Jeremiah is in prison in Jerusalem. The city is besieged by the Babylonians. According to Jeremiah’s own prophecy, Jerusalem will soon be destroyed and the people of Israel will be taken into captivity. In the midst of this turmoil, the Lord commands Jeremiah to buy a field from his uncle in his hometown of Anathoth. Jeremiah is unlikely to get any benefit from the field, but he is to buy it anyway.
This is a psalm of David. David determines to build God a house—the temple. God does not allow David to build the house but passes this honor to David’s son. However, God promises a house—a dynastic reigning line—to David.
One of our most precious commodities is time. We struggle with the proper use of time. This psalm begins with the eternity of God, powerfully expresses the brevity of man’s years, and closes with help on how to number our days.
The title of this psalm identifies it as “A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” Even in the confession of such heinous sins, we can see why God looked to David as “a man after his own heart”.
In this chapter, we see a great miracle performed on Hezekiah’s behalf in giving him fifteen additional years of life.
