promotes his own to glory. And yet when you look in Psalm 22 And verse 2, the Word of God says this, Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, listen, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, in the night season, and am not silent. He says, I'm crying, I'm praying, but thou hearest not. Now you have to remember that this is also a Messianic Psalm. You say, how in the world would that apply to Jesus Christ?

[John Weaver] Well, you remember in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 39, the Bible says concerning Jesus Christ, he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. So did God the Father allow the cup to pass from Jesus Christ? And the answer is no. he drank that cup, and I don't think it was necessarily the physical sufferings from which he was actually crying and praying and what he delivered from.

[John Weaver] Certainly it would not be a delight to be crucified and to be mocked and ridiculed, but think of the spiritual implications, because he was suffering in our stead, he is the propitiation for our sins, and all the wickedness and filth and the ungodliness of our sins were dumped upon him so that he would suffer in our sin. And so, yes, in one sense of the word, he was delivered because God raised him from the dead and seated him in his own right hand, but in another instance he was not delivered because obviously he had to suffer and he had to pay the price for our sins.

[John Weaver] So here we have Jeremiah then saying, I'm crying and I'm shouting and he's shutting out my prayer. So how do we explain this? Well, before I go any further, I want to give you a quote by John Calvin. It's two short paragraphs. So I want you to listen to what he said and think about this in light of what I just said. Calvin says, it is no wonder then that God did not hear the prayers of his servant. that is, according to the judgment of the flesh, that is, from Jeremiah's standpoint. For God never rejects his own, nor is he deaf to their prayers and their sighs, but the faithful often speak according to what the flesh judges. As then the prophet found that he obtained nothing by prayer, he says that his prayer was shut out, or that the door was closed against him, so that his prayer did not come to God.

[John Weaver] Now, this passage is worthy of special notice, for except God immediately meets us, that is, if God does not answer us right away, we become languid, that is, we become indifferent, we become discouraged, we become disheartened. He said, unless God, except God immediately meets us, we become languid, not only are our ardor and prayers cooled, but almost extinguished. Let us then bear in mind that though God may help us soon, yet our prayers are never repudiated by Him.

[John Weaver] And since we see that the Holy Fathers experienced the same thing, let us not wonder if the Lord at this day were to try our faith in the same manner. Let us therefore persevere in calling on Him, and should there be a longer delay, and our complaint be that we are not heard, yet let us proceed in the same course as we shall see the prophet then." In other words, we have to keep praying, is what he's saying.

[John Weaver] But I want you to think about this. He said, unless God meets us right away, we become languid, the ardor of our prayer cools, and sometimes we just even quit praying about something. We'll say, well, God's not listening to me, or God's not answering me. Why in the world should I continue to pray? And we just basically stop praying, and that's exactly what he's saying. Jeremiah was saying God's not listening, God's not hearing, and so why in the world should I keep praying? Now, I want you to look back at Lamentations chapter 3, because I want you to look at verse 8, and then I want you to understand how Jeremiah is describing his situation when he believes that God is refusing his supplications. So, in verse 8 he said, also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. Now, the next verses down through verse 20 is actually a description of what Jeremiah was going through. Remember now, there's a rejection of his service, now there's a refusal of his supplications. So, what was he going through?

[John Weaver] What was he experiencing? What was he thinking? Well, look if you would in verse 9. He said, He enclosed my ways with huge stones. He hath made my paths crooked. So now, if you are stoned in, if somebody lays block around you and cements it together, there's no way you're getting out. And then he says, He hath made my paths crooked. I thought about those corn mazes that usually pop up in the fall, and some people get lost in those things. Well, Jeremiah said, look, I don't understand what's going on. I can't get out of this predicament. Then if you look in verse 10, he said he was a bear. He was asked him to be as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. Those are devastating animals. Those animals will take your life.

[John Weaver] And he's saying, I'm waiting any moment for God to pounce upon me. And then he said in verse 11, look at this. He had turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He had made me desolate.

[John Weaver] Now, that's exactly what a barrel line would do, pull you in pieces. I thought about this. I hadn't thought about it in a long, long time. But when I was a boy, I had two dogs and they hated snakes. And I had seen those dogs many times when they would come upon a snake. I don't care what kind of snake it was. One dog would bite behind the snake's head, and the second dog would get the snake's tail, and they would back up and pull the snake apart. That's how they killed the snake. Well, this is exactly what Jeremiah said. He's pulled me to pieces. He made me desolate.

[John Weaver] In other words, there's no help for me. And then look in verse 12. He said, he bent his bow and set me as a bark for his arrow. In other words, God's shooting at me. And that's why I said in verse 13, it caused the arrows, that's plural, of his quiver to enter into my reins. He shot me many times, he shot me down. And then he says in verse 14, I was a derision to all my people and their song all the day.

[John Weaver] They mocked him, they ridiculed him, they would not listen to him. It reminds me of that passage in Psalm 69, which is a messianic psalm concerning Jesus Christ, when he said, I was a song of drunkards. So the drunk folks were mocking Jesus Christ, and here probably some were mocking Jeremiah in that sense as well. Then he says, look at this in verse 15, he has filled me with bitterness.

[John Weaver] It made me drunken with wormwood. Now I don't know if you know what wormwood is. Wormwood is a bitter herb, and wormwood is one of those herbs that's in just about all parasitic cleanses so if you take a parasite cleanse you're usually going to take wormwood and clove and black walnut hummus but the wormwood is bitter so he said he's filled me with bitterness and it made me drunken with wormwood look at verse 16 he has also broken my teeth with gravel stones he has covered me with ashes so let me ask you a question Let's suppose you're crying and shouting out, and you really and truly want some help, and you want some answers, and I come along with a cloth bag full of gravel, and I smite you in the mouth with it. Break your teeth, burst your gums. That'll stop your crying and shouting for a little while anyhow.

[John Weaver] Jeremiah says this is what it's like. He's hit me in the mouth with gravel stones. He's covered me in ashes.

[John Weaver] Now look in verse 17. I'm just pointing out where he was. He said, Thou hast removed my soul for all from peace. Of course, he has no peace. The people rejected him. Nobody's going to listen. God's refusing his supplication. So he said, I forgot prosperity. Now look in verse 18. And I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. I'm not getting any help. I'm not getting any answers. Now watch this. Remembering my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall, all the bitterness that he's going through from the people and from God not listening to his prayers then he said in verse 20 my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me so I want you to look at this now when God shut out his prayer Jeremiah was not angry he was not upset the ultimate result was he was humbled He said, when I remember all of this, my soul was humbled within me. Wow! May I remind you of a verse that I've often quoted?

[John Weaver] Think of Genesis chapter 32 and verse 10, where Jacob had been wrestling with the angel, of course, but he makes this statement. I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies, nor of all the truth which thou hast shown unto thy servant. I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies." When you stop and think about this, it's a miracle that God even blesses us, that God even allows us to live, much less listen to our prayers and answer our prayers.

[John Weaver] We've sinned against Him so grievously And thankfully, he has not dealt with us according to our sins, neither has he rewarded us according to our iniquities. And Jeremiah said, look, all of this I'm going through, my soul is humbled within me. May I remind you that God said he's especially near to those who are of a humble heart and of a contrite spirit as well. So Jeremiah was God's prophet. But it is also equally true that Jeremiah represented the nation. because Jeremiah is being identified with his people. He is suffering with the people.

[John Weaver] It's kind of like the high priest in the book of Exodus. You remember he had all these special garments, but he had a shoulder harness, and on each of the shoulders he had an emerald, he had a jewel, and the names of the twelve tribes were engraved on those twelve stones. So he bore the iniquity of those people on his shoulders. That's what he did. And so here Jeremiah is also being identified with the people and he's bearing their iniquity. He's suffering with them. So there's a special verse that would explain this. And that's Deuteronomy chapter 28 in verse 23. You remember Deuteronomy 28 has the blessings and the curses. The first 14 verses deal with the blessings, and from verse 15 to the end of Deuteronomy 28 deals with the curses. And here's one of the curses. Deuteronomy 28 and verse 23, God said, In thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth under thy feet shall be iron. If the heaven over our head is brass, that means our prayers are not getting through.

[John Weaver] If the earth under our feet is iron, nothing is producing, nothing is growing, everything is going wrong in our lives. We can't get through to God, we can't take care of ourselves. So we have to ask this question, why would heavens be brass? Why would the earth be iron beneath our feet? Well, if you'll skip back in your Bible to Isaiah 59, Isaiah, Jeremiah, right before the book of Jeremiah, you have Isaiah. Look in Isaiah chapter 59, if you would, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. And look what God says. Here's why heaven is oftentimes brass and the land under our feet is iron. He says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. God can save and God can hear.

[John Weaver] Why is he not saving? Why is he not hearing? But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perverseness, none calleth for justice, nor any pleaded for truth. They trust in vanity, they speak lies, they conceive mischief, and they bring forth iniquity." So God says, look, The problem is not with me, the problem is with you. It is your sins that have separated us. My hand is just as able to save as always, but my ear is able to hear, but your sins have cut us off. Your sins have alienated me from you. It's just that simple.

[John Weaver] Now, God shut out Jeremiah's prayer, but I'm going to say something else. He also shut out the prayers of the people in Judah and Jerusalem. I'll show you that momentarily. He would not listen to any of them. Now, hang on. There's a scripture in Proverbs 28 verse 13. It's very, very important. I want you to think about this. God said, Proverbs 28 verse 13, Whoso turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. Whosoever turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." So what God is saying is this, if we're not going to listen to Him, He's not going to listen to us. If we turn our ear away from Him, even our prayer is a stench in His nostrils. God is not going to listen to us. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the little book of Micah. You're going to find Micah after the book of Jonah and right before Nahum, but I want you to look in Micah chapter 6.

[John Weaver] Now remember, if you would, part of the curse for disobedience was the heavens would be brass and the earth under our feet would be iron. Now God has already said that His hand is not short that it cannot save, His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. It's our sins. But I want you to watch this. Keep in mind Proverbs 28 in verse 9 as well. Whosoever turneth his ear away from the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. So look if you would, Micah chapter 6 beginning with verse 14. Here's what God tells the people.

[John Weaver] Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied. and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee, and thou shalt take hold, but thou shalt not deliver, and that which thou deliverest I will give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap, thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil, and sweet wine, but thou shalt not drink wine." Why?

[John Weaver] For the statutes of Omri are kept. Omri was the father of King Ahab. Omri was a wicked tyrant as well. He says, for the statutes, what are the statutes? The laws, the rules, the ordinances of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you walk in their councils, that is, you are obeying the humanistic, paganistic, idolatrous, wicked man, you walk in their councils, that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof missing, therefore you

[John Weaver] shall bear the reproach of my people. So, notice if you would, part of the curse then is the earth is going to be iron as well as the heaven going to be brass. So, Judah and Jerusalem had totally and completely forsaken and rejected God and his law. They were following the statutes of men. They were disobeying God and honoring men.

[John Weaver] Now, let me try to get to the point as to why God shut out the supplications of Jeremiah. So may I remind you again that Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. His heart was broken for his people and they rejected his ministry. And when they rejected his ministry, they rejected him. And when they rejected him, they rejected the God who sent him. So I could give you plenty of reasons as to why God does not answer prayer. In fact, I will remind you of a message that I preached many years ago. You will find that message, I'm sure, on sermonaudio.com. And the title of the message is, Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers. And I give you specific reasons and very clearly teach that.

[John Weaver] But however, with this message, I want you to turn to one particular passage, and I want you to see this. So if you will turn to 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jews and Revelations. Notice if you would, 1 John, chapter 5. And I want you to look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 13. 1 John, chapter 5, verse 13. Look at what he says. 1 John 5 verse 13.

[John Weaver] These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. Now watch. Let me repeat this. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. You're a believer. So he's writing to you that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Now watch verse 14.

[John Weaver] And this is the confidence that we have in him. that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.

[John Weaver] Now verse 15, and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him. Now let's go back to verse 14 again, and this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. So, he says, we know that if we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us. Here's a good question. How do you know what's according to his will?

[John Weaver] And the answer is, his will is revealed in his word. You remember that passage in Deuteronomy 29, 29? The secret things belong to the Lord our God. But the things that he has revealed belong unto us and our children, that we may do them. Let me just point out the fact. The key is that we're asking according to his will. And if we ask according to his will, we know that he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, we know that we're going to have those petitions that we desire to him.

[John Weaver] So, hang on, you have to determine now what was God's will for Jude and Jerusalem. I just told you that God's will is revealed in his word. So let me give you a good illustration. I can sit here and tell you assuredly that it is God's will to heal most of the time but it's not God's will to heal all of the time and I can prove that it's God's will to heal most of the time because everybody in this room has been sick and gotten well multiple times over the years but it's not God's will to heal every time because if he did no one would ever die you see so the truth of the matter is We know God's love.

[John Weaver] I tell people, I've prayed over people that look like they were on their deathbed. And I've prayed for them. And the next week they're up and about, going back to work, doing whatever they always did. And I've prayed for some people who look like, well, you might be pretending like you're sick. I mean, you look healthy enough to me. And I'd pray for them and they'd die. because it's God's will to heal most of the time but not all the time because the wages of sin is death and we are going to die now do you realize that nations die societies die governments die families die individuals die look at the nations that you read about in the Old Testament, they're no longer around, they're dead. What about the languages that are known as dead languages? Nobody speaks them anymore because the people who spoke them are dead. So, what was God's will concerning Judah and Jerusalem? I'm going to show you. I want you to go back in your Bible to the book of Jeremiah and look at what he would in chapter 13.

[John Weaver] Jeremiah chapter 13. Let's begin there with verse 14. Jeremiah chapter 13. Look, if you would please, at verse 14. Wow. In fact, let's read verse 13 just so you can see it's in Jew and Jerusalem involved. Verse 13. Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness, and I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord, I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them." What was God's will concerning Judah and Jerusalem?

[John Weaver] That is, they would be destroyed. Look in Jeremiah 15 and verse 3. Jeremiah 15 verse 3, God says, And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord, the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. God said, I'm going to destroy them. I'm going to appoint four ways of destruction. Now, look in Jeremiah, chapter 15, and verses 6 and 7. Here's why he's willing to destroy them. "'Thou hast forsaken me,' saith the Lord,"'thou art gone backward.' Therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee.

[John Weaver] I am weary with repenting, and I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land. I will bereave them of children. I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways." I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 25 and look, if you would please, at verse 9. Jeremiah 25 and verse 9. Stay in Jeremiah just for a little bit. Jeremiah 25, verse 9.

[John Weaver] God says, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. and will bring them against this land, that's Judah and Jerusalem, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all the nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment of the history and perpetual desolations." Wow! So it was God's will, then, that Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the surrounding nations, be destroyed because of their sin and their rebellion against Him. Listen while I make some statements. It is impossible to change the will of God. It is impossible to change the decree of God. Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people. Prayer is not an instrument to get God to change his mind. Prayer is an instrument to accomplish the will of God, to bring the will of God into fruition. I hope you're beginning to see the heart of Jeremiah in the fact that he wanted and longed for the salvation of his people and the salvation of his nation, and yet God says they are beyond salvation.

[John Weaver] I am going to destroy them. It is my will that they be destroyed. I'm going to bring Nebuchadnezzar. He's going to accomplish that which I please." Now, here's the question. Was Jeremiah left in the dark concerning this? And the answer is no. So, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 7. and look if you would please at verse 16 and note how plainly God spoke to Jeremiah concerning this. Jeremiah 7 and verse 16 God tells Jeremiah well let's go back look look if you would verse 14 therefore will I do unto this house that is the temple which is called by my name where you trust unto the place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh, and will destroy you.

[John Weaver] And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." Assyria got them.

[John Weaver] Now look at verse 16, what God tells Jeremiah,"'Therefore,' because I'm going to do this,"'therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up pride or prayer for them, neither make intercession to me, for I will not hear thee. Is that not plain enough? God said, Jeremiah, do not pray for this people. I'm not going to hear you. When he said, I cry and shout, he shut out my prayer. God said, I'm not going to listen to you. You're wasting your breath. Now, look in Jeremiah, chapter 11 and verse 14. I told you I was going to show you this. And here it is. Look in Jeremiah, chapter 11, verse 14. look what God says therefore pray not thou for this people neither lift up a cry or prayer for them now look what he says now for I will not hear them in the times that they cry unto me for their trouble God said Jeremiah I'm not going to hear you and I'm not going to hear this people when they pray I am going to destroy them God would not hear the prayers of Jeremiah on behalf of these people because he'd already decreed to destroy them.

[John Weaver] Look in Jeremiah chapter 15. I'll show you how serious God was. I don't think you can misunderstand this. Jeremiah 15 verse 1, Then said the Lord unto me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, Those were the two greatest prayer warriors in the Old Testament. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? Then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord, such is for death to death, and such is for the sword to the sword, and such is for the famine to the famine, and such is for the captivity to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord, the sword to slay and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy." He said, I wouldn't listen to them if Moses and Samuel stood before me.

[John Weaver] I would not hear them. I would not listen to them whatsoever.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you something. Jeremiah really wanted to pray for the people. He really did. God said, OK, Jeremiah, I am going to allow you to pray. But you have to pray what I tell you to pray. So here we go. Look in Jeremiah chapter 14 verse 10. Thus saith the Lord unto this people. Thus have they loved to wander. They were idolaters. They have not refrained their feet. Therefore the Lord doth not accept them.

[John Weaver] He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins. Look, then said the Lord unto me, pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry. And when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them, but I will consume them by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence. Wow. Look in verse 11. Then said the Lord unto me, pray not for this people for their good. Jeremiah, you want to pray for this people. I'm going to allow you to pray for them. But you must pray that I'll destroy them. Because that's exactly what I'm going to do. Pray not for their good. Now, I want you to listen to this application. I want you to think with me. Here it is.

[John Weaver] There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work. God raises up nations and God brings them down. If you were to take the time to read through the book of Jeremiah, God said to the king and to the queen and to the princess humble yourselves obey my voice and they would not it's not just nations that God destroys it's governments that God destroys it's societies that God destroys it's families it's it's it's churches read the book of revelations chapter two and three the letters to the seven churches. I'm just simply pointing out the fact we normally take this passage and apply it to individuals, but it can be applied to families, to societies, and to nations as well.

[John Weaver] In Isaiah 55, verses 6 and 7, God says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. call you upon him while he's near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him for our God will abundantly pardon." But notice what he said, let us seek the Lord while he may be found so there's a time when he's not going to be found let us call upon him when it's near there's a time when he's not going to be near and like I said last week if you were trying to deceive someone If you were trying to really hurt someone, and you had a plan that would really deceive them and hurt them, and your plan failed, you would be disappointed, but you would not be brokenhearted, you would not be grieved, you would not be crying your eyeballs out.

[John Weaver] What gives you a broken heart? When you know the truth and people will not listen, when you know judgment is coming, and yet people are unafraid of a sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, majestic, eternal, sovereign God of heaven and earth, they will not listen, they will not bow. That is heart-wrenching. That breaks your heart. When it's your family, when it's your friends, when it's your neighbors, when it's your loved ones, even when it's strangers, Jeremiah had his service rejected by the people, his supplications refused by God because he was still wanting to pray for their salvation. And God said, it's too late.

[John Weaver] I'm going to destroy them. Do not pray for their good. We need to learn this nationally. We need to learn it governmentally. We need to learn it familially. We need to learn it societally. We need to learn it ecclesiastically. We need to learn it individually. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous men his thoughts, and let him turn unto the Lord. And the Lord will have mercy, for he will abundantly pardon.

[John Weaver] is in God alone, in God's time alone. And when you pass a certain point, there's nothing left but judgment. Jeremiah was broken because he knew that judgment was imminent. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We thank you for your word. We pray, Father, that you would indeed give us a broken and contrite spirit. Lord, first of all, over our sins, over our family sins, over our church sins, over our societal sins, over our governmental sins, over our national sins, Lord Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra all confess the sins of their nation, the sins of their people. Lord, give us a broken heart. Lord, we know your word is truth. And we know that judgment is hanging over our heads like a Democles sword. And Lord, unless we repent and turn back to Thee and submit and obey Thee, like Judah in Jerusalem, like Israel in the north, we'll be judged.

[John Weaver] Because our demutable and Thine does not change, neither do sound judgments. Give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

The Cry of a Broken Heart - Part 2

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	42726145534156
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Lamentations
Genre	Sermon
Date	2026-04-19
Dictation Name
Book	Book 127: The Cry of a Broken Heart — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	70

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver introduces Lamentations 3:8–20, reviews the previous sermon on verses 1–7, and reiterates that the 'broken heart' refers to grief over personal and national sin, not romantic loss.

Well, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to the book of Lamentations, chapter 3, right after the book of Jeremiah, and right before Ezekiel. You have Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. And notice, if you would, today we're going to be reading verses 8 through 20. Last week I preached on verses 1 through 7. I will take a few moments to review, but the lesson today is "The Cry of a Broken Heart, Part 2." So part one was last week and part three is coming up next week, Lord willing. So notice he said in Lamentations 3 beginning with verse 8,

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:8–20

"Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." "He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins."

"I was a derision to all my people and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness. He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes, and thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot prosperity, and I said my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering my affliction, my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled within me." May I remind you that the book of Lamentations is actually five poems, and each poem is on the fall and destruction of Jerusalem from a different aspect. And I'm going to also remind you, as I said last week, that the title of this message, "The Cry of a Broken Heart," has nothing to do with romantic losses, neither does it have anything to do with the loss of a family friend in death. Because obviously, clearly, everyone has experienced that in times past. But it does refer to being broken and contrite, not only over our personal sins, but over our societal sins, our national sins. And it also refers to being broken, not just simply over those things, but over all the false prophets and all the false preachers and teachers and all the lies and deceits that are being enunciated in this land today. Jeremiah was concerned and wept because of the false prophets that were causing his people to err and to walk contrary to God as well.

God's Nearness to the Brokenhearted

Weaver cites Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, and Isaiah 66:2 to show that God dwells with those who have a contrite and humble spirit.

And then when you consider also the fact that we have sinned against a God that is so holy, so loving, so kind, so gracious, so merciful, and all he really deserves is our love, praise, honor, and worship, and yet we continually transgress and trespass against Him. And of course, we also understand that He is a just and righteous God as well. So, I gave you some verses last week, and I want to just reiterate three or four of them. And that is simply this, that God is especially close to those individuals who have a broken and contrite heart. For instance, the Bible says in Psalm 34 and verse 18,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 34:18

"The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

And then, of course, in Isaiah 57 and verse 15, a very powerful verse, "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of contrite heart, and," notice the humble spirit, "to revive the spirit

of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." So God says,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 57:15

"I dwell in the high and holy place, but I also dwell with that individual who has a contrite and a humble heart as well."

