Faith Daily Lectio Friday, November 6, 2026 Old Testament
Friday, November 6, 2026 · Friday in the week of the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 26)
Old Testament
Oratio (prayer)
Lord God, Your prophet weeps for Your people. Send Your Holy Spirit as I read Jeremiah 8 and 9, that I may hear Your sorrow and find the balm You give in Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Meditatio (meditation)
Jeremiah 8:18-9:12
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
4Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
5And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
7Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
8Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
11And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
Consider even rereading in another translation.
You could also consider listening to these chapters, narrated:
KJV (Max McLean): Jeremiah 8, 9 · ESV (Max McLean): Jeremiah 8, 9 · NIV (dramatized): Jeremiah 8, 9
You might read the whole reading slowly, aloud, more than once.
Consider this verse, for example:
“Is there no balm in Gilead” (Jeremiah 8:22)
What other lines speak to you?
Jeremiah's heart is faint with sorrow. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and the people are not saved. He wishes his head were waters so he could weep for the slain of the daughter of his people. They bend their tongues for lies and refuse to know the LORD. Judgment hangs over the land. Still the cry rises: is there no balm in Gilead, and is there no physician there?
The Law "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (8:20). "And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies" (9:3), and "through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD" (9:6). Season after season can pass while we stay closed to Him. The land perishes when His people will not hear.
The Gospel Yet the prophet's ache points beyond himself: "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" (8:22). There is a Physician. Jesus is the balm for the wound no other medicine can heal. He took the hurt of His people into His own body, and in Him the health of God's daughter is recovered. That mercy is for you.
Prayer Lord, I confess that seasons have passed while I refused to know You. Forgive me for Jesus' sake. Be my balm and my Physician, and recover my health in Him. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Tentatio (trial)
When sorrow leaves the heart faint, it may help to carry Jeremiah's question to Christ: "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?" (8:22). You might name the wound to Him, and trust the Physician who already came for you.
Prayer Lord, when my heart is faint, be my balm. Heal what I cannot mend, and keep me in Your mercy through Jesus. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.
My church home: Peace Lutheran Church, McMurray, PA. Looking for a church? See About Daily Lectio.
