is the warning to the people of God. In fact, you'll notice that in verse five, he says, cursed is the man who trust in man who, and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. So I don't think what we're dealing with here is necessarily in an absolute sense, those who are unbelievers. I think the warning here, and that's probably why it's a warning, is because he is talking about the tendency of even the people of God, the covenant people of God, to strake and trust at times that which we ought not trust. And so the warning is the dangers that the curse is the condition that we find ourselves in, the futility of trusting in something that we should not trust in, and the futility of seeking purpose and meaning and even strength from something that which is, are something that isn't able to supply it. And so really even though there is a comparison or similarity between this passage and the first Psalms, I think we can see points of continuity as well as discontinuity. This is not the same sort of admonition just dressed in different words. I think the warning specifically that we have here in Jeremiah 17 is for those who are the covenant people of God, that we would be consistent in how we live before him, and that our content, and it's a warning of our tendency in our fallen state to put our confidence in something other than God himself. Now that being the case, you'll notice that whereas in Psalms 1, the contrast is between the walk of the blessed man and the walk of the ungodly man, in this passage the whole point of reference is the object of one's trust. And the implication is, especially again, as you go back to verse 5, is that even those who trust Christ for their salvation can be led away and that we can trust something else other than God for various other things in our lives, that we can define ourselves by the wrong thing. This is what Paul is urging or warning the Galatians believers about when it comes to spiritual empowerment, where he says, did you begin with the spirit and now do you want to continue in the flesh? In other words, do you want to seek spiritual strength through the flesh, through the deeds and the works of the flesh or the works of the law or do you want to depend on the same grace that saved you to strengthen you and to furnish those things or the fruit of the spirit in one's life. And so in this point, the issue and the object of contrast is the object of one's trust. What is it that we actually trust in? And I like a number of months ago, I appreciate Sermon from the first chapter of James and it was on the anatomy of sin. And James says that we sin when we are led away. And the whole point was, what is it that causes us, even as believers, what is it that causes us to sin? And what it is that causes us to sin is when we are enticed. When our affections are enticed by something that is away from God and away from God's law. And that's really sort of what we have presented here because what the Lord is humbling His people with is the reminder that there is a tendency probably unbeknownst to us to look to something else other than Him. Now we would never say this in mixed company. We would never say out loud in a public setting, Lord, that I trusted something other than you. We say all the right things publicly, don't we? But here's what the Lord says in verse five, he indicates that trust, regardless of what we say, is those who trust in man and in the strength or who's in whom flesh is their strength, it's because they have somehow, their heart have somehow departed from the Lord. And I don't think he means here, at least not in the immediate context. He's not talking about, again, unto salvation. And that's why this is a humbling reminder and it's a humbling warning, especially when you couple it with verse nine where we would be quick to say, what will never do because our hearts are this, that and the other, and I always think of Peter, Peter who loved the Lord, no doubt he loved the Lord. And yet when Jesus tells him that Peter, you're gonna deny me, oh Lord, no, not me, I'd never do that. You know the rest of the story, what Peter ends up doing. Why? Because the heart is deceitful and is wicked above all things. And in any given situation, we don't know at what moment our heart, if we don't have our focus clear, at some point our heart will deceive us in thinking because the heart is driven by the senses. And our senses will, and our five senses will sometimes tell us what seems to be a better bargain, what seems to be more gratifying. It deceives us, that's the point in verse nine that the heart is deceitful and wicked, who can know it and here's why it's deceitful and wicked. When we sit here in a public worship service and we talk about the goodness of God and we talk about the greatness of God and how lovely are his attributes and how fateful God is and the power of God and the strength of God and the promises of God, there is no believer here that would say, no, I don't think so, he's not as good as and you can't even finish that sentence, right? What is it that we can say, especially in the sanctuary? What can we say that yeah, God is good but he ain't as good as, there's nothing. But when we move ourselves from the sanctuary, our hearts are deceitful and it causes us all that we know to say in the sanctuary when the Bible is open and we're saying the right things, our actions indicate that sometimes we put our trust in things that are less than God. And so in verse five what God says is that's a curse and that's what he's talking about, it's a curse to put one's confidence and to put one's trust in flesh or in man and here he's not saying that you trust in an individual other than God and that individual let you down. Sometimes that individual, sometimes that man that we put our trust in is us and that's the point and why is it that we would put our confidence in us and man, all his, all of his, all of man's strength whether it's us or someone else is found in his flesh and so what God says is here's what's, that's a curse situation that if all of your meaning and all of your power is located, all of your purpose is located in the flesh, then you are cursed. Even if you are among the covenant community and even if your ultimate in is in heaven in that situation, what God is indicating is that to look to something or someone other than God as one's hope and as one's confidence and as one's strength is to be in a cursed situation. So therefore it can help what fail you because it is fleeting, it is futile and it ultimately fails and so God says, cursed is the man who trust in man and in whose strength or whose strength is in the flesh. That's a curse situation. On the other hand, here's the blessed person we see in verse seven, blessed is the one who trust in the Lord. Now here's what the difference is, we don't always see the Lord. We don't see the Lord. We see the work of the Lord, we know that he exists but we don't see the Lord, that's where our struggle comes in because the deceitful heart tends to lean towards what we can see and so here's what the Lord says, blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and notice this and whose hope is in the Lord. In other words whose confidence is in God in spite of what one sees. So we see that in the first place that this passage seems to parallel the first Psalm but we see that there are differences and among those differences is whereas the first Psalm is probably contrasting the ungodly and the godly in an absolute sense, it seems that what's the point of contrast here is not unbelievers versus unbelievers in an absolute sense. I think in a broad sense you could say that and certainly that would apply here because that would be absolutely true for those whose hearts never were truly of God and their only point of reference is what they see but I think what given the context here what the Lord is describing is the curse that we bring upon ourselves when we who are the redeemed of the Lord put our confidence ever so momentarily and briefly in something that is not the Lord and while we are quick to say I would never do that God reminds us and humbles us in verse nine that our hearts are deceitful and therefore our hearts can be easily seduced and enticed. The blessed man he says has his hope in the Lord. He hopes in the confidence of the Lord and that changes things, that changes things and that brings us to a third consideration here and that is the description that we see of these two individuals. You see the point of contrast is what they trust in and everybody trusts in something as Bob Dylan says everybody you got to serve somebody well not only do you got to serve somebody and I know the grammar is bad but everybody trusts something. You trust something, you either trust the Lord or you trust flesh but everybody trusts something and God is showing his people the futility of even briefly for a moment allowing our hearts to be diverted from confidence in God to confidence in flesh and circumstance. So here's the third point here and that is the description that we see between these two. The cursed man you'll notice is described as a shrub which is, it's a bush. He's described as a bush whereas the blessed man is described as one who is a thriving tree that's planted by the rivers of water and it even goes on in its elaborate description of this man that his roots are firmly in the rivers. He's in other words, he's nervous. So here's the point of reference and I think the warning that God again is establishing to his covenant people. And here's what puts us in this situation of whether it's temporary of some sort where we have drifted. We are, our hearts have departed from being confident in God and his ability and his promises or to keep his promises. Our hearts are driven away and that makes us in that season more shrub-like than tree-like. And the idea here is that the shrub is not fruitful, it's not productive. In fact, notice the description not only of the shrub and the tree but the circumstances on the situation around it. In fact, the blessed man is described as a tree that's planted by the rivers of the waters and his roots are established by the river but the curse man is said to dwell or inhabit parched places in the wilderness. Now elsewhere in the prophets, it indicates that those who are in God are able to be productive in the desert. That the desert itself becomes, it blooms and it becomes verdant so to speak. But those whose confidence is in flesh, they are compared to a shrub in a desert where there is no refreshment and he says in the last, in verse six, at the end of verse six, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Now that's obviously not in a literal sense but I think the point that's being made is that the one whose confidence is in flesh, is in man, it's in himself, it's in his abilities, his own abilities to do things even those things that we would consider spiritual but confidence in the flesh as opposed to confidence in the Lord makes one no matter what you think of yourself because remember the heart is deceitful above all things as the Lord says in verse nine, your heart will tell you you are an oak tree. It makes you feel like you're an oak tree but the reality is that if your confidence is in the flesh, no matter what others say about you, the true assessment is that you're a shrub and not only a shrub but a shrub that is cut off from a source of water and refreshment. But then notice also, not only do we see a description of these two individuals, one whose confidence is in the flesh and the other one whose confidence is in the Lord, notice the fourth thing here is that there is a difference in perception, that's the heart, that drifts and departs from confidence in the Lord. It is so cut off and this is why it's described perhaps as a shrub in a desert land is because notice this description that we see in verse six it says that the curse man, it says in verse six it says for he shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when good comes. See that's the curse, that's why it's cursed when your confidence is in the flesh and when your confidence and hope is in man, then here's the frightening reality is that what God says is that that individual in that setting, in that season, will not see good when it comes. You see, in other words, good is there. You're just not able to see it and what's alarming about this is that it's a similar description to the unbeliever and the believer in an absolute sense when it comes to the gospel itself. You see, the unbeliever, Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians does not see the good of the gospel. That's why they need lying signs and wonders because they don't have a love for the truth, because God hasn't opened their heart to see it. Whereas the believer, I love what Peter, Peter oftentimes got it wrong but the times that he got it right, man, did he nail it? At Cessaria, Philippi, Peter nails it and in John chapter six, Peter nails it. When Jesus gives these difficult sayings that cause people to walk away, this is right after they wanted to make him king by force, can you imagine that trip? We're going to go overnight over here and catch Jesus on the other side of the lake and we'll just make him become our king. He can't help, he will make him an offer, he can't refuse and Jesus comes and first exposes them. You're only coming not because of who I am but it's only because I gave you bread, oh, bread. You gave us bread? No, no, no, no, no, that's not our reason and Jesus says, no, no, you only came for the bread. He says, but here's what you need to know with a bread of life and the bread that comes down from heaven. And then he goes on to say that unless a man each of my flesh and drink of my blood he will not enter into the kingdom and many people began to walk away and not just hangers on. John goes on to say in many of his disciples no longer walked with him, thousands, it seems. A friend of mine called that God's church growth seminar. Okay, he grows the church sometimes by shrinking it to see who loves and to see who knows. And so when everybody else is going, Jesus turns to the 12 and he says, are you going to go to? And that's when Peter speaks up. Peter sees good and he recognizes it. And Peter says, Lord, no, no, what do you mean go? If we go, where are we going to go? Because that has the words of eternal life. And where's what is being described here? What God is saying of the curse, man? And this is part of the curse. The curse is not a good, doesn't come. The curse being curse because your confidence is in the flesh. The curse is this that when good comes you don't see it. You see, and that's what it says of the unrighteous, but notice the difference here in terms of their perception and their ability to comprehend things. Whereas the righteous or whereas the cursed man in verse six, when good comes he's not able to see it. Notice the difference in verse eight. We are told of the blessed man that when difficulty comes, the blessed man first off does not fear. And secondly, the blessed man is not anxious. You see, it's not that. And perhaps it could be the same sort of circumstances that have come upon these individuals, but what God says is no. The curse man because his focal point is only what he can see and his senses, he's not able to perceive when good really comes. And boy, that's sometimes it shakes us up. And you know what, that's true of all of us at some point in our Christian walk, that we are not always able to comprehend when good is actually present, because our perception of good is shaped by what we trust. And so if our trust is in things and if our trust is in us, then we will define good and we're not able to recognize absolute good, but we will define good according even to our own fallen perceptions and notions because the heart is deceitful. But here's what the blessed man, here's what makes him different when difficulties come. And I like that, that contrast. You see, the curse man, when good comes, he can't see it. But the blessed man whose confidence is in the Lord, when difficulties come, he can only see reason to not fear. He sees his confidence is in something that's greater than the circumstance and therefore he's not shaken. He's able to not fear. And his heart, his heart does not fear. In verse 8 it says, for he shall be like a tree that's planted by the waters which spreads out its roots and will not fear when he comes. When the pressure is on, he will not fear. And but its leaf will be green and will not be anxious in the year of drought. Drought happens. Difficulties happen. But the man whose confidence is in the Lord will not lose hope. He will not become fretful because of seasons of drought. Whereas the curse man, if his point of reference is only in the flesh and in himself, even when good shows up, he won't be able to see it. You see, and so therefore the point of contrast is in terms of perceptions because of what one has put one's confidence in. But here's the fifth and final thing that you'll note about this passage. Is what God says about them and it seems to be what's common is that both the curse man and the blessed man because the Lord, until the Lord returns, there will be seasons. There will be seasons of heat. There will be seasons of difficulty and seasons of trials. One will see a reason to rejoice and the other one will not. But here's what we also see. It's because of our perception of good that will determine how productive we will be when the seasons change. Notice again, the description here of the blessed man is that in the last line in verse eight, heat nor will he cease from yielding fruit. And so what does it mean when he nor will he yield? And so take into consideration when the heat is on, he'll be fruitful. You see, when the drought comes, he himself, the trees may not bring forth fruit, but the righteous man whose confidence and hope is in the Lord will be fruitful. Whereas the man who's under this curse because he only has confidence in the flesh, he won't even see when good happens and therefore he will be like a shriveled up shrub cut off from a water source and it goes even without saying that whereas the man whose faith and confidence is in God will always be fruitful, there will be seasons of drought. That will accompany the one whose heart has departed from the Lord. I think the points that God is making here is found in verse nine, ultimately. And that's the answer to the one in verse five, the curse man in verse five. The answer is your heart can't be trusted. Therefore trust in me. You will not see with your own senses how you can do it, how you can survive, how you can do this, that, and the other look to me. And the one who looks because your heart will deceive you and think that you have because the heat is on, that's a good time for you to turn away. Well, I may as well just do this or just fall to pieces when difficult seasons hit. And I think the point that the Lord is saying is that those whose confidence in the Lord is not that you won't go through those seasons of heat and it's not that you won't go through those seasons of drought. And even seasons of doubt and that's one of the truth claims of Christianity or I should say one of the aspects of Christianity, the stark honesty of it, that really it strikes me because Christianity does not promise us roads that are not bumpy. Christianity does, it has an explanation, even for the droughts that we experience in our lives, it has an explanation for it because he hasn't come, he hasn't returned yet. But what we're told that when we go through these seasons of difficulty and when we go through these trials, it doesn't mean God has forsaken us. And so let us always be found looking to him because we will go through the valley of the shadow of death. I've often raised the issue concerning Psalm 23. And I remember hearing it preached at a funeral years ago and the preachers emphasize he restores my soul. And I remember leaving that funeral with light just washing over my soul and I went home and just meditated on that. And the more I thought about it, wow, what a great, comprehensive statement. He restores my soul. Why is that such a good statement? Because there are gonna be some things that we experience in this life that will cause us to be so completely spent that we will need God to refresh our souls and to restore our souls. And what we are told is that he does restore our souls. You see, the man who was cursed, he has no room for a deflated spirit. That's one of the problems that I have with, you know, the happy, crappy Christianity. They have no room for tears. And we get to the point even coming to funerals, ah, y'all have like, there's a funeral. There's a dead body there, I think it is.
You say, oh, no, this is a time to be joy. We have no room in our superficial world. We have no room for sorrow and for tears and for hurt and for brokenness, but God does. And so when we look to him instead of looking to man, we see the reality of the drought. We see the reality of blazing heat that drains us. And we at times feel like a shrub in the middle of a desert cut off from water supplies, but the heart is deceitful and wicked above all things. And who can know it? Because if you are in a season of drought and your faith is in the Lord and not in man, no matter what your eyes tell you that you're a shrub, the Lord says, no, you're a tree. And you are planted by the rivers of water. But if your confidence is in the flesh, and when difficulties come, the mirror may tell you you're an oak tree, but the Lord says you're a shrub and you're withering away. God is warning his people of, is judging themselves by their circumstances, because judging him and in yourself by your circumstances is to lead with the flesh. Cursed is the man whose trust is in man and whose strife is in the flesh, but blessed is the man who trust in the Lord and whose confidence, whose hope is the Lord. Because when difficulties come, here's what we find is that we will always bear fruit in its season. And we will always have a source of refreshment and we will not be anxious and we will not be afraid because the Lord does restore our souls and even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we are confident that he is with us. His rot and his staff shall lead us and keep us and lead us to his house forevermore. Brothers and sisters, here's what God is saying and it's a reminder, this will be the ultimate fate of the unbeliever is that he only believed in his flesh. But this is also the temporary and momentary state that every believer can reach in his life where we find ourselves in such dire strait and sometimes is so taxed out that the only thing we believe is the flesh. But if your faith is in Christ, you're not a shrub, you're a tree. And even though you are surrounded by sands, trust me. There's a river nearby. Let's pray, Father, we do thank you for your word. We thank you for the reminders of who you are and the humbling reminders of who we are. As the Apostle Paul says that we see in part, we understand in part and we prophesy in part. We just pray, Father, that as we serve you and as we trust you, as we depend upon those things that you have appointed for our support and our strengthening, that that which we understand would always be increased, that which we are able to comprehend, that which we are able to proclaim and even lay hold of by faith would always be increased. And in other words, that we would see more and discover more of your grace and more of your love as we serve you and as we deal with various trials and in every situation in our lives. So that when we go through seasons of drought, that we would not lose hope because our faith and confidence is not in what we are able to do, our hope and our confidence is what you have given to us in Christ. Let us see it, let us embrace it and let us stand on it and let our faith be connected to it so that in every season we would yield forth fruit to your glory. We thank you for this in Christ name, amen. Would you please stand. Now may the love of God and the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit rest, rule and abide with you henceforth and forevermore. Amen.