And then, of course, I quoted Isaiah 66 and verse 2, which, Lord willing, I will be preaching on in a not too distant future. But he said, "For all of those things have mine hand made, and all those things hath been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look, even to him that is of poor and contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." So Jeremiah, of course, is known as the weeping prophet, and he wept not only over the sins that he had committed, but also the sins of his people as well. And he wept over the fact that the people would not hear, they would not listen, they refused to return to God.

First Reason for Jeremiah's Broken Heart: Rejection of His Service

Jeremiah's ministry was rejected by all levels of society; no one would listen or repent, as illustrated in Jeremiah 5:1–5 and 5:31.

So I mentioned last week the whole point of the message was this. Here's the first reason why Jeremiah had a broken heart and that was the rejection of his service or the rejection of his ministry. None of the people would hear. None were willing to listen. None were willing to repent. So if you look back, hold Lamentations chapter 3, but if you look back to the book of Jeremiah chapter 5, I want to show you exactly how corrupt the entire society and the entire nation was in the day of Jeremiah. So look if you would at what God instructs Jeremiah to do in Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 1. He tells Jeremiah, "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that execute

judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it." That is the city. "And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely." He says, "O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return." Now look what he said concerning the average individual. "Therefore I said, Surely these are poor, they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God." In other words, they are ignorant of the truth. Then he said in verse 5, "I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God."

"But these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds." So it didn't matter which strata of society he went to, no one was willing to listen, no one was willing to repent, and God said, if you can find just one man in the entire city that executed truth and justice, why, he said, I will indeed pardon the whole city. Now, if you will skip down to verse 31, to show you the corruption of the entire strata of society, he says in verse 31,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 5:31

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

So it should not be a cause to wonder as to why Jeremiah was the weeping prophet, because none of his people would listen to his words, the words of warning, the words of truth. They were all full of deceits and lies. A quote is attributed to George Orwell, whether he originated it or not, I know not, but it's a true quote. He said this: "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." And that was true not only in Jeremiah's day, it's also true in our day as well.

I want you to stop and think about where we are in America, because we are just like these people in Judah and Jerusalem. No one wants to upset the status quo. No one wants to rock the boat. Now the status quo may be wicked, it may be wrong, it may be rebellious, it may be humanistic, but it is our status quo and we like it just the way it is and we do not want anyone coming in and upsetting us and trying to change everything and get us to a place where we certainly do not want to be.

Second Reason: Refusal of His Supplications

Jeremiah laments that God shut out his prayer (Lamentations 3:8, 44). Weaver explains that God can be angry with the prayers of His people (Psalm 80:4) and that Jeremiah felt his prayers were not heard.

The first reason that Jeremiah is known as a weeping prophet was simply because of the rejection of his service. Now, it is extremely heart-wrenching when you know the truth and you see the judgment of God on the horizon and you're trying to instruct your family and your friends and no one will listen. And that's exactly where he was. Now, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations chapter 3, we're coming to the second reason as to why Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. Not only was there a rejection of his service, there was secondly a refusal of his supplications. So, if you look in Lamentations 3 in verse 8, he says concerning God, "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." So God then shut the door to the prayers of Jeremiah so that they could not enter. He could pray, he could cry, he could shout, but God was not listening and God would not entertain his prayers. So if you look in Lamentations 3 and verse 44, he says it just a little differently.

He says, "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." Think about this. We now have a problem. And the problem is this. Jeremiah is saying that God is refusing to hear his prayer. He's not refusing for Jeremiah to pray. Jeremiah is welcome to pray, but God is not listening to Jeremiah and therefore God is not going to answer his prayer. Now, I'm going to show you another verse.

I want you to understand this. It is possible, and it is scriptural, for God even to be angry with the prayers of his people. If you look in your Bible to Lamentations 3, but turn back in your Bible to Psalm 80, and look if you would please at verse 4, Psalm 80 and verse 4, and note if you would what the psalmist says very plainly. Psalm 80 and verse 4. Look at this. He asks this question,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 80:4

"O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?"

So it is possible for God to be angry with the prayer of his people.

Now when we stop and think about this, Jeremiah said, "He shutteth out my prayer." He said he's made a cloud where my prayers can't go through. When we consider this, we do have a problem because there are so many verses in the scripture where God not only encourages prayer, he commands prayer, and he tells us that our prayers are his delight. So let me give you some verses. First of all, in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17, the word of God says, "Pray without ceasing." We are to pray without ceasing, that is God's command, that is not stopping. And then when you get to Luke chapter 18 and verse 1, our Lord said it like this, "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint."

Biblical Encouragement to Pray vs. Jeremiah's Experience

Weaver contrasts commands to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1) with Jeremiah's complaint that God was not listening, noting that even Job and the psalmist experienced similar silence.

So there should never be a time when we're not praying in one sense of the word. Then Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6, he said, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." So again he tells us that we are to pray about everything. And then when you get to Colossians 4 and verse 2, he gives this command,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 4:2

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving."

Now I want to just read to you part of Nehemiah's prayer. I want you to listen carefully, you'll find this in Nehemiah chapter 1 and verse 6. Nehemiah prayed, and he says to God, "Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned." So Nehemiah said, "Lord, let your ears be open to my prayer. Let your eyes see, Lord, this is a prayer that I'm praying day and night." So he was praying it constantly. He's praying it continually, and he's asking God to hear and see. David said it like this in Psalm 6 and verse 9. He said, "The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer." Now here's another verse that I think that would be appropriate, and that would be Psalm 65 and verse 2.

The psalmist said, "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." Wow. "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." And then when you get to Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 8, the Bible says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight." So it delights God when his people pray. The prayer of the upright is his delight. One more, and that is Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 29. "The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous." So, we know, based upon these scriptures and a whole lot more that could be quoted, that God's ears are open unto his people. He has told us that if we knock, the door will be open, that if we seek, we will find, and that if we ask, we shall receive. Yet, it seems at times when we do pray, that God does not hear our prayers. This is what Jeremiah is complaining about. He said, "When I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." Now this was not unique to Jeremiah. Job also had this problem because in Job chapter 13 verse 20, Job said, "I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not." So, Job was saying, "I'm crying, and I'm praying, and Lord, you're not listening."

When you get to Psalm 22, of course, it is a psalm that David has written, but Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 24 are a trilogy, that is, they go together, and each of these psalms happens to be a messianic psalm there about Jesus Christ the Messiah. So in Psalm 22 you have Jesus Christ as the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. In Psalm 23 you have Jesus Christ as the great shepherd who guides and protects his sheep. And then in Psalm 24 you have Jesus Christ as the chief shepherd who promotes his own to glory. And yet when you look in Psalm 22 and verse 2, the Word of God says this, "O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent." He says, "I'm crying, I'm praying, but thou hearest not." Now you have to remember that this is also a Messianic Psalm. You say, "How in the world would that apply to Jesus Christ?"

Well, you remember in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 39, the Bible says concerning Jesus Christ, "He went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." So did God the Father allow the cup to pass from Jesus Christ? And the answer is no. He drank that cup, and I don't think it was necessarily the physical sufferings from which he was actually crying and praying to be delivered from.

Jeremiah's Description of His Suffering

Weaver expounds Lamentations 3:9–20, detailing Jeremiah's imagery of being trapped, attacked, mocked, and humbled, culminating in a humbled soul.

But I want you to think about this. He said, "Unless God meets us right away, we become languid, the ardor of our prayer cools, and sometimes we just even quit praying about something. We'll say, 'Well, God's not listening to me,' or 'God's not answering me. Why in the world should I continue to pray?'" And we just basically stop praying, and that's exactly what he's saying. Jeremiah was saying God's not listening, God's not hearing, and so why in the world should I keep praying? Now, I want you to look back at Lamentations chapter 3, because I want you to look at verse 8, and then I want you to understand how Jeremiah is describing his situation when he believes that God is refusing his supplications. So, in verse 8 he said, "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." Now, the next verses down through verse 20 is actually a description of what Jeremiah was going through. Remember now, there's a rejection of his service, now there's a refusal of his supplications. So, what was he going through?

What was he experiencing? What was he thinking? Well, look if you would in verse 9. He said, "He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked." So now, if you are stoned in, if somebody lays block around you and cements it together, there's no way you're getting out. And then he says, "He hath made my paths crooked." I thought about those corn mazes that usually pop up in the fall, and some people get lost in those things. Well, Jeremiah said, "Look, I don't understand what's going on. I can't get out of this predicament." Then if you look in verse 10, he said, "He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places." Those are devastating animals. Those animals will take your life.

And he's saying, "I'm waiting any moment for God to pounce upon me." And then he said in verse 11, look at this. "He hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate." Now, that's exactly what a bear or lion would do, pull you in pieces. I thought about this. I hadn't thought about it in a long, long time. But when I was a boy, I had two dogs and they hated snakes. And I had seen those dogs many times when they would come upon a snake. I don't care what kind of snake it was. One dog would bite behind the snake's head, and the second dog would get the snake's tail, and they would back up and pull the snake apart. That's how they killed the snake. Well, this is exactly what Jeremiah said. "He's pulled me to pieces. He made me desolate."

In other words, there's no help for me. And then look in verse 12. He said, "He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow." In other words, God's shooting at me. And that's why he said in verse 13, "He caused the arrows," that's plural, "of his quiver to enter into my reins." He shot me many times, he shot me down. And then he says in verse 14, "I was a derision to all my people and their song all the day." They mocked him, they ridiculed him, they would not listen to him. It reminds me of that passage in Psalm 69, which is a messianic psalm concerning Jesus Christ, when he said, "I was the song of the drunkards." So the drunk folks were mocking Jesus Christ, and here probably some were mocking Jeremiah in that sense as well. Then he says, look at this in verse 15, "He hath filled me with bitterness."

"He hath made me drunken with wormwood." Now I don't know if you know what wormwood is. Wormwood is a bitter herb, and wormwood is one of those herbs that's in just about all parasitic cleanses. So if you take a parasite cleanse, you're usually going to take wormwood and clove and black walnut hulls, but the wormwood is bitter. So he said, "He's filled me with bitterness and made me drunken with wormwood." Look at verse 16, "He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes." So let me ask you a question. Let's suppose you're crying and shouting out, and you really and truly want some help, and you want some answers, and I come along with a cloth bag full of gravel, and I smite you in the mouth with it. Break your teeth, burst your gums. That'll stop your crying and shouting for a little while anyhow.

Jeremiah says this is what it's like. He's hit me in the mouth with gravel stones. He's covered me in ashes. Now look in verse 17. I'm just pointing out where he was. He said, "Thou hast removed my soul far off from peace." Of course, he has no peace. The people rejected him. Nobody's going to listen. God's refusing his supplication. So he said, "I forgot prosperity." Now look in verse 18. "And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord." I'm not getting any help. I'm not getting any answers. Now watch this. "Remembering my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall," all the bitterness that he's going through from the people and from God not listening to his prayers, then he said in verse 20, "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me." So I want you to look at this now. When God shut out his prayer, Jeremiah was not angry, he was not upset. The ultimate result was he was humbled. He said, "When I remember all of this, my soul was humbled within me." Wow! May I remind you of a verse that I've often quoted?

Why God Refused to Hear: National Sin and Decreed Judgment

Weaver explains that God's refusal to hear Jeremiah's prayers was due to the nation's sin (Isaiah 59:1–2) and God's sovereign decree to destroy Judah (Jeremiah 13:14; 15:3,6–7; 25:9). God explicitly commanded Jeremiah not to pray for their good (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:10–11).

