Correct me, Lord, but only with justice — not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. —Jeremiah 10:24.
Jeremiah frequently struggled with the hard message the Lord gave him to communicate to God’s people. He often wept over and complained to God about what he was given to communicate. While he knew he was wrong to complain, he begged the Lord to correct him with justice and mercy, not anger and punishment. This request reminds me of a similar request a good friend regularly makes of the Lord when he prays, recognizing his own weaknesses and failings: “Humble me gently, Father,” he often prays. Our transformation, which requires correction and grace, is hard work and requires even more patience on God’s part than on our part. So we thank God for his grace, which lets us admit our sin and yet still come into his holy and awesome presence, knowing he will be both just and merciful, righteous and gracious. Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t treat us as we deserve but as we need (Psalm 103:1-22). We, too, can pray, “Correct me, Lord, but only with justice — not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.”