Daily Devotional For Sunday, August 9, 2026
Good morning Southside! It’s S-U-N-D-A-Y !! Let’s all get up and go worship our God today in a Bible-believing worship service. Let’s lift up our voices and our hands to praise the Lord, because He deserves it and is worthy of it. Our daily devotional for today comes from Jeremiah 12:1-3:
LORD, You always give me justice when I bring a case before You. So let me bring You this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy? (2) You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but You are far from their hearts. (3) But as for me, LORD, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered! Set them aside to be slaughtered!” (NLT).
Have you ever felt like Jeremiah? As you look over the landscape of our culture, country and even churches, it seems the wicked are succeeding, enjoying life, and prospering while you are struggling, suffering and simply surviving? I think we all can relate to Jeremiah in this passage. We wonder, “How long are You Lord going to tolerate this?”
It is as if Jeremiah pulled God over to the side and said, “I have this complaint. I have been doing what You called me to do, but when I look at the wicked, why do they succeed? I want to know why very good things happen to very bad people?” It is as if Jeremiah is wondering if God is in control. Why? Because if in his mind God was in control, then very good things should not be happening to very bad people. In other words, all the goodness they have is from all their hard work. But God not being in control is not an option here.
But Jeremiah knows God is in control and he is angry and blames God for the success and goodness the wicked experience and have. Now Jeremiah is not questioning God’s sovereignty, but God’s goodness. He writes above that it is God who has planted the wicked and it is only by God’s hand they have prospered. Jeremiah’s complaint against the Lord is this, “It’s not fair. I do all You want and I suffer. The wicked do not and it seems You prosper them. Why?”
Jeremiah’s question is this: “How can a good God allow the wicked to prosper even briefly? He must not be totally good at all.” Jeremiah 12:2 is the opposite or the reverse of Psalms 1. In Psalms 1 it is the righteous who prosper because they are like a tree firmly planted by streams of water and produce an abundant crop of fruit. Jeremiah’s complaint is similar to Asaph’s complaint to the Lord in Psalms 73:1-5, 12.
But there is a difference in the attitudes of Jeremiah and Asaph. When we read Psalm 73:27, Asaph is content in knowing that God will bring judgment against the wicked. While Asaph is content, Jeremiah is confused. He doesn’t understand why God’s judgment against the wicked has not come sooner. In your scripture below to meditate on, there is a passage from Habakkuk of his complaint against the Lord.
Reflection Assignment: Do you ever find yourself questioning God’s justice? Do you ever find yourself in your thoughts complaining against and to God for the success of the wicked? What is your response when very bad things happen to you as Christ’s servant and not to the wicked? If you have any complaints against the Lord, what are they? Why do you think God’s people such as Jeremiah, Asaph and Habakkuk felt no fear in complaining to and against the Lord and what does that tell you about your complaints?
Scripture To Meditate On: Habakkuk 1:3-4, “Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. (4) The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I know you know all my thoughts, even my complaints about life and against You. I know You are going to right every wrong one day. Thank You for your patience and goodness with me when I question You. Also Lord, thank You for allowing me to express my questions of Your goodness. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly