“Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;

“But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord.” (Jer. 9:23-24)

Remember those words. They will be on the test.

The word “rhapsody,” we’re told, comes to us from the Greek “rhapsodia.” That word is made from “rhapso” meaning “to sew” and “ode,” a song. Literally, a rhapsody is a patchwork composition, parts of various songs stitched together into one.

I have my needle and thread this morning. I’m ready to pull together some thoughts on this fascinating declaration from our Heavenly Father for our benefit. In time, with continued reflection and study, my composition will be seamless. But not today, I’m afraid.

Last week, on Facebook–where “friends” try to compress large thoughts and long paragraphs of meaning into two or three pithy sentences–I urged pastors to begin their worship services by walking up to the pulpit and quoting these two verses from Jeremiah 9.

I suggested that the worship leader (the pastor should always be the opening and primary worship leader) should look his people in the eye and with a clear, almost dramatic voice, call out from memory–most definitely not reading–the words of this text. Do it slowly, forcefully, authoritatively.

This is in contrast to the trite manner in which so many worship services begin. “How y’all doing this morning?” “Well, aren’t we having a pretty day?” “Is everyone happy today? I said, ‘Is EVERYONE happy today?’ Maybe you didn’t hear me–IS EVERYONE HAPPY TODAY?”

Oh please. Spare us.

You can do better than this, pastor. Instead of beginning the worship service berating us for not answering your silly question forcefully enough, why not direct us toward the Lord. Lift us toward Heaven. See if you can actually help us worship.

After posting the suggestion about Jeremiah 9:23-24 on Facebook, the next day I made a comment regarding Galatians 2:20. That drew a response from Philip Price.

Price is the new director of missions for the Jackson County Baptist Association, headquartered in Pascagoula, having just left the First Baptist Church of Leakesville, MS (where I’ll be leading in revival in a few weeks). Philip said, “Interesting you would pick those two scriptures.”

The Galatians verse is his favorite and the Jeremiah passage was his text a few days ago when he addressed the state-wide meeting of directors of missions, his new peer group.

Until Philip said that, I was “past” Jeremiah 9:23-24. But that drew me back.

I’ve since memorized it and am attempting to retain it by lying in bed reflecting on its content and quoting it back from time to time.

Let’s take it apart and sew it back together. With me now?

Notice how the two verses are bracketed by the Lord taking ownership of them. Clearly, He did not want us dismissing them offhandedly as nice pleasant thoughts. “This is the Word of the Lord!”

As He does so often in Scripture, the Lord begins with a contrast: let not a person boast in this, but if you are going to boast, do so in that.

Boasting or bragging call up images in our minds of someone thumping his chest, saying, “Look at me! Aren’t I something!”

There’s some of that around, but usually it’s not so blatant.

A “wise man” who boasts in his wisdom is more likely to display his degrees in frames across a wall, prominently enough so no visitor can miss that he has been touched with greatness. He displays his doctorate on all his writings (I say this with complete awareness that my son has set up this website so my doctorate is unavoidable; sorry about that), on his letterheads, and even in his conversation.

A wise man who boasts in his wisdom will never let you forget the books he has read or written or owns. He will call attention to the intellectual elites he knows or has encoutnered at some time in his past, and never passes up an opportunity to point out stupidity where he finds it–and believe me, he sees plenty of it.

A “mighty man” who boasts in his might will want you to know of his accomplishments. He bench-pressed so much weight, ran the five miles this morning in his best time yet, and really feels awful when he can’t get to the gym or health club at his usual early morning hour.

A mighty man would be embarrassed if people walked up and asked to feel his biceps. Boasting is nothing that blatant. But he lives for the admiring glances of other adults, particularly those who are not taking care of their own bodies. You might be surprised to know he does not revel so much in standing around at the gym comparing notes with other macho types. After all, they can match him pound for pound. There’s always someone at the health club with better abs and stronger times in the marathon.

It’s the rest of the world he’s impressing.

Tell the mighty man to keep his accomplishments to himself and you might as well ask him to skip the next six months of workouts. He lives for compliments.

A “rich man” who boasts in his riches does not hand over his bank balance for you to drool over. It’s more subtle than that. The language used in wealth-boasting consists of new cars in the driveway (if he parks them inside his closed garage, no one will ever see them, so they usually stay in the driveway), vacations he and his family take, the clothes they wear, the schools his kids attend, the latest innovation in electronics in his automobile or family room, that sort of thing.

I’m tempted to say at this point that everyone boasts of something. That’s almost true, but not entirely.

Let’s say that “most people” have some area of their lives they are proudest of and enjoy calling attention to.. ..

–Have you heard of the latest thing my grandchild did? Have I shown you his most recent snapshots?

–My daughter made the cheerleading squad for the third year in a row. The coach says she’s the best one on the team.

–I’m giving thanks that my son’s team won the championship. God is good.

–Go to my website and read my latest article. (Hmmm. That one sounds familiar.)

God in Heaven sees how we boast in areas that are far too small for the Special Creation He made us to be. Wishing to extend our fields of vision, enlarge our hearts, and upgrade our accomplishments, He redirects our boasting.

“If you must boast, boast in this, that you understand Me and know Me.”

This is as good a place as any to listen to Eugene Peterson’s version of Jeremiah 9:24 from The Message. (Not everyone is as crazy about this book as my wife and I. But, hey, if you’d written a paraphrase of the entire Bible, I’d be quoting you here. I just want us to hear it in the vernacular.)

“If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me. I’m God, and I act in loyal love. I do what’s right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things. Those are my trademarks. God’s Decree.”

I know the Lord; I understand what He is like.

Those are two powerful statements. I’m going to assume here that they overlap, that both are conveying the same point. Now, to be sure, they do not mean the same thing in English. We can know someone and still not really know who they are or what they are like. But the Lord is saying if we truly know Him, we will understand what He is like.

There is no better commentary on Scripture than other Scripture. And there is no greater insight into what it means to know the Lord (Jeremiah 9:24) than a few chapters further on, in 22:15-16.

Buckle your seat-belt, you conservative church members who keep insisting that “knowing the Lord” consists only in walking the aisle of the church and making a profession of faith whether it ever results in anything outward or not. The ride is about to get bumpy.

“Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me? declares the Lord.” (Jer. 22:15-16 )

There is an uncomfortable consistency in the two passages from chapters 9 and 22. God exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righeousness—and He has a fondness for those of us who do, too.

Lovingkindness is “Hesedh” in the Hebrew. It’s a loaded word, one formerly translated as “mercy” but these days most often as “lovingkindness” or “loyal, covenant love.” To my way of thinking, it contains both “grace” and “mercy.” (Mercy being God not giving us what we deserve; grace meaning He gives us what we do not deserve. The judge refuses to sentence us as harshly as he could have, but wipes the record clean, sends us to school and gives us a stipend. That sort of thing.)

Justice means to do the fair thing. Getting what one deserves, being paid the wages one was promised, knowing the weights used at the cotton gin or butcher shop are accurate. You walk into a court of law with the full expectation that the right thing will be done, regardless of how slick a lawyer the other side has employed or what nuances of the law they try to pull out and use on you.

When God told Israel “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” He was calling for justice. That phrase–found in three places in the Old Testament (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21)–provokes a knee-jerk reaction from Bible-scoffers but at the time God commanded it, the practice of the day was “a life for an eye” and “a limb for a tooth.” The Lord was commanding a new level of justness.

Righteousness means to do the godly thing. It refers to positive, upbuilding, strengthening actions such as gifts of alms to the poor, feeding the hungry, caring for the orphans, nurturing the little ones, picking up the fallen.

Take the earthly life and ministry of Jesus. When He came to earth, that was God’s lovingkindness. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….”

When Jesus did not intervene to stop Jerusalem from being destroyed by the Roman legions in A.D. 70, God was meting out justice.

When Jesus kept preaching repentance and the kingdom of God to those sitting in the path of the oncoming Roman juggernaut, that was righteousness.

“That’s the way I am,” God is saying.

“I delight in these things.”

Notice please God wants all three, not just one by itself. Lovingkindness (grace, mercy) provides a healthy balance for justice. Justice alone can be cold and cruel. Justice with graciousness and righteousness is another matter altogether.

Speaking up for AIDS victims will turn you into a target for the Pharisees among us. Taking action to help them will result in a lot of religious groups ostracizing you.

But it’s a Christlike thing to do.

Adopting an orphan or two or three from an impoverished Third World country can be a life-altering step for the children and for you, but it’s the purest form of righteousness.

Using your law degree to make sure that people are fairly represented in court will sometime put you on the “wrong” side of issues, but it’s a perfect blend of justice and righteousness.

“I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

The question, I suppose, is whether that is enough for us. Can we serve in unpopular neighborhoods doing hard things while making sacrificial gifts with the knowledge that few people around us are impressed and our parents wonder if we got our law or seminary or public health degree for this!

Is the pleasure of the Lord enough?

Some day it will be.

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” (Matthew 25:21)

“And when you give a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed since they do not have the means to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:13-14)

Two questions and we’ll end this for now: Is that enough for you (to be repaid by the Lord) and can you wait that long (the resurrection)?

Might not be all that long. You never know.