If the earth under our feet is iron, nothing is producing, nothing is growing, everything is going wrong in our lives. We can't get through to God, we can't take care of ourselves. So we have to ask this question, why would heavens be brass? Why would the earth be iron beneath our feet? Well, if you'll skip back in your Bible to Isaiah 59, Isaiah, Jeremiah, right before the book of Jeremiah, you have Isaiah. Look in Isaiah chapter 59, if you would, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. And look what God says. Here's why heaven is oftentimes brass and the land under our feet is iron. He says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." God can save and God can hear.

Why is he not saving? Why is he not hearing? "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity." So God says, "Look, the problem is not with me, the problem is with you. It is your sins that have separated us. My hand is just as able to save as always, and my ear is able to hear, but your sins have cut us off. Your sins have alienated me from you. It's just that simple."

Now, God shut out Jeremiah's prayer, but I'm going to say something else. He also shut out the prayers of the people in Judah and Jerusalem. I'll show you that momentarily. He would not listen to any of them. Now, hang on. There's a scripture in Proverbs 28 verse 13. It's very, very important. I want you to think about this. God said, Proverbs 28 verse 13, "Whoso turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." "Whosoever turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." So what God is saying is this, if we're not going to listen to Him, He's not going to listen to us. If we turn our ear away from Him, even our prayer is a stench in His nostrils. God is not going to listen to us. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the little book of Micah. You're going to find Micah after the book of Jonah and right before Nahum, but I want you to look in Micah chapter 6.

Now remember, if you would, part of the curse for disobedience was the heavens would be brass and the earth under our feet would be iron. Now God has already said that His hand is not short that it cannot save, His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. It's our sins. But I want you to watch this. Keep in mind Proverbs 28 in verse 9 as well. "Whosoever turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." So look if you would, Micah chapter 6 beginning with verse 14. Here's what God tells the people.

"Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine." Why? "For the statutes of Omri are kept." Omri was the father of King Ahab. Omri was a wicked tyrant as well. He says, "For the statutes," what are the statutes? The laws, the rules, the ordinances of Omri are kept, "and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels;" that is, you are obeying the humanistic, paganistic, idolatrous, wicked men, you walk in their counsels, "that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye

shall bear the reproach of my people." So, notice if you would, part of the curse then is the earth is going to be iron as well as the heaven going to be brass. So, Judah and Jerusalem had totally and completely forsaken and rejected God and his law. They were following the statutes of men. They were disobeying God and honoring men.

Now, let me try to get to the point as to why God shut out the supplications of Jeremiah. So may I remind you again that Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. His heart was broken for his people and they rejected his ministry. And when they rejected his ministry, they rejected him. And when they rejected him, they rejected the God who sent him. So I could give you plenty of reasons as to why God does not answer prayer. In fact, I will remind you of a message that I preached many years ago. You will find that message, I'm sure, on sermonaudio.com. And the title of the message is, "Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers." And I give you specific reasons and very clearly teach that.

But however, with this message, I want you to turn to one particular passage, and I want you to see this. So if you will turn to 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation. Notice if you would, 1 John, chapter 5. And I want you to look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 13. 1 John, chapter 5, verse 13. Look at what he says. 1 John 5 verse 13.

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God." Now watch. Let me repeat this. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God." You're a believer. So he's writing to you "that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." Now watch verse 14. "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us."

Now verse 15, "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Now let's go back to verse 14 again, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." So, he says, we know that if we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us. Here's a good question. How do you know what's according to his will? And the answer is, his will is revealed in his word. You remember that passage in Deuteronomy 29:29? "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." Let me just point out the fact. The key is that we're asking according to his will. And if we ask according to his will, we know that he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, we know that we're going to have those petitions that we desire of him.

So, hang on, you have to determine now what was God's will for Judah and Jerusalem. I just told you that God's will is revealed in his word. So let me give you a good illustration. I can sit here and tell you assuredly that it is God's will to heal most of the time but it's not God's will to heal all of the time. And I can prove that it's God's will to heal most of the time because everybody in this room has been sick and gotten well multiple times over the years. But it's not God's will to heal every time because if he did, no one would ever die. You see? So the truth of the matter is, we know God's love.

I tell people, I've prayed over people that look like they were on their deathbed. And I've prayed for them. And the next week they're up and about, going back to work, doing whatever they always did. And I've prayed for some people who look like, well, you might be pretending like you're sick. I mean, you look healthy enough to me. And I'd pray for them and they'd die. Because it's God's will to heal most of the time but not all the time because the wages of sin is death and we are going to die. Now do you realize that nations die? Societies die. Governments die. Families die. Individuals die. Look at the nations that you read about in the Old Testament, they're no longer around, they're dead. What about the languages that are known as dead languages? Nobody speaks them anymore because the people who spoke them are dead. So, what was God's will concerning Judah and Jerusalem? I'm going to show you. I want you to go back in your Bible to the book of Jeremiah and look at what he said in chapter 13.

Jeremiah chapter 13. Let's begin there with verse 14. Jeremiah chapter 13. Look, if you would please, at verse 14. Wow. In fact, let's read verse 13 just so you can see it's Judah and Jerusalem involved. Verse 13. "Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them." What was God's will concerning Judah and Jerusalem?

That is, they would be destroyed. Look in Jeremiah 15 and verse 3. Jeremiah 15 verse 3, God says, "And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy." God said, "I'm going to destroy them. I'm going to appoint four ways of destruction." Now, look in Jeremiah, chapter 15, and verses 6 and 7. Here's why he's willing to destroy them. "Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee. I am weary with repenting. And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways." I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 25 and look, if you would please, at verse 9. Jeremiah 25 and verse 9. Stay in Jeremiah just for a little bit. Jeremiah 25, verse 9.

God says, "Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land," that's Judah and Jerusalem, "and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations." Wow! So it was God's will, then, that Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the surrounding nations, be destroyed because of their sin and their rebellion against Him. Listen while I make some statements. It is impossible to change the will of God. It is impossible to change the decree of God. Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people. Prayer is not an instrument to get God to change his mind. Prayer is an instrument to accomplish the will of God, to bring the will of God into fruition. I hope you're beginning to see the heart of Jeremiah in the fact that he wanted and longed for the salvation of his people and the salvation of his nation, and yet God says they are beyond salvation.

"I am going to destroy them. It is my will that they be destroyed. I'm going to bring Nebuchadnezzar. He's going to accomplish that which I please." Now, here's the question. Was Jeremiah left in the dark concerning this? And the answer is no. So, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 7, and look if you would please at verse 16 and note how plainly God spoke to Jeremiah concerning this. Jeremiah 7 and verse 16, God tells Jeremiah, well let's go back, look if you would verse 14, "Therefore will I do unto this house," that is the temple, "which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." Assyria got them.

"And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." Assyria got them. Now look at verse 16, what God tells Jeremiah, "Therefore," because I'm going to do this, "therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee." Is that not plain enough? God said, "Jeremiah, do not pray for this people. I'm not going to hear you." When he said, "I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." God said, "I'm not going to listen to you. You're wasting your breath." Now, look in Jeremiah, chapter 11 and verse 14. I told you I was going to show you this. And here it is. Look in Jeremiah, chapter 11, verse 14. Look what God says, "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them:" now look what he says, "for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble." God said, "Jeremiah, I'm not going to hear you, and I'm not going to hear this people when they pray. I am going to destroy them." God would not hear the prayers of Jeremiah on behalf of these people because he'd already decreed to destroy them.

Look in Jeremiah chapter 15. I'll show you how serious God was. I don't think you can misunderstand this. Jeremiah 15 verse 1, "Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me," those were the two greatest prayer warriors in the Old Testament, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy." He said, "I wouldn't listen to them if Moses and Samuel stood before me."

The Limits of Prayer and the Urgency of Repentance

Weaver teaches that prayer does not change God's decrees; there is a time when mercy is no longer available. He applies this to nations, churches, and individuals, urging repentance while there is time (Isaiah 55:6–7).

"I would not hear them. I would not listen to them whatsoever." Now, I want to show you something. Jeremiah really wanted to pray for the people. He really did. God said, "OK, Jeremiah, I am going to allow you to pray. But you have to pray what I tell you to pray." So here we go. Look in Jeremiah chapter 14 verse 10. "Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them."

"He will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins." Look, "Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence." Wow. Look in verse 11. "Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good." Jeremiah, you want to pray for this people. I'm going to allow you to pray for them. But you must pray that I'll destroy them. Because that's exactly what I'm going to do. Pray not for their good. Now, I want you to listen to this application. I want you to think with me. Here it is.

There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work. God raises up nations and God brings them down. If you were to take the time to read through the book of Jeremiah, God said to the king and to the queen and to the princes, "Humble yourselves, obey my voice," and they would not. It's not just nations that God destroys, it's governments that God destroys, it's societies that God destroys, it's families, it's churches. Read the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches. I'm just simply pointing out the fact we normally take this passage and apply it to individuals, but it can be applied to families, to societies, and to nations as well.

In Isaiah 55, verses 6 and 7, God says, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." But notice what he said, "Let us seek the Lord while he may be found," so there's a time when he's not going to be found. "Let us call upon him while he is near," there's a time when he's not going to be near. And like I said last week, if you were trying to deceive someone, if you were trying to really hurt someone, and you had a plan that would really deceive them and hurt them, and your plan failed, you would be disappointed, but you would not be brokenhearted, you would not be grieved, you would not be crying your eyeballs out.

What gives you a broken heart? When you know the truth and people will not listen, when you know judgment is coming, and yet people are unafraid of a sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, majestic, eternal, sovereign God of heaven and earth, they will not listen, they will not bow. That is heart-wrenching. That breaks your heart. When it's your family, when it's your friends, when it's your neighbors, when it's your loved ones, even when it's strangers, Jeremiah had his service rejected by the people, his supplications refused by God because he was still wanting to pray for their salvation. And God said, "It's too late." "I'm going to destroy them. Do not pray for their good." We need to learn this nationally. We need to learn it governmentally. We need to learn it familially. We need to learn it societally. We need to learn it ecclesiastically. We need to learn it individually. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Conclusion and Prayer

Weaver concludes by calling for a broken and contrite spirit over personal and national sins, warning of imminent judgment, and praying for God's grace and mercy.

Salvation is in God alone, in God's time alone. And when you pass a certain point, there's nothing left but judgment. Jeremiah was broken because he knew that judgment was imminent. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We thank you for your word. We pray, Father, that you would indeed give us a broken and contrite spirit. Lord, first of all, over our sins, over our family sins, over our church sins, over our societal sins, over our governmental sins, over our national sins. Lord, Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra all confessed the sins of their nation, the sins of their people. Lord, give us a broken heart. Lord, we know your word is truth. And we know that judgment is hanging over our heads like a Damocles sword. And Lord, unless we repent and turn back to Thee and submit and obey Thee, like Judah in Jerusalem, like Israel in the north, we'll be judged.

Because Thou art immutable and Thine does not change, neither do sound judgments. Give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Nature of a Broken Heart

Summary: A broken heart in the biblical sense is grief over personal and societal sin, not romantic or bereavement sorrow.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'the title of this message, "The Cry of a Broken Heart," has nothing to do with romantic losses... it does refer to being broken and contrite, not only over our personal sins, but over our societal sins, our national sins.'

God's Nearness to the Contrite

Summary: God promises to dwell with those who have a broken and contrite heart, reviving the humble.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, and Isaiah 66:2 to show God's special presence with the humble.

Rejection of God's Messenger

Summary: Jeremiah's heartbreak was intensified because the people rejected his prophetic ministry and refused to repent.

Evidence: Weaver cites Jeremiah 5:1–5 and 5:31, showing that no one in Jerusalem sought truth or justice.

God's Refusal to Hear Prayer

Summary: God can and does refuse to hear prayers when His people persist in sin and rebellion, even commanding Jeremiah not to intercede.

Evidence: Weaver references Lamentations 3:8, 44; Psalm 80:4; and Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:10–11.

The Sovereignty of God in Judgment

Summary: God decrees the rise and fall of nations; His will to destroy Judah was unchangeable, and prayer could not alter it.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'It is impossible to change the will of God. It is impossible to change the decree of God. Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people.'

The Urgency of Seeking God While He May Be Found

Summary: There is a limited window for repentance; once God's judgment is decreed, mercy is no longer available.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Isaiah 55:6–7 and warns that 'there is a time when God's mercies are no longer available.'

Key Arguments

Jeremiah's broken heart was due to both the rejection of his ministry and God's refusal to hear his prayers.

Summary: Weaver argues that Jeremiah's weeping was not merely emotional but rooted in the spiritual reality that God had shut out his supplications for the nation.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'The first reason that Jeremiah is known as a weeping prophet was simply because of the rejection of his service... there was secondly a refusal of his supplications.'

God's refusal to hear prayer is a biblical reality, not a contradiction to His promises.

Summary: Weaver explains that while God commands prayer and delights in it, He can be angry with the prayers of His people when they are in persistent sin.

Evidence: Weaver cites Psalm 80:4 and explains that 'it is possible for God to be angry with the prayer of his people.'

Jeremiah's suffering was both personal and representative of the nation's judgment.

Summary: Weaver argues that Jeremiah's afflictions described in Lamentations 3:9–20 mirror the curses of Deuteronomy 28 and identify him with the people's punishment.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Jeremiah is being identified with his people. He is suffering with the people... he's bearing their iniquity.'

Sin separates people from God and causes Him to hide His face from their prayers.

Summary: Weaver uses Isaiah 59:1–2 to show that the problem is not God's inability but human iniquity that creates a barrier.

Evidence: Weaver reads Isaiah 59:1–2 and comments, 'It is your sins that have separated us. Your sins have alienated me from you.'

God explicitly commanded Jeremiah not to pray for the people's good because He had decreed their destruction.

Summary: Weaver demonstrates from Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, and 14:10–11 that God forbade intercession for Judah, showing the finality of His judgment.

Evidence: Weaver reads Jeremiah 7:16: 'Therefore pray not thou for this people... for I will not hear thee.'

Prayer does not change God's sovereign decrees; it aligns us with His will.

Summary: Weaver asserts that prayer is not a tool to manipulate God but a means to accomplish His will, and when God has decreed judgment, prayer for deliverance is futile.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people. Prayer is not an instrument to get God to change his mind.'

There is a point of no return for individuals and nations when God's mercy is withdrawn.

Summary: Weaver warns that just as Judah reached a point where repentance was too late, so can modern nations and individuals.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work.'

Scripture References

Lamentations 3:8–20

Context: Primary text of the sermon; Jeremiah's lament over God shutting out his prayer and his subsequent suffering.

Psalm 34:18

Context: Quoted to show God's nearness to the brokenhearted.

Isaiah 57:15

Context: Quoted to show God dwells with the contrite and humble.

Isaiah 66:2

Context: Mentioned as a future sermon text; God looks to the humble and contrite.

Jeremiah 5:1–5

Context: Used to illustrate the total corruption of Jerusalem; no one sought truth.

Jeremiah 5:31

Context: Shows false prophets and priests ruling, and people loving it.

Lamentations 3:44

Context: God covered Himself with a cloud so prayer could not pass through.

Psalm 80:4

Context: Evidence that God can be angry with the prayers of His people.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Context: Command to pray without ceasing, contrasted with Jeremiah's experience.

Luke 18:1

Context: Men ought always to pray and not faint.

Philippians 4:6

Context: Command to pray about everything with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

Context: Continue in prayer and watch with thanksgiving.

Nehemiah 1:6

Context: Nehemiah's prayer for God to hear his confession for Israel's sins.

Psalm 6:9

Context: The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

Psalm 65:2

Context: O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.

Proverbs 15:8

Context: The prayer of the upright is God's delight.

Proverbs 15:29

Context: The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Job 13:20

Context: Job's complaint that God did not hear him.

Psalm 22:2

Context: Messianic psalm where the speaker cries but is not heard.

Matthew 26:39

Context: Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane; the cup did not pass, illustrating unanswered prayer.

Historical References

Fall and destruction of Jerusalem

Context: The book of Lamentations consists of five poems on this event; Jeremiah's weeping is over the city's destruction.

George Orwell quote

Context: Weaver quotes Orwell: 'In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act,' applying it to Jeremiah's day and today.

John Calvin's commentary on Lamentations

Context: Weaver reads Calvin's explanation that God never truly rejects His own, but the faithful speak according to the flesh when prayers seem unanswered.

Omri and Ahab

Context: Omri was the father of King Ahab; their wicked statutes were followed by Israel, leading to judgment (Micah 6:16).

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon

Context: Called God's servant to bring destruction on Judah and surrounding nations (Jeremiah 25:9).

Moses and Samuel as great intercessors

Context: God said even if Moses and Samuel stood before Him, He would not relent from destroying Judah (Jeremiah 15:1).

Assyria's conquest of Ephraim

Context: God cast out Ephraim (northern kingdom) by Assyria, and would do similarly to Judah (Jeremiah 7:15).

Important Quotes

In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Significance: Weaver uses this quote to parallel the rejection of truth in Jeremiah's day and in contemporary society.

It is no wonder then that God did not hear the prayers of his servant, that is, according to the judgment of the flesh, that is, from Jeremiah's standpoint. For God never rejects his own, nor is he deaf to their prayers and their sighs, but the faithful often speak according to what the flesh judges.

Significance: Calvin's insight that God's apparent silence does not mean rejection; believers perceive through fleshly judgment.

Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people. Prayer is not an instrument to get God to change his mind. Prayer is an instrument to accomplish the will of God, to bring the will of God into fruition.

Significance: Weaver's key theological point that prayer aligns us with God's sovereign will rather than altering His decrees.

There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work.

Significance: Weaver's urgent warning that divine judgment can reach a point of no return for individuals and nations.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Significance: Isaiah 55:6–7 quoted as the call to repentance before the window of mercy closes.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to have a 'broken and contrite heart' according to this sermon, and how does it differ from worldly sorrow?

Context: Weaver defines the broken heart as grief over personal and national sin, not romantic loss.

How do we reconcile God's commands to pray without ceasing with passages where He refuses to hear prayer?

Context: Weaver contrasts 1 Thessalonians 5:17 with Lamentations 3:8 and Jeremiah 7:16.

In what ways can a nation's sin cause God to 'shut out' prayers, and what are the implications for our own nation?

Context: Weaver applies the brass heavens curse (Deuteronomy 28:23) to national sin and judgment.

Why did God command Jeremiah not to pray for the people's good, and what does this teach us about the limits of intercession?

Context: Weaver expounds Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, and 14:10–11 where God forbids prayer for Judah.

How does the statement 'prayer does not change things; prayer changes people' challenge or affirm your understanding of prayer?

Context: Weaver makes this statement while discussing God's sovereign decrees.

What are the signs that a person or nation has passed the point where God's mercy is no longer available?

Context: Weaver warns that there is a time when prayer will not work, based on Jeremiah's experience.

How can we cultivate a humble and contrite spirit in the face of societal and ecclesiastical corruption?

Context: Weaver concludes by urging repentance and a broken heart over sins at all levels.

Applications

Examine your heart for brokenness over sin

Summary: Weaver calls believers to have a broken and contrite spirit over personal, family, church, and national sins.

Evidence: Weaver prays, 'Lord, first of all, over our sins, over our family sins, over our church sins, over our societal sins, over our governmental sins, over our national sins.'

Seek the Lord while He may be found

Summary: Weaver urges immediate repentance because there is a limited time before judgment falls.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Isaiah 55:6–7 and warns, 'there is a time when God's mercies are no longer available.'

Do not presume upon God's patience

Summary: Weaver warns that just as Judah reached a point of no return, individuals and nations can exhaust God's mercy.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work.'

Align your prayers with God's revealed will

Summary: Weaver teaches that effective prayer must be according to God's will as revealed in Scripture, not contrary to His decrees.

Evidence: Weaver explains 1 John 5:14 and says, 'if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.'

Persevere in prayer despite apparent silence

Summary: Weaver, citing Calvin, encourages believers not to become languid when answers are delayed, but to continue calling on God.

Evidence: Weaver reads Calvin: 'let us therefore persevere in calling on Him, and should there be a longer delay... yet let us proceed.'

Grieve over the rejection of truth in society

Summary: Weaver applies Jeremiah's heartbreak to the modern rejection of biblical truth, urging believers to feel the weight of societal deceit.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'What gives you a broken heart? When you know the truth and people will not listen.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T19:21:58Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:22:31Z

Clean Transcript

The Cry of a Broken Heart - Part 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Well, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to the book of Lamentations, chapter 3, right after the book of Jeremiah, and right before Ezekiel. You have Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. And notice, if you would, today we're going to be reading verses 8 through 20. Last week I preached on verses 1 through 7. I will take a few moments to review, but the lesson today is "The Cry of a Broken Heart, Part 2." So part one was last week and part three is coming up next week, Lord willing. So notice he said in Lamentations 3 beginning with verse 8, "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer."
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"He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins."
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"I was a derision to all my people and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness. He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes, and thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot prosperity, and I said my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering my affliction, my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled within me."
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May I remind you that the book of Lamentations is actually five poems, and each poem is on the fall and destruction of Jerusalem from a different aspect. And I'm going to also remind you, as I said last week, that the title of this message, "The Cry of a Broken Heart," has nothing to do with romantic losses, neither does it have anything to do with the loss of a family friend in death. Because obviously, clearly, everyone has experienced that in times past. But it does refer to being broken and contrite, not only over our personal sins, but over our societal sins, our national sins. And it also refers to being broken, not just simply over those things, but over all the false prophets and all the false preachers and teachers and all the lies and deceits that are being enunciated in this land today. Jeremiah was concerned and wept because of the false prophets that were causing his people to err and to walk contrary to God as well.
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And then when you consider also the fact that we have sinned against a God that is so holy, so loving, so kind, so gracious, so merciful, and all he really deserves is our love, praise, honor, and worship, and yet we continually transgress and trespass against Him. And of course, we also understand that He is a just and righteous God as well. So, I gave you some verses last week, and I want to just reiterate three or four of them. And that is simply this, that God is especially close to those individuals who have a broken and contrite heart. For instance, the Bible says in Psalm 34 and verse 18, "The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." And then, of course, in Isaiah 57 and verse 15, a very powerful verse, "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of contrite heart, and," notice the humble spirit, "to revive the spirit
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of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." So God says, "I dwell in the high and holy place, but I also dwell with that individual who has a contrite and a humble heart as well." And then, of course, I quoted Isaiah 66 and verse 2, which, Lord willing, I will be preaching on in a not too distant future. But he said, "For all of those things have mine hand made, and all those things hath been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look, even to him that is of poor and contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." So Jeremiah, of course, is known as the weeping prophet, and he wept not only over the sins that he had committed, but also the sins of his people as well. And he wept over the fact that the people would not hear, they would not listen, they refused to return to God.
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So I mentioned last week the whole point of the message was this. Here's the first reason why Jeremiah had a broken heart and that was the rejection of his service or the rejection of his ministry. None of the people would hear. None were willing to listen. None were willing to repent. So if you look back, hold Lamentations chapter 3, but if you look back to the book of Jeremiah chapter 5, I want to show you exactly how corrupt the entire society and the entire nation was in the day of Jeremiah. So look if you would at what God instructs Jeremiah to do in Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 1. He tells Jeremiah, "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that execute
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judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it." That is the city. "And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely." He says, "O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return."
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Now look what he said concerning the average individual. "Therefore I said, Surely these are poor, they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God." In other words, they are ignorant of the truth. Then he said in verse 5, "I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God."
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"But these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds." So it didn't matter which strata of society he went to, no one was willing to listen, no one was willing to repent, and God said, if you can find just one man in the entire city that executed truth and justice, why, he said, I will indeed pardon the whole city.
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Now, if you will skip down to verse 31, to show you the corruption of the entire strata of society, he says in verse 31, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" So it should not be a cause to wonder as to why Jeremiah was the weeping prophet, because none of his people would listen to his words, the words of warning, the words of truth. They were all full of deceits and lies. A quote is attributed to George Orwell, whether he originated it or not, I know not, but it's a true quote. He said this: "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." And that was true not only in Jeremiah's day, it's also true in our day as well.
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I want you to stop and think about where we are in America, because we are just like these people in Judah and Jerusalem. No one wants to upset the status quo. No one wants to rock the boat. Now the status quo may be wicked, it may be wrong, it may be rebellious, it may be humanistic, but it is our status quo and we like it just the way it is and we do not want anyone coming in and upsetting us and trying to change everything and get us to a place where we certainly do not want to be.
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The first reason that Jeremiah is known as a weeping prophet was simply because of the rejection of his service. Now, it is extremely heart-wrenching when you know the truth and you see the judgment of God on the horizon and you're trying to instruct your family and your friends and no one will listen. And that's exactly where he was. Now, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations chapter 3, we're coming to the second reason as to why Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. Not only was there a rejection of his service, there was secondly a refusal of his supplications. So, if you look in Lamentations 3 in verse 8, he says concerning God, "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." So God then shut the door to the prayers of Jeremiah so that they could not enter. He could pray, he could cry, he could shout, but God was not listening and God would not entertain his prayers. So if you look in Lamentations 3 and verse 44, he says it just a little differently.
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He says, "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." Think about this. We now have a problem. And the problem is this. Jeremiah is saying that God is refusing to hear his prayer. He's not refusing for Jeremiah to pray. Jeremiah is welcome to pray, but God is not listening to Jeremiah and therefore God is not going to answer his prayer. Now, I'm going to show you another verse.
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I want you to understand this. It is possible, and it is scriptural, for God even to be angry with the prayers of his people. If you look in your Bible to Lamentations 3, but turn back in your Bible to Psalm 80, and look if you would please at verse 4, Psalm 80 and verse 4, and note if you would what the psalmist says very plainly. Psalm 80 and verse 4. Look at this. He asks this question, "O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?" So it is possible for God to be angry with the prayer of his people.
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Now when we stop and think about this, Jeremiah said, "He shutteth out my prayer." He said he's made a cloud where my prayers can't go through. When we consider this, we do have a problem because there are so many verses in the scripture where God not only encourages prayer, he commands prayer, and he tells us that our prayers are his delight. So let me give you some verses. First of all, in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17, the word of God says, "Pray without ceasing." We are to pray without ceasing, that is God's command, that is not stopping. And then when you get to Luke chapter 18 and verse 1, our Lord said it like this, "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint."
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So there should never be a time when we're not praying in one sense of the word. Then Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6, he said, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." So again he tells us that we are to pray about everything. And then when you get to Colossians 4 and verse 2, he gives this command, "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving."
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Now I want to just read to you part of Nehemiah's prayer. I want you to listen carefully, you'll find this in Nehemiah chapter 1 and verse 6. Nehemiah prayed, and he says to God, "Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned." So Nehemiah said, "Lord, let your ears be open to my prayer. Let your eyes see, Lord, this is a prayer that I'm praying day and night." So he was praying it constantly. He's praying it continually, and he's asking God to hear and see. David said it like this in Psalm 6 and verse 9. He said, "The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer." Now here's another verse that I think that would be appropriate, and that would be Psalm 65 and verse 2.
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The psalmist said, "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." Wow. "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." And then when you get to Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 8, the Bible says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight." So it delights God when his people pray. The prayer of the upright is his delight. One more, and that is Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 29. "The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous." So, we know, based upon these scriptures and a whole lot more that could be quoted, that God's ears are open unto his people.
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He has told us that if we knock, the door will be open, that if we seek, we will find, and that if we ask, we shall receive. Yet, it seems at times when we do pray, that God does not hear our prayers. This is what Jeremiah is complaining about. He said, "When I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." Now this was not unique to Jeremiah. Job also had this problem because in Job chapter 13 verse 20, Job said, "I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not." So, Job was saying, "I'm crying, and I'm praying, and Lord, you're not listening."
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When you get to Psalm 22, of course, it is a psalm that David has written, but Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 24 are a trilogy, that is, they go together, and each of these psalms happens to be a messianic psalm there about Jesus Christ the Messiah. So in Psalm 22 you have Jesus Christ as the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. In Psalm 23 you have Jesus Christ as the great shepherd who guides and protects his sheep. And then in Psalm 24 you have Jesus Christ as the chief shepherd who promotes his own to glory. And yet when you look in Psalm 22 and verse 2, the Word of God says this, "O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent." He says, "I'm crying, I'm praying, but thou hearest not." Now you have to remember that this is also a Messianic Psalm. You say, "How in the world would that apply to Jesus Christ?"
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Well, you remember in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 39, the Bible says concerning Jesus Christ, "He went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." So did God the Father allow the cup to pass from Jesus Christ? And the answer is no. He drank that cup, and I don't think it was necessarily the physical sufferings from which he was actually crying and praying to be delivered from.
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Certainly it would not be a delight to be crucified and to be mocked and ridiculed, but think of the spiritual implications, because he was suffering in our stead, he is the propitiation for our sins, and all the wickedness and filth and the ungodliness of our sins were dumped upon him so that he would suffer in our stead. And so, yes, in one sense of the word, he was delivered because God raised him from the dead and seated him at his own right hand, but in another instance he was not delivered because obviously he had to suffer and he had to pay the price for our sins.
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So here we have Jeremiah then saying, "I'm crying and I'm shouting and he's shutting out my prayer." So how do we explain this? Well, before I go any further, I want to give you a quote by John Calvin. It's two short paragraphs. So I want you to listen to what he said and think about this in light of what I just said. Calvin says, "It is no wonder then that God did not hear the prayers of his servant, that is, according to the judgment of the flesh, that is, from Jeremiah's standpoint. For God never rejects his own, nor is he deaf to their prayers and their sighs, but the faithful often speak according to what the flesh judges. As then the prophet found that he obtained nothing by prayer, he says that his prayer was shut out, or that the door was closed against him, so that his prayer did not come to God."
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"Now, this passage is worthy of special notice, for except God immediately meets us, that is, if God does not answer us right away, we become languid, that is, we become indifferent, we become discouraged, we become disheartened. He said, unless God, except God immediately meets us, we become languid, not only are our ardor in prayers cooled, but almost extinguished. Let us then bear in mind that though God may help us soon, yet our prayers are never repudiated by Him."
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"And since we see that the Holy Fathers experienced the same thing, let us not wonder if the Lord at this day were to try our faith in the same manner. Let us therefore persevere in calling on Him, and should there be a longer delay, and our complaint be that we are not heard, yet let us proceed in the same course as we shall see the prophet then." In other words, we have to keep praying, is what he's saying.
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But I want you to think about this. He said, "Unless God meets us right away, we become languid, the ardor of our prayer cools, and sometimes we just even quit praying about something. We'll say, 'Well, God's not listening to me,' or 'God's not answering me. Why in the world should I continue to pray?'" And we just basically stop praying, and that's exactly what he's saying. Jeremiah was saying God's not listening, God's not hearing, and so why in the world should I keep praying? Now, I want you to look back at Lamentations chapter 3, because I want you to look at verse 8, and then I want you to understand how Jeremiah is describing his situation when he believes that God is refusing his supplications. So, in verse 8 he said, "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." Now, the next verses down through verse 20 is actually a description of what Jeremiah was going through. Remember now, there's a rejection of his service, now there's a refusal of his supplications. So, what was he going through?
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What was he experiencing? What was he thinking? Well, look if you would in verse 9. He said, "He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked." So now, if you are stoned in, if somebody lays block around you and cements it together, there's no way you're getting out. And then he says, "He hath made my paths crooked." I thought about those corn mazes that usually pop up in the fall, and some people get lost in those things. Well, Jeremiah said, "Look, I don't understand what's going on. I can't get out of this predicament." Then if you look in verse 10, he said, "He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places." Those are devastating animals. Those animals will take your life.
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And he's saying, "I'm waiting any moment for God to pounce upon me." And then he said in verse 11, look at this. "He hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate."
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Now, that's exactly what a bear or lion would do, pull you in pieces. I thought about this. I hadn't thought about it in a long, long time. But when I was a boy, I had two dogs and they hated snakes. And I had seen those dogs many times when they would come upon a snake. I don't care what kind of snake it was. One dog would bite behind the snake's head, and the second dog would get the snake's tail, and they would back up and pull the snake apart. That's how they killed the snake. Well, this is exactly what Jeremiah said. "He's pulled me to pieces. He made me desolate."
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In other words, there's no help for me. And then look in verse 12. He said, "He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow." In other words, God's shooting at me. And that's why he said in verse 13, "He caused the arrows," that's plural, "of his quiver to enter into my reins." He shot me many times, he shot me down. And then he says in verse 14, "I was a derision to all my people and their song all the day."
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They mocked him, they ridiculed him, they would not listen to him. It reminds me of that passage in Psalm 69, which is a messianic psalm concerning Jesus Christ, when he said, "I was the song of the drunkards." So the drunk folks were mocking Jesus Christ, and here probably some were mocking Jeremiah in that sense as well. Then he says, look at this in verse 15, "He hath filled me with bitterness."
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"He hath made me drunken with wormwood." Now I don't know if you know what wormwood is. Wormwood is a bitter herb, and wormwood is one of those herbs that's in just about all parasitic cleanses. So if you take a parasite cleanse, you're usually going to take wormwood and clove and black walnut hulls, but the wormwood is bitter. So he said, "He's filled me with bitterness and made me drunken with wormwood." Look at verse 16, "He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes." So let me ask you a question. Let's suppose you're crying and shouting out, and you really and truly want some help, and you want some answers, and I come along with a cloth bag full of gravel, and I smite you in the mouth with it. Break your teeth, burst your gums. That'll stop your crying and shouting for a little while anyhow.
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Jeremiah says this is what it's like. He's hit me in the mouth with gravel stones. He's covered me in ashes.
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Now look in verse 17. I'm just pointing out where he was. He said, "Thou hast removed my soul far off from peace." Of course, he has no peace. The people rejected him. Nobody's going to listen. God's refusing his supplication. So he said, "I forgot prosperity." Now look in verse 18. "And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord." I'm not getting any help. I'm not getting any answers. Now watch this. "Remembering my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall," all the bitterness that he's going through from the people and from God not listening to his prayers, then he said in verse 20, "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me." So I want you to look at this now. When God shut out his prayer, Jeremiah was not angry, he was not upset. The ultimate result was he was humbled. He said, "When I remember all of this, my soul was humbled within me." Wow! May I remind you of a verse that I've often quoted?
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Think of Genesis chapter 32 and verse 10, where Jacob had been wrestling with the angel, of course, but he makes this statement. "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant." "I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies." When you stop and think about this, it's a miracle that God even blesses us, that God even allows us to live, much less listen to our prayers and answer our prayers.
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We've sinned against Him so grievously. And thankfully, he has not dealt with us according to our sins, neither has he rewarded us according to our iniquities. And Jeremiah said, "Look, all of this I'm going through, my soul is humbled within me." May I remind you that God said he's especially near to those who are of a humble heart and of a contrite spirit as well. So Jeremiah was God's prophet. But it is also equally true that Jeremiah represented the nation, because Jeremiah is being identified with his people. He is suffering with the people.
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It's kind of like the high priest in the book of Exodus. You remember he had all these special garments, but he had a shoulder harness, and on each of the shoulders he had an onyx stone, he had a jewel, and the names of the twelve tribes were engraved on those twelve stones. So he bore the iniquity of those people on his shoulders. That's what he did. And so here Jeremiah is also being identified with the people and he's bearing their iniquity. He's suffering with them. So there's a special verse that would explain this. And that's Deuteronomy chapter 28 in verse 23. You remember Deuteronomy 28 has the blessings and the curses. The first 14 verses deal with the blessings, and from verse 15 to the end of Deuteronomy 28 deals with the curses. And here's one of the curses. Deuteronomy 28 and verse 23, God said, "And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron." If the heaven over our head is brass, that means our prayers are not getting through.
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If the earth under our feet is iron, nothing is producing, nothing is growing, everything is going wrong in our lives. We can't get through to God, we can't take care of ourselves. So we have to ask this question, why would heavens be brass? Why would the earth be iron beneath our feet? Well, if you'll skip back in your Bible to Isaiah 59, Isaiah, Jeremiah, right before the book of Jeremiah, you have Isaiah. Look in Isaiah chapter 59, if you would, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. And look what God says. Here's why heaven is oftentimes brass and the land under our feet is iron. He says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." God can save and God can hear.
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Why is he not saving? Why is he not hearing? "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity." So God says, "Look, the problem is not with me, the problem is with you. It is your sins that have separated us. My hand is just as able to save as always, and my ear is able to hear, but your sins have cut us off. Your sins have alienated me from you. It's just that simple."
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Now, God shut out Jeremiah's prayer, but I'm going to say something else. He also shut out the prayers of the people in Judah and Jerusalem. I'll show you that momentarily. He would not listen to any of them. Now, hang on. There's a scripture in Proverbs 28 verse 13. It's very, very important. I want you to think about this. God said, Proverbs 28 verse 13, "Whoso turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." "Whosoever turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." So what God is saying is this, if we're not going to listen to Him, He's not going to listen to us. If we turn our ear away from Him, even our prayer is a stench in His nostrils. God is not going to listen to us. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the little book of Micah. You're going to find Micah after the book of Jonah and right before Nahum, but I want you to look in Micah chapter 6.
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Now remember, if you would, part of the curse for disobedience was the heavens would be brass and the earth under our feet would be iron. Now God has already said that His hand is not short that it cannot save, His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. It's our sins. But I want you to watch this. Keep in mind Proverbs 28 in verse 9 as well. "Whosoever turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." So look if you would, Micah chapter 6 beginning with verse 14. Here's what God tells the people.
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"Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine." Why?
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"For the statutes of Omri are kept." Omri was the father of King Ahab. Omri was a wicked tyrant as well. He says, "For the statutes," what are the statutes? The laws, the rules, the ordinances of Omri are kept, "and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels;" that is, you are obeying the humanistic, paganistic, idolatrous, wicked men, you walk in their counsels, "that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye
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shall bear the reproach of my people." So, notice if you would, part of the curse then is the earth is going to be iron as well as the heaven going to be brass. So, Judah and Jerusalem had totally and completely forsaken and rejected God and his law. They were following the statutes of men. They were disobeying God and honoring men.
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Now, let me try to get to the point as to why God shut out the supplications of Jeremiah. So may I remind you again that Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. His heart was broken for his people and they rejected his ministry. And when they rejected his ministry, they rejected him. And when they rejected him, they rejected the God who sent him. So I could give you plenty of reasons as to why God does not answer prayer. In fact, I will remind you of a message that I preached many years ago. You will find that message, I'm sure, on sermonaudio.com. And the title of the message is, "Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers." And I give you specific reasons and very clearly teach that.
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But however, with this message, I want you to turn to one particular passage, and I want you to see this. So if you will turn to 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation. Notice if you would, 1 John, chapter 5. And I want you to look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 13. 1 John, chapter 5, verse 13. Look at what he says. 1 John 5 verse 13.
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"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God." Now watch. Let me repeat this. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God." You're a believer. So he's writing to you "that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." Now watch verse 14.
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"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us."
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Now verse 15, "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Now let's go back to verse 14 again, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." So, he says, we know that if we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us. Here's a good question. How do you know what's according to his will?
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And the answer is, his will is revealed in his word. You remember that passage in Deuteronomy 29:29? "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." Let me just point out the fact. The key is that we're asking according to his will. And if we ask according to his will, we know that he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, we know that we're going to have those petitions that we desire of him.
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So, hang on, you have to determine now what was God's will for Judah and Jerusalem. I just told you that God's will is revealed in his word. So let me give you a good illustration. I can sit here and tell you assuredly that it is God's will to heal most of the time but it's not God's will to heal all of the time. And I can prove that it's God's will to heal most of the time because everybody in this room has been sick and gotten well multiple times over the years. But it's not God's will to heal every time because if he did, no one would ever die. You see? So the truth of the matter is, we know God's love.
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I tell people, I've prayed over people that look like they were on their deathbed. And I've prayed for them. And the next week they're up and about, going back to work, doing whatever they always did. And I've prayed for some people who look like, well, you might be pretending like you're sick. I mean, you look healthy enough to me. And I'd pray for them and they'd die. Because it's God's will to heal most of the time but not all the time because the wages of sin is death and we are going to die. Now do you realize that nations die? Societies die. Governments die. Families die. Individuals die. Look at the nations that you read about in the Old Testament, they're no longer around, they're dead. What about the languages that are known as dead languages? Nobody speaks them anymore because the people who spoke them are dead. So, what was God's will concerning Judah and Jerusalem? I'm going to show you. I want you to go back in your Bible to the book of Jeremiah and look at what he said in chapter 13.
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Jeremiah chapter 13. Let's begin there with verse 14. Jeremiah chapter 13. Look, if you would please, at verse 14. Wow. In fact, let's read verse 13 just so you can see it's Judah and Jerusalem involved. Verse 13. "Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them." What was God's will concerning Judah and Jerusalem?
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That is, they would be destroyed. Look in Jeremiah 15 and verse 3. Jeremiah 15 verse 3, God says, "And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy." God said, "I'm going to destroy them. I'm going to appoint four ways of destruction." Now, look in Jeremiah, chapter 15, and verses 6 and 7. Here's why he's willing to destroy them. "Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee.
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I am weary with repenting. And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways." I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 25 and look, if you would please, at verse 9. Jeremiah 25 and verse 9. Stay in Jeremiah just for a little bit. Jeremiah 25, verse 9.
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God says, "Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land," that's Judah and Jerusalem, "and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations." Wow! So it was God's will, then, that Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the surrounding nations, be destroyed because of their sin and their rebellion against Him. Listen while I make some statements. It is impossible to change the will of God. It is impossible to change the decree of God. Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people. Prayer is not an instrument to get God to change his mind. Prayer is an instrument to accomplish the will of God, to bring the will of God into fruition. I hope you're beginning to see the heart of Jeremiah in the fact that he wanted and longed for the salvation of his people and the salvation of his nation, and yet God says they are beyond salvation.
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"I am going to destroy them. It is my will that they be destroyed. I'm going to bring Nebuchadnezzar. He's going to accomplish that which I please." Now, here's the question. Was Jeremiah left in the dark concerning this? And the answer is no. So, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 7, and look if you would please at verse 16 and note how plainly God spoke to Jeremiah concerning this. Jeremiah 7 and verse 16, God tells Jeremiah, well let's go back, look if you would verse 14, "Therefore will I do unto this house," that is the temple, "which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." Assyria got them.
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"And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." Assyria got them.
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Now look at verse 16, what God tells Jeremiah, "Therefore," because I'm going to do this, "therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee." Is that not plain enough? God said, "Jeremiah, do not pray for this people. I'm not going to hear you." When he said, "I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." God said, "I'm not going to listen to you. You're wasting your breath." Now, look in Jeremiah, chapter 11 and verse 14. I told you I was going to show you this. And here it is. Look in Jeremiah, chapter 11, verse 14. Look what God says, "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them:" now look what he says, "for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble." God said, "Jeremiah, I'm not going to hear you, and I'm not going to hear this people when they pray. I am going to destroy them." God would not hear the prayers of Jeremiah on behalf of these people because he'd already decreed to destroy them.
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Look in Jeremiah chapter 15. I'll show you how serious God was. I don't think you can misunderstand this. Jeremiah 15 verse 1, "Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me," those were the two greatest prayer warriors in the Old Testament, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy." He said, "I wouldn't listen to them if Moses and Samuel stood before me."
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"I would not hear them. I would not listen to them whatsoever."
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Now, I want to show you something. Jeremiah really wanted to pray for the people. He really did. God said, "OK, Jeremiah, I am going to allow you to pray. But you have to pray what I tell you to pray." So here we go. Look in Jeremiah chapter 14 verse 10. "Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them."
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"He will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins." Look, "Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence." Wow. Look in verse 11. "Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good." Jeremiah, you want to pray for this people. I'm going to allow you to pray for them. But you must pray that I'll destroy them. Because that's exactly what I'm going to do. Pray not for their good. Now, I want you to listen to this application. I want you to think with me. Here it is.
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There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work. God raises up nations and God brings them down. If you were to take the time to read through the book of Jeremiah, God said to the king and to the queen and to the princes, "Humble yourselves, obey my voice," and they would not. It's not just nations that God destroys, it's governments that God destroys, it's societies that God destroys, it's families, it's churches. Read the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches. I'm just simply pointing out the fact we normally take this passage and apply it to individuals, but it can be applied to families, to societies, and to nations as well.
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In Isaiah 55, verses 6 and 7, God says, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." But notice what he said, "Let us seek the Lord while he may be found," so there's a time when he's not going to be found. "Let us call upon him while he is near," there's a time when he's not going to be near. And like I said last week, if you were trying to deceive someone, if you were trying to really hurt someone, and you had a plan that would really deceive them and hurt them, and your plan failed, you would be disappointed, but you would not be brokenhearted, you would not be grieved, you would not be crying your eyeballs out.
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What gives you a broken heart? When you know the truth and people will not listen, when you know judgment is coming, and yet people are unafraid of a sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, majestic, eternal, sovereign God of heaven and earth, they will not listen, they will not bow. That is heart-wrenching. That breaks your heart. When it's your family, when it's your friends, when it's your neighbors, when it's your loved ones, even when it's strangers, Jeremiah had his service rejected by the people, his supplications refused by God because he was still wanting to pray for their salvation. And God said, "It's too late."
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"I'm going to destroy them. Do not pray for their good." We need to learn this nationally. We need to learn it governmentally. We need to learn it familially. We need to learn it societally. We need to learn it ecclesiastically. We need to learn it individually. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
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Salvation is in God alone, in God's time alone. And when you pass a certain point, there's nothing left but judgment. Jeremiah was broken because he knew that judgment was imminent. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We thank you for your word. We pray, Father, that you would indeed give us a broken and contrite spirit. Lord, first of all, over our sins, over our family sins, over our church sins, over our societal sins, over our governmental sins, over our national sins. Lord, Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra all confessed the sins of their nation, the sins of their people. Lord, give us a broken heart. Lord, we know your word is truth. And we know that judgment is hanging over our heads like a Damocles sword. And Lord, unless we repent and turn back to Thee and submit and obey Thee, like Judah in Jerusalem, like Israel in the north, we'll be judged.
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Because Thou art immutable and Thine does not change, neither do sound judgments. Give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T19:21:58Z

