“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 17:14 Mean?
Jeremiah prays a prayer of complete dependence. The structure is conditional: if you heal me, I will be healed. If you save me, I will be saved. The certainty of the outcome depends entirely on the one who acts. Jeremiah does not say he might be healed. He says he will be — because it is God doing the healing.
The prayer is personal and urgent. Jeremiah is suffering — persecuted by his own people, emotionally devastated by the messages he must deliver, physically in danger. This is not an academic prayer. It is a cry from someone who has run out of other options.
"For thou art my praise" is the reason Jeremiah offers for why God should act. Not because Jeremiah deserves it. Because God is the one Jeremiah praises. The relationship is the argument. I worship you. Therefore heal me.
The verse has become a prayer for people in physical and emotional crisis — a simple, complete statement of dependence: you are the only one who can actually heal me. If you do it, it will be real and lasting.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What wound or brokenness in your life needs this prayer right now?
- 2.What does it mean that healing is certain if God does it — how does that confidence differ from hoping?
- 3.How is saying thou art my praise an argument for God to act?
- 4.Where have you been looking for healing from sources other than God?
Devotional
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed. The simplicity of that prayer is its power. Jeremiah is not offering a multi-step plan. He is not negotiating. He is saying: if you do it, it is done. Nothing else can truly heal what is broken in me.
Save me, and I shall be saved. The certainty is not in Jeremiah is faith or his worthiness. It is in God is ability. If you save — and only if you save — then I am saved. Nothing else will get the job done.
For thou art my praise. That is the most vulnerable part. Jeremiah is not listing his qualifications. He is saying: I have made you the center of my worship. You are what I praise. Now act in accordance with that relationship.
If you are carrying a wound right now — physical, emotional, spiritual — this prayer cuts through the noise. You do not need a better strategy. You need the Healer. And the prayer is as simple as Jeremiah made it: heal me, Lord. You are the only one who can.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed,.... These are the words of the prophet, sensible of his own sins and…
In the rest of the prophecy Jeremiah dwells upon the moral faults which had led to Judah’s ruin. Jer 17:6 Like the heath…
Here, as often before, we have the prophet retired for private meditation, and alone with God. Those ministers that…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture