Jeremiah 9:23-24
In every football season, the lives of many people hang very much upon the success of their football teams. They wear their team’s colours on match day; they get excited when they win, and bask in the glories for a day or two — and get really depressed when they lose. In a very real sense, it can be said that they “boast” of their team.
That sense of boasting in something is very much at the heart of Jeremiah 9 when it says, “let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts, boast of this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD …”.
The word “boast” in this verse is the Hebrew word “halal,” from which we get our word “Hallelujah.” It means “to praise, to glory, to boast” in something — like people do with their favourite sports team. What you praise or boast of says a lot about what’s really important in your life. And God has a word for us here in these verses about what we should and should not boast of or glory in.
1. Do Not Boast of Your Wisdom
First, we are not to boast of our wisdom — “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom.” Now someone might say, “But what is wrong in having wisdom?” Notice He says, “Let not a wise man boast in HIS wisdom.” All of these things He’ll mention here are the same way: “HIS wisdom … HIS strength … HIS riches …”.
There is a wisdom and riches and strength that come from God, but that is not what He is talking about here. He’s saying: Do not glory in or boast of or trust in your own wisdom. One of the things God has shown us in His word, particularly in Isaiah and Jeremiah, is that human wisdom without God is not reliable.
God had said in Isaiah 55:
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts … for My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Then God had said in verse 12 of this chapter earlier:
“What man is wise enough to understand this?”
Human beings don’t have the wisdom, insight, and perspective that God has, and we are foolish if we proudly rely on our own wisdom. Mankind has made some great strides, but we can’t boast of our own wisdom. It always, eventually, falls short.
Apart from Jesus Christ the God-man, Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. He had one thing to ask of the Lord, and he asked for wisdom. And God gave him that wisdom. And what did he do with that wisdom?
Well, at first, he started off very well. But eventually, he realized that if he could just make some treaties with other countries by marrying their women, it would be a good thing for the nation. The problem was that those wives drew his heart away from YAHWEH—and he began to worship other gods.
Solomon set himself to think about the meaning of life in the book of Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes 1:16-18, he says:
“In much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”
How did Solomon resolve all of these things that he found to be vain and empty? He says in chapter 12:13-14:
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
So, Solomon, the wisest man alive, discovered that if you want wisdom without God, you are pursuing a vain pursuit. It’s empty. It’s meaningless. It’s nothing, and it will never satisfy. No matter how much mankind learns, our wisdom will always be limited.
No matter how smart you are as an individual, you are going to run up against something that just stumps you entirely. There are things you cannot know; there are problems you cannot solve; there are mysteries you will never understand. We must be very humble and open to what God has to say to us. God says, Do not boast of your own wisdom.
2. Do Not Boast of Your Strength
Second, do not boast of your own strength— “let not the strong man boast of his strength.” The Hebrew word for “strength” here is often used of a warrior’s strength. So, it’s talking about physical strength or ability.
So many people in our world today glory in their physical strength or appearance. Now let me say upfront: exercise and taking care of your body is a good thing; there is nothing wrong with that, and it is a good stewardship of the vessel God has given you to serve Him with — as long as your physical body and your outward appearance do not become your “glory” — what you live for, what makes you happy.
Because your physical body will eventually disappoint you. There are many men who tried to build their whole life around sports — but it took only one knee injury to end all their ambition. If your glory is in your physical body, then you’ve built your life on a foundation of sand.
Don’t live for your sport, or your beauty, or your physical ability. One day, you will lose it. And if that’s all you’ve lived for — if that’s what you’ve gloried in and built your life around — then you will have lost everything.
How did strength work out for Muhammad Ali? “I’m the greatest! …I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!” And he did, didn’t he? He was, arguably, the best boxer to ever live. But how did that work out for him?
Think of the picture of him struggling with all his might to light the Olympic torch at the Atlanta games. His strength was gone; he was shaking like a leaf due to Parkinson’s disease. You’ll find no joy; you’ll find no contentment; you’ll find no peace in wisdom. You’ll not find it in might.
3. Do Not Boast of Your Riches
Third, do not boast in your own riches— “Let not a rich man boast of his riches.” People so often glory in their money, or in the things they have bought with it: their homes, or cars, or other treasures. But God says, Do not glory in your riches.
First of all, they will never ultimately make you happy. That’s why you see people always have to get “more, more, more.” Because it’s never enough. Do you realize that buying and accumulating things can be just as addictive as drugs?
Many people are just as addicted to shopping or collecting or buying something new as any drug addict is to their drugs — it’s just a different addiction. But just like drugs, it never permanently satisfies you. And even what you get, you aren’t going to keep. You will lose it all eventually.
Jesus said of the man in Luke 12 who built bigger barns to hold more of his “goods”:
“You fool; this night your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20)
In a book of short stories by Washington Irving, he described things he saw while he was living in England. He wrote about Westminster Abbey, where so many great kings, writers, and other notable people are buried.
While touring there, he was told about the crypt where one of the kings was buried, and a workman looked inside the tomb. When he looked in, he saw a golden crown, inlaid with diamonds, lying on a little pile of dust and bones.
That golden crown and all his riches couldn’t save that king when his time came; it did him no good except to serve as a crown for his dust!
