Jeremiah 4:19-31

O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, Because you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried, For the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, And my curtains in a moment. How long will I see the standard, And hear the sound of the trumpet? “For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.” I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down At the presence of the LORD, By His fierce anger. For thus says the LORD: “The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, And not a man shall dwell in it. “And when you are plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you will make yourself fair; Your lovers will despise you; They will seek your life. “ For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; She spreads her hands, saying, ‘Woe is me now, for my soul is weary Because of murderers!’
Jeremiah 4:19-31 NKJV

Jeremiah has been shown the future of his nation and he is pained at what he sees. The terms he uses to describe the result of the land are similar to what the earth looked like before creation. What he describes is what the earth will most likely look like during the 1000 years that the righteous are with God in heaven and all on the earth await the second resurrection. All the cities are broken down, everything is desolate and a wilderness, with no human inhabitants. Jeremiah describes the armies of the north coming and plundering the land. The sounds of war and the scenes of destruction flow through his mind and he hurts in his heart at what is to take place. He is weary through and through, to his very heart, because of the death and woe that is coming upon his people.
The LORD speaks in verse 22, saying "For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." We think we are wise, yet we are foolish. We are silly children thinking we have understanding, when our understanding is only on how to do wrong things. The knowledge of doing right is beyond us, we don't know how to good things. I know this is true in my life. I can seemingly mess up in a myriad number of ways, but to do something correct is beyond me. Only through God's grace and love can I learn how to do what is right. Just as He offered to put a new heart into the people of Judah, He offers me a new heart. With a new heart I can abide in Jesus and He will give me a knowledge to do good. Jesus can make me a true man and change me from a fool into someone with the wisdom to trust in Him.
The Lord looks upon their (and our) efforts to make themselves attractive with sadness. By putting on their ornaments of gold and makeup they sought to make themselves fair to look. They are depicted as trying to make themselves physically attractive so that they would be loved by their lovers. I believe this represented their spiritual state. They tried to put on outward righteousness and cover their sins with religious words and acts, while their hearts remained evil and corrupt. The Lord said this outward adorning was in vain. It is the same with me. I can try to fool others with what I say and the outward acts I do, but when I refuse to let Jesus cleanse my heart and refuse to obey His guidance, everything I do is in vain. I must give my heart to Him, let Him give me a new heart, allow Him to cleanse me and wash me clean of the sins that I harbor in my heart. Outwardly I may still appear ugly, but in my heart I will be beautiful because I will reflect Him. I will be clean and I will have peace. Do I want to be like a silly child as the people were in Jeremiah's days, or do I want to be a man who is faithful to God who can stand with Him, through His power, until the end? I choose to let God help me stand with him, and ask Him to make me forever faithful.

Lord,
Help me today to allow You to come into my heart. Wash me, cleanse me, make me anew in Your image, Forgive me for my sins, please giver me a new heart. I need you very moment of every day, help me to call upon You every moment of every day. Thank You for Your promises of healing and peace. Help me to accept Your love for me and share that love with any others with whom I am in contact today.