14 Why e are we sitting still ? Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities And let us perish there , Because the Lord our God has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink , For we have sinned against the Lord . 15 We waited for peace , but no good came; For a time of healing , but behold , terror ! 16 From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses ; At the sound of the neighing of his stallions The whole land quakes ; For they come and devour the land and its fullness , The city and its inhabitants . 17 "For behold , I am sending serpents against you, Adders , for which there is no charm , And they will bite you," declares the Lord .
18 My sorrow is beyond healing , My heart is faint within me! 19 Behold , listen ! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land : "Is the Lord not in Zion ? Is her King not within her?" "Why have they provoked Me with their graven images , with foreign idols ?" 20 "Harvest is past , summer is ended , And we are not saved ." 21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken ; I mourn , dismay has taken hold of me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no physician there ? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored ?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 8:14-22
Commentary on Jeremiah 8:14-22
(Read Jeremiah 8:14-22)
At length they begin to see the hand of God lifted up. And when God appears against us, every thing that is against us appears formidable. As salvation only can be found in the Lord, so the present moment should be seized. Is there no medicine proper for a sick and dying kingdom? Is there no skilful, faithful hand to apply the medicine? Yes, God is able to help and to heal them. If sinners die of their wounds, their blood is upon their own heads. The blood of Christ is balm in Gilead, his Spirit is the Physician there, all-sufficient; so that the people may be healed, but will not. Thus men die unpardoned and unchanged, for they will not come to Christ to be saved.