The Cry of a Broken Heart - Part 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, John Weaver continues his exposition of Lamentations 3, focusing on verses 8–20. He explains that Jeremiah's broken heart stemmed not only from the rejection of his prophetic ministry but also from God's refusal to hear his prayers for Judah and Jerusalem. Weaver emphasizes that God had decreed judgment on the nation because of their persistent sin and rebellion, and He explicitly commanded Jeremiah not to pray for their good. The sermon underscores the biblical truth that there is a time when God's mercy is no longer available, and prayer cannot alter His sovereign decrees. Applications are drawn for individuals, families, churches, and nations to seek the Lord while He may be found.

Introduction and Review

Weaver introduces Lamentations 3:8–20, reviews the previous sermon on verses 1–7, and reiterates that the 'broken heart' refers to grief over personal and national sin, not romantic loss.

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:8–20

"Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer." "He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins."

God's Nearness to the Brokenhearted

Weaver cites Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, and Isaiah 66:2 to show that God dwells with those who have a contrite and humble spirit.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 34:18

"The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." So God says,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 57:15

"I dwell in the high and holy place, but I also dwell with that individual who has a contrite and a humble heart as well."

First Reason for Jeremiah's Broken Heart: Rejection of His Service

Jeremiah's ministry was rejected by all levels of society; no one would listen or repent, as illustrated in Jeremiah 5:1–5 and 5:31.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 5:31

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

Second Reason: Refusal of His Supplications

Scripture Reading — Psalm 80:4

"O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?"

So it is possible for God to be angry with the prayer of his people.

Biblical Encouragement to Pray vs. Jeremiah's Experience

Scripture Reading — Colossians 4:2

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving."

Jeremiah's Description of His Suffering

Weaver expounds Lamentations 3:9–20, detailing Jeremiah's imagery of being trapped, attacked, mocked, and humbled, culminating in a humbled soul.

Why God Refused to Hear: National Sin and Decreed Judgment

The Limits of Prayer and the Urgency of Repentance

Conclusion and Prayer

Weaver concludes by calling for a broken and contrite spirit over personal and national sins, warning of imminent judgment, and praying for God's grace and mercy.

Because Thou art immutable and Thine does not change, neither do sound judgments. Give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

The Cry of a Broken Heart - Part 2

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	42726145534156
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Lamentations
Genre	Sermon
Date	2026-04-19
Dictation Name
Book	Book 127: The Cry of a Broken Heart — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	70

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver introduces Lamentations 3:8–20, reviews the previous sermon on verses 1–7, and reiterates that the 'broken heart' refers to grief over personal and national sin, not romantic loss.
God's Nearness to the Brokenhearted: Weaver cites Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, and Isaiah 66:2 to show that God dwells with those who have a contrite and humble spirit.
First Reason for Jeremiah's Broken Heart: Rejection of His Service: Jeremiah's ministry was rejected by all levels of society; no one would listen or repent, as illustrated in Jeremiah 5:1–5 and 5:31.
Second Reason: Refusal of His Supplications: Jeremiah laments that God shut out his prayer (Lamentations 3:8, 44). Weaver explains that God can be angry with the prayers of His people (Psalm 80:4) and that Jeremiah felt his prayers were not heard.
Biblical Encouragement to Pray vs. Jeremiah's Experience: Weaver contrasts commands to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1) with Jeremiah's complaint that God was not listening, noting that even Job and the psalmist experienced similar silence.
Jeremiah's Description of His Suffering: Weaver expounds Lamentations 3:9–20, detailing Jeremiah's imagery of being trapped, attacked, mocked, and humbled, culminating in a humbled soul.
Why God Refused to Hear: National Sin and Decreed Judgment: Weaver explains that God's refusal to hear Jeremiah's prayers was due to the nation's sin (Isaiah 59:1–2) and God's sovereign decree to destroy Judah (Jeremiah 13:14; 15:3,6–7; 25:9). God explicitly commanded Jeremiah not to pray for their good (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:10–11).
The Limits of Prayer and the Urgency of Repentance: Weaver teaches that prayer does not change God's decrees; there is a time when mercy is no longer available. He applies this to nations, churches, and individuals, urging repentance while there is time (Isaiah 55:6–7).
Conclusion and Prayer: Weaver concludes by calling for a broken and contrite spirit over personal and national sins, warning of imminent judgment, and praying for God's grace and mercy.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Jeremiah's broken heart was due to both the rejection of his ministry and God's refusal to hear his prayers.

Weaver argues that Jeremiah's weeping was not merely emotional but rooted in the spiritual reality that God had shut out his supplications for the nation.

Weaver states, 'The first reason that Jeremiah is known as a weeping prophet was simply because of the rejection of his service... there was secondly a refusal of his supplications.'

God's refusal to hear prayer is a biblical reality, not a contradiction to His promises.

Weaver explains that while God commands prayer and delights in it, He can be angry with the prayers of His people when they are in persistent sin.

Weaver cites Psalm 80:4 and explains that 'it is possible for God to be angry with the prayer of his people.'

Jeremiah's suffering was both personal and representative of the nation's judgment.

Weaver argues that Jeremiah's afflictions described in Lamentations 3:9–20 mirror the curses of Deuteronomy 28 and identify him with the people's punishment.

Weaver says, 'Jeremiah is being identified with his people. He is suffering with the people... he's bearing their iniquity.'

Sin separates people from God and causes Him to hide His face from their prayers.

Weaver uses Isaiah 59:1–2 to show that the problem is not God's inability but human iniquity that creates a barrier.

Weaver reads Isaiah 59:1–2 and comments, 'It is your sins that have separated us. Your sins have alienated me from you.'

God explicitly commanded Jeremiah not to pray for the people's good because He had decreed their destruction.

Weaver demonstrates from Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, and 14:10–11 that God forbade intercession for Judah, showing the finality of His judgment.

Weaver reads Jeremiah 7:16: 'Therefore pray not thou for this people... for I will not hear thee.'

Prayer does not change God's sovereign decrees; it aligns us with His will.

Weaver asserts that prayer is not a tool to manipulate God but a means to accomplish His will, and when God has decreed judgment, prayer for deliverance is futile.

Weaver says, 'Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people. Prayer is not an instrument to get God to change his mind.'

There is a point of no return for individuals and nations when God's mercy is withdrawn.

Weaver warns that just as Judah reached a point where repentance was too late, so can modern nations and individuals.

Weaver states, 'There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work.'

Scripture References

Lamentations 3:8–20: Primary text of the sermon; Jeremiah's lament over God shutting out his prayer and his subsequent suffering.
Psalm 34:18: Quoted to show God's nearness to the brokenhearted.
Isaiah 57:15: Quoted to show God dwells with the contrite and humble.
Isaiah 66:2: Mentioned as a future sermon text; God looks to the humble and contrite.
Jeremiah 5:1–5: Used to illustrate the total corruption of Jerusalem; no one sought truth.
Jeremiah 5:31: Shows false prophets and priests ruling, and people loving it.
Lamentations 3:44: God covered Himself with a cloud so prayer could not pass through.
Psalm 80:4: Evidence that God can be angry with the prayers of His people.
1 Thessalonians 5:17: Command to pray without ceasing, contrasted with Jeremiah's experience.
Luke 18:1: Men ought always to pray and not faint.
Philippians 4:6: Command to pray about everything with thanksgiving.
Colossians 4:2: Continue in prayer and watch with thanksgiving.
Nehemiah 1:6: Nehemiah's prayer for God to hear his confession for Israel's sins.
Psalm 6:9: The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.
Psalm 65:2: O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
Proverbs 15:8: The prayer of the upright is God's delight.
Proverbs 15:29: The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
Job 13:20: Job's complaint that God did not hear him.
Psalm 22:2: Messianic psalm where the speaker cries but is not heard.
Matthew 26:39: Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane; the cup did not pass, illustrating unanswered prayer.

Historical References

Fall and destruction of Jerusalem: The book of Lamentations consists of five poems on this event; Jeremiah's weeping is over the city's destruction.
George Orwell quote: Weaver quotes Orwell: 'In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act,' applying it to Jeremiah's day and today.
John Calvin's commentary on Lamentations: Weaver reads Calvin's explanation that God never truly rejects His own, but the faithful speak according to the flesh when prayers seem unanswered.
Omri and Ahab: Omri was the father of King Ahab; their wicked statutes were followed by Israel, leading to judgment (Micah 6:16).
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon: Called God's servant to bring destruction on Judah and surrounding nations (Jeremiah 25:9).
Moses and Samuel as great intercessors: God said even if Moses and Samuel stood before Him, He would not relent from destroying Judah (Jeremiah 15:1).
Assyria's conquest of Ephraim: God cast out Ephraim (northern kingdom) by Assyria, and would do similarly to Judah (Jeremiah 7:15).

Important Quotes

In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Weaver uses this quote to parallel the rejection of truth in Jeremiah's day and in contemporary society.

It is no wonder then that God did not hear the prayers of his servant, that is, according to the judgment of the flesh, that is, from Jeremiah's standpoint. For God never rejects his own, nor is he deaf to their prayers and their sighs, but the faithful often speak according to what the flesh judges.

Calvin's insight that God's apparent silence does not mean rejection; believers perceive through fleshly judgment.

Prayer does not change things. Prayer changes people. Prayer is not an instrument to get God to change his mind. Prayer is an instrument to accomplish the will of God, to bring the will of God into fruition.

Weaver's key theological point that prayer aligns us with God's sovereign will rather than altering His decrees.

There is a time when God's mercies are no longer available. There is a time when prayer will not work.

Weaver's urgent warning that divine judgment can reach a point of no return for individuals and nations.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6–7 quoted as the call to repentance before the window of mercy closes.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to have a 'broken and contrite heart' according to this sermon, and how does it differ from worldly sorrow?

[Context]

Weaver defines the broken heart as grief over personal and national sin, not romantic loss.

[Question]

How do we reconcile God's commands to pray without ceasing with passages where He refuses to hear prayer?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts 1 Thessalonians 5:17 with Lamentations 3:8 and Jeremiah 7:16.

[Question]

In what ways can a nation's sin cause God to 'shut out' prayers, and what are the implications for our own nation?

[Context]

Weaver applies the brass heavens curse (Deuteronomy 28:23) to national sin and judgment.

[Question]

Why did God command Jeremiah not to pray for the people's good, and what does this teach us about the limits of intercession?

[Context]

Weaver expounds Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, and 14:10–11 where God forbids prayer for Judah.

[Question]

How does the statement 'prayer does not change things; prayer changes people' challenge or affirm your understanding of prayer?

[Context]

Weaver makes this statement while discussing God's sovereign decrees.

[Question]

What are the signs that a person or nation has passed the point where God's mercy is no longer available?

[Context]

Weaver warns that there is a time when prayer will not work, based on Jeremiah's experience.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a humble and contrite spirit in the face of societal and ecclesiastical corruption?

[Context]

Weaver concludes by urging repentance and a broken heart over sins at all levels.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:22:31Z