Jeremiah 31:25

For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. I HAVE SATIATED THE WEARY ... SORROWFUL SOUL - the weary, sorrowful, and indigent state of Israel will prove no obstacle in the way of my helping them....

By this verse he removes every doubt, lest any one should reject what he had promised as to the restoration of the people, because the Jews and the Israelites were at the time as dead men. He therefore says, _I will water the thirsty soul; _some render it “the weary soul;” but נפש עיפה, _n _u_pesh oiphe, _is often taken metaphorically for a thirsty soul. So in Psalms 143:6, it is said, “I am as a dry land;” weariness cannot be suitably applied to land; and in Isaiah 29:8, we have these words, “As one dreaming he thinks that he eats; afterwards, when awake, his soul is empty: and as one who thinks that he drinks,” etc. The Prophet employs there the same word, because there is hardly ever weariness without thirst; we contract thirst by weariness. Then the soul is said to be...

21-26 The way from the bondage of sin to the liberty of God's children, is a high-way. It is plain, it is safe; yet none are likely to walk in it, unless they set their hearts towards it. They are encouraged by the promise of a new, unheard-of, extraordinary thing; a creation, a work of Almighty power; the human nature of Christ, formed and prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost: and this is here mentioned as an encouragement to the Jews to return to their own land. And a comfortable prospect is given them of a happy settlement there. Godliness and honesty God has joined: let no man think to put them asunder, or to make the one atone for the want of the other. In the love and favour of God the weary soul shall find rest, and the sorrowful shall find joy. And what can we see with more satisfaction than the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel?...

SORROWFUL - Or, languishing Jeremiah 31:12....

EXPOSITION JEREMIAH 31:1 The promise of Jeremiah 30:22 is expressly declared to apply to both sections of the nation. Jehovah thus solemnly declares his purpose of mercy, and dwells with special Madness on the happy future of Ephraim. JEREMIAH 31:2 THE PEOPLE which were LEFT OF THE SWORD, etc.; literally, _the people of those left of the sword. _The expression clearly implies that the Jews at the time spoken of had escaped, or were about to escape, in some great battle or some other kind of slaughter. Hence the finding grace in the wilderness cannot refer to the sequel of the passage through the Red Sea, an

FOR I HAVE SATIATED THE WEARY SOUL,.... As sinners are at first awakenings and convictions; when sin is made exceeding sinful and loathsome to them, and becomes an uneasiness, and they a burden to themselves on account of it; when they labour, till they are weary, to get food for their famishing souls; weary in seeking for righteousness to cover them, in working for life to save them, and inquiring after rest; but cannot find neither food, nor righteousness, nor life, nor rest, till they come to Christ; and as all the saints are weary of a body of sin and death, with mourning over it, and groaning under it; weary of Satan's temptations and buffetings; weary of the world, and the men of it, and with afflictive dispensations of Providence in it; and are as weary travellers passing through a waste howling wilderness; these the Lord "satiates", refreshes, and even "inebriates" h, as the word...

Jeremiah 31:1. _At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee._ Was there ever a sweeter word from heaven than this, everlasting love proved by the drawings of divine grace? I know that your hearts will be full of music if ever the Spirit of God has spoken home to your soul such a message as this. Let us read it again. «The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee....

CHAPTER 31 _ 1. The home-going of the nation (Jeremiah 31:1) _ 2. The joy of salvation (Jeremiah 31:10) 3. The preceding tribulation, sorrow and repentance (Jeremiah 31:15) 4. Assurance (Jeremiah 31:22) 5. The new covenant (Jeremiah 31:27) 6. The everlasting nation (Jeremiah 31:35) Jeremiah 31

At the restoration of Judah there shall be joyous acclamation of the city and the Temple (Zechariah 8:3); agricultural and pastoral life shall be resumed in peace; the thirsty and the hungry (_cf._ Jeremiah 31:14) shall be satisfied. Jeremiah 31:26 appears to be a gloss, which hints that these bright dreams are very different from the waking reality....

See introd. summary to the section. The passage resembles 12 14, and is probably later than Jeremiah's time....