GOD CAN BE WEARY WITH REPENTING

"Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.."  (Jeremiah 15:6)

Can the Almighty God, with whom all things are possible, actually become tired of repenting – wearied of withdrawing His indignation from His people? Can His longsuffering be pressed beyond the measure of endurance? The very words almost sound blasphemous, but they are not. Hear the words of our text, spoken by the Lord Himself to His own people, whom He had chosen. "I am weary of repenting." Other versions read, "I am tired of relenting!," NASB "I can no longer show compassion," NIV and "I am tired of always giving you another chance." NLT The very words should strike instant fear into those with "slow hearts," who live close to the edge of spiritual sensibilities. God is longsuffering, to be sure, but woe to that person who dares to take advantage of it – the individual who needs to be repeatedly reproved, corrected, and tolerated by the living God! It is true, "He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" NKJV (Prov 29:1).
This is not the only place God spoke in this manner. Earlier Jeremiah quoted the Lord as saying, "Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in" (6:11). Ezekiel spoke of the running out of God's patience with wayward Israel. He would judge them grievously, as He had said. "There shall none of my words be prolonged any more" (Ezek 12:28). Through Amos He said, "I will spare them no longer" NASB (Amos 7:8). There are certain manners that weary God – things that move Him to express His indignation. Sometimes these are particular sins that move people beyond the embrace of Divine mercy – like a "sin unto death," for which all prayer is useless (1 John 5:16; Jer 7:16). There is a human propensity that vexes God, shutting up His bowels of compassion. Thus it is written of Israel, "Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel" NKJV (Psa 78:41). A paraphrase of our text would read, "I have so often repented that I cannot possibly be induced now to forgive." The words sound unusually strong, and that is precisely how they are intended to sound. We are not to suppose that the grace of God is a bottomless reservoir of Divine tolerance. It is designed to strengthen and move forward, not endure backward motion among those with whom He has aligned Himself. Let every person "examine themselves" (2 Cor 13:5), determining the effect of their manners upon the Lord. It will be time well spent.