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From: Jeremiah 17:5-10

God Rewards People as They Deserve (Continuation)

[5] Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6] He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

[7] ”Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8] He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

[9] The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it? [10] “I the LORD search the mind and try the heart, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

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Commentary:

17:1-13. This passage includes a number of short oracles in the style of wisdom writing, graphically expressing themes that were constant in Jeremiah’s preaching. Judah’s sin of idolatry was quite obvious: anyone travelling the country could see people frequenting the places where Canaanite gods were worshipped; they were everywhere one went (vv. 1-3a). That is why the Lord will abandon the Israelites, who will be uprooted from their land and enslaved (vv. 3b-4).

Using words similar to those of Psalm 1, the prophet describes the misfortune that will befall those who trust in themselves, as against the prosperity of those who trust in God (vv. 5-8). St Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on Psalm 1 fits in nicely with the simile here of the tree planted beside water (v. 8): “We are asked to consider three things in the image of the tree—its being well-rooted, its fruitfulness, and the sustaining of its life. To be well-rooted, the tree must be well-watered, otherwise it will dry up and wither away; thus, we are told that the tree is planted beside running waters, which symbolize the currents of grace. ‘He who believes in me...out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’ (Jn 7:38). The one whose roots draw on the living waters will bear much fruit in all the good works that he does, and fruitfulness is the second aspect of the image that we are asked to contemplate. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness’, etc. (Gal 5:22). The tree does not wither away: it is sustained in life. Some trees lose their leaves, but others never lose their leaves; and thus it is with righteous men [...]; they will not be forgotten by God even in their tiniest and least significant actions. ‘The righteous will flourish like a green leaf’ (Prov 11:28)” (”Postilla super Psalmos”, 1, 3).

God cannot be deceived; he sees right into a person’s heart, and he will judge each on his merits (vv. 9-11). The hope of Israel is the Lord (vv. 12-13), the fount of water (ef. 2:13; Ps 42:2; Jn 4:10) without which none can live (cf. v. 8). To show that those who forsake God will be judged and condemned, Jeremiah uses an image (they “shall be written in the earth”: v. 13) that is reminiscent of Jesus’ gesture when he “judges” the men who accuse the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:6). The wind will blow their names away: they will have no place in the book of life.