1. Place your confidence in God (1-8)

Judah's sin seemed permanent. Even the children did not know any different. The people had no one to blame but themselves. They trusted in their human strength instead of God. As a result, they were wasting away like a bush in the desert. The blessed, however, trust the Lord, placing their confidence in him. Such people are like living trees, bearing fruit in the harshest of environments. The faithful of Judah would thrive, even while in exile.

2. God searches the heart to bless us (9-27)

The human heart without God is deceitful. And so God searches our hearts, not to punish, but to reward. God found in Jeremiah a faithful heart, a heart full of praise. In God, Jeremiah was thriving as he lived as God's servant in a very hard place.