All of these things — wisdom, strength, riches — cover many of the things that people are tempted to put their hope in: their wisdom or mental ability; their physical beauty or strength; their money and possessions.
These are the things that a lot of people boast of — or what comforts them, or makes them happy when they think about their life. A good question to ask yourself today is: What is it that comforts you when you think about your life?
That is your reason for boasting.
God says: Don’t boast of your wisdom; don’t boast of your strength; don’t boast of your riches. All of them are inadequate to be your glory.
4. Boast in Knowing God
God also has a word for us concerning the one thing we should boast of, and that is: Knowing God.
Verse 24 says:
“But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows ME, that I am YHWH who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares YHWH.
What, then, should we “boast” of? What should comfort us and make us happy in life? God says, “that (you) understand and know ME.” Now, when He says, “understand” here, that doesn’t mean that you can “understand” everything about God. We will NEVER understand everything about Him. He’s beyond our comprehension. But the word means “to have insight into.” If you have some insight into GOD — and KNOW Him; THAT is what you should be thankful for, and boast of, and find comfort for your life in.
And notice that He adds: “that I am the LORD.” You see the word “LORD” is in all capital letters, which means that in Hebrew, this is His name, “Yahweh.” That is the personal name of God — not just “any” God; or a “generic” God that “everyone” believes in, but Yahweh, the God of the Bible, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says understanding and knowing HIM — the One True God — is what you should glory in. THIS is what we were made for. We were created to KNOW GOD. That is our purpose for existence.
Of course, this may not sound good to us, or make sense to us, because our ability to know God was impaired by our sin. Because we sinned against Him, the One who was supposed to be our comfort and glory became a stranger to us, and even our enemy. But “while we were yet His enemies,” as Romans 5 says, “Christ died for us” to make peace between us and God, so that we could come back to Him and KNOW HIM, like we were originally created to.
THIS is what salvation is all about: KNOWING GOD. HE is our goal; HE is to be our glory. Knowing God is our goal in heaven. Jesus said in John 17:3, “THIS is eternal life, that they may KNOW THEE, the only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”
The goal of heaven is not pearly gates or streets of gold; it is not seeing Abraham or Moses or Paul or even our loved ones: the great glory and goal of heaven will be KNOWING GOD. Because the sins that had separated us from God have been taken care of, we will then be able to live in heaven with Him forever and spend eternity knowing Him and His glory: a glory so majestic and holy that no man can look upon it on earth and live; a glory so satisfying that we will not need anything other than Him; and a glory so lasting that it will never end.
God says if you know that you are going to experience His glory in heaven forever, THAT is something to boast about!
Knowing Him is our goal here on earth. You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to start getting to know God. See, a lot of people act like Christianity is just about “getting saved,” which means you make this “decision” to get your “fire insurance” so you won’t go to hell but know you are going to heaven, and now you just live out your life, doing whatever, until the day you get to go to heaven, where you’ll meet God.
But that’s not it at all. When you ask Jesus to be your Savior, He forgives that sin that had been separating you from God. As Ephesians 2 says, the barrier of the dividing wall has been broken down — so you can start getting to know God RIGHT NOW.
We’re still in this world of sin, so we can’t “see” Him, or always “feel” Him, but if by faith you will seek Him, He will speak to you every day in His word; and you can speak back to Him in prayer. That’s what our daily devotional time is all about — it’s not just about doing our “religious duty;” it is about getting to KNOW HIM better day by day as we spend time in His word and prayer.
Our devotional time shouldn’t be just us coming to God and giving Him our “laundry list” of all the things we want Him to do for us. And if the truth be known, that’s basically all that a lot of us do, isn’t it?! All we do is just say, “God, I need this; Lord, won’t You do that?” But you are missing the whole point.
Jesus said in Matthew 6, “Your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.” God already knows what you need; you can’t really “tell Him anything.” He does want to hear your requests — He told us to bring them to Him — but He wants to hear them from in the context of the relationship you have with Him, in which you are also spending time just thanking Him, and singing to Him, and learning about Him in His word and getting to KNOW HIM BETTER.
Is that what is happening with you and God every day? When it is, THAT is something you can glory in — THAT is something that neither age, nor poverty, nor tragedy, nor “any other created thing” can ever take away from you.
In fact, the adversities of life that ROB other people of their glories will actually DEEPEN your glory and knowledge of God! And that’s why He allows some of these adversities to come into our lives. Because it is all about knowing Him, and He knows that these adversities will help you to know Him better.
And then when you do die, you haven’t lost everything you’ve lived for, like so many people do. Instead, you’re instantly transported to heaven, where you will know and glory in Him infinitely more than you ever did before.
In conclusion, making more money or getting a new house or car, or winning the big game isn’t what you were created for. KNOWING GOD. THAT is what life is all about.
If you know God, and you’re continuing to grow closer to Him, then you are accomplishing what God put you here on earth for, and you can be satisfied and glory in that.
And if you’re not doing that — then it doesn’t matter WHAT else you have or what else you accomplish. You’ve missed what you were made to do in this life. And in the end, you won’t have anything to “boast” about, at all.
- Rev. Kayode Ilupeju,
Good News Baptist Church,
47/49, Olufemi Road,
Off Ogunlana Drive,
Surulere, Lagos.
Tel.: 0803-302-1008
