Because God Sees, I Can Sing

 

Jeremiah 20:11 But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
    therefore my persecutors will stumble;
    they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
    for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
    will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
    who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord;
    praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
    from the hand of evildoers.

Besides the frustration of being called upon to preach repentance to his people and have them refuse to listen and repent, then end up in Exile, Jeremiah experienced great persecution from the priests and other leaders. At the beginning of this chapter, Jeremiah had been arrested by the priest and put into stocks. After a scathing denouncement of his persecutors, he says the above.  As angry as he was, he knew that he had to trust the Lord as his defender. The reason he could do so is because the Lord sees all, including what is in the heart and the mind, and vengeance belongs to Him.  This enables Jeremiah to set aside his anger and sing to the Lord. Right after this, Jeremiah relapses into self-pity for awhile, wishing he had never been born, but ultimately, he knows and lives with the truth that God sees and will make things right.