Jeremiah 14:7

My Notes

What Does Jeremiah 14:7 Mean?

Jeremiah 14:7 is a prayer that leads with confession and pivots on God's name: "O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee."

The Hebrew ki-avōnōthēnu anu vanu — "our iniquities testify against us" — is courtroom language. The sins aren't hidden. They're on the witness stand, giving testimony. The case against Israel is being built by Israel's own behavior. The evidence doesn't need to be imported. It's self-generating.

"Do thou it for thy name's sake" — asēh lĕma'an-shĕmĕka. The appeal has shifted entirely. Jeremiah isn't arguing merit. He isn't presenting mitigating factors. He's saying: our record condemns us. We have nothing to offer. Do it — save, restore, act — for Your name's sake. Because if You don't act, it's Your reputation that suffers among the nations. Our failure reflects on Your name because we carry it.

The confession is total: backslidings are many (rabbū), we have sinned (chatanu). No minimizing. No explanations. The prayer's power comes from the complete abandonment of self-defense and the complete dependence on God's concern for His own name. When you have nothing to plead, you plead the name.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Have you exhausted every self-based appeal to God? Can you pray 'do it for Your name's sake' when your own record condemns you?
• 2.Jeremiah leads with total confession before making his appeal. Do you confess fully before you ask, or do you try to minimize first?
• 3.God's reputation is attached to your outcome. Does that change how you think about what's at stake in your situation?
• 4.When backslidings are many and the evidence is clear, the only fuel left is God's name. Have you reached that level of dependence?

Devotional

Our sins are testifying against us. That's where Jeremiah starts — not with a defense but with a confession. The evidence is on the stand. It's speaking clearly. And nobody in the courtroom is arguing for the defendant because there's no argument to make.

So Jeremiah makes the only appeal left: Your name, LORD. Not our righteousness. Not our potential. Not our promise to do better. Your name. Act for the sake of what people will think about You if You don't.

That prayer strategy sounds almost manipulative until you realize it's the most honest prayer anyone can pray. When your track record is disqualifying — when the backslidings are many and the evidence is undeniable — you can't appeal to your performance. You can only appeal to God's character. Save me because of who You are, not because of who I am. Act because Your name is on me, and my destruction makes Your name look weak.

Jeremiah models what mature intercession looks like when the situation is past human remedy. He doesn't defend Israel. He doesn't explain Israel. He confesses for Israel and then redirects to the one argument that holds: God's own investment in His name. Your name is on this people. Your reputation is attached to their outcome. If they fall, the nations won't say Israel failed. They'll say Israel's God failed. And that's a lie You can't afford.

When you've exhausted every other prayer — when you've run out of promises, run out of merit, run out of reasons God should help — this is what's left. Do it for Your name's sake. It's the prayer that never runs out of fuel because the fuel isn't you. It's Him.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture