In Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah receives instruction from the Lord to go and buy land within the boundaries of the what had been the nation of Israel. Israel had been taken captive by Assyria, and now Judah was going to be absorbed into the Babylonian conquest. As the city of Jerusalem was being put under siege by Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon, Jeremiah was in prison in the king’s house. Doom for the nation was soon to be realized, but the fact that God told Jeremiah to buy land in the conquered land of Israel was a sign of great hope. It meant that God would bring them back to this place after a time in captivity. God would again be merciful and compassionate despite the hardness of the hearts of the people of Israel. Jeremiah exclaimed with praise to God in verse 17, "Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You." Jeremiah was reminded that the same God who made the entire world is the same God Who was working on his behalf. This all-powerful God cared about a meager human being, Jeremiah, and his nation. God could still bring this nation back and give them yet another chance. Indeed, nothing is too difficult for the Lord.
This trust, hope, and confidence that Jeremiah had that nothing is too difficult for the Lord is to be contrasted with the lack of faith and trust that David had. Judah was in a position of desperation where God was their only hope. Jeremiah was given revelation from God that there was hope, and he believed. David, on the other hand, in a time of peace and prosperity for the kingdom of Israel, chose to take matters into his own hands. God had given him so much, yet he lusted for his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery with her, and killed her husband to cover it up. There was something that he wanted that God had not given him. In his mind, there was a desire that God had failed to meet, and he went ahead and met it unbiblically, greatly angering the Lord. When Nathan confronted David in 2 Samuel 12, he said in verses 7,8, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 'I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! (emphasis added)’" Jeremiah exclaimed in faith that nothing is too difficult for God. David, by his actions, communicated to God that God was unable to satisfy his longings, and therefore he went outside of God’s will. The point that God makes to David through the prophet Nathan is that He had been abundantly generous and gracious toward David, and that if that were not enough, more could be given still. David failed to have faith and call to God to provide, and that is where he went wrong. He needed rather to believe that nothing is too difficult for God. After all, this is the same David that saw God give the kingdom to him and the same God who enabled him to defeat the giant Goliath with merely a sling and some stones. Too often we are more like David and less like Jeremiah because we take matters into our own hands as we doubt God and stop believing that He is able. We must remember that God is not the bad guy, He is not malicious, and He does not withhold things from us to torment us. He is not like that. He is good, benevolent, and kind. He delights in giving good and perfect gifts to His children. In fact, only God can do that as David learned the hard way. So we are blessed that, since we need God to give us what is good and perfect, that He actually promises to do just that! The key is whether or not we will keep believing God and do what it takes even when what faith says does not match what our sight says. We must walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), remembering that nothing is too difficult for the Lord.
I want to mention that God never says that He would have given David more things. He says "if that had been too little," He would have gladly given more. It might have been that David had many good and perfect things to enjoy right in front of him, but he grew discontent with them or failed to enjoy them as he should have. He might have had more than he needed, but he may just have failed to recognize just what great things he already had. We do this sometimes, too, failing to enjoy the good things of God already given to us because we are constantly thinking about the next thing that we "need." We can freely enjoy the good things that we have because we can trust God that if there are other things that we need, He will add them to us also (Philippians 4:19). This is the lesson to us from David and from Jeremiah. Nothing is too difficult for the Lord, and He delights in giving good things to His children. The question for His children is will we believe that God can and that according to God’s perfect wisdom and timing that God will. When we believe God and turn our needs over to Him (1 Peter 5:7), great rest, joy, and peace can be ours in Him. Nothing is too difficult for the Lord.
The Good News