Jeremiah 20:18

“Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, etc.] “Labour” in performing his work and office as a prophet; and “sorrow” in suffering reproach, contempt, and persecution for it; which to avoid, he wishes he had never been born: a sign of a very fretful and impatient spirit, and of a carnal frame. Jarchi thinks this refers to the destruction of the temple; that my days should be consumed with shame? through the bad usage of him, the reproach that was cast upon him, and the contempt he was had in for prophesying in the name of the Lord. All this shows that there is sin in the best of men, and what they are when left to themselves; how weak, foolish, and sinful they appear.…”

“In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending strength, warning prince and people with unwavering constancy of the national ruin that would follow necessarily upon their sins. Before God he stood crushed by the thought that he had labored in vain, and spent his strength for nothing. It is important to…”

“came: Job 3:20, Job 14:1, Job 14:13; Lam 3:1 to see: Jer 8:18; Gen 3:16-19; Psa 90:10; Lam 1:12; Joh 16:20; Heb 10:36 with: Psa 69:19; Isa 1:6, Isa 51:7; Act 5:41; Co1 4:9-13; Ti2 1:12; Heb 11:36; Heb 12:2, Heb 13:13; Pe1 4:14-16 Next: Jeremiah Chapter 21”