While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you
(NCV, Jeremiah 38:22).
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He was a wishy-washy leader
who found it difficult to make a decision. In his defense, he was scared
of both Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his own advisors. They were telling him to resist the invading
army, but Jeremiah was telling him he should surrender. Zedekiah was afraid
Jeremiah was right, but he didn’t want his advisors thinking he was weak. Too
late.
The king’s counselors were determined to shut Jeremiah up.
Zedekiah spinelessly gave them his permission to throw the prophet into a
cistern – empty of water but full of mud. There they left him but, thanks to
another flip flop by the king, he was released. Zedekiah once again asked him
for advice, but Jeremiah was reticent to speak, considering where his words had
already landed him… literally.
Finally Jeremiah told Zedekiah that if he surrendered he
would fare better than by continuing the fight. He said that if the king
rejected his counsel, the women of Jerusalem would be taken captive by the
Babylonians, and taunt him about being misled and abandoned by his most trusted
friends. While your feet were stuck in the mud, they left you.
Jeremiah was dropped in the cistern, but Zedekiah was the
one stuck in the mud.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Think of a time when you
were stuck and unable to make a decision. How could taking matters to God help
you make a better choice next time?
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