The following dialogue in Jeremiah 38:14-20 gives you a further glimpse into the hearts and minds of King Zedekiah and Jeremiah:
Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. But if you do not surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.’”
And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.”
But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.
Zedekiah wants to know God’s Word. There is a part of him that knows it’s true, that wants to believe. But fear (and pride) hold him back from obeying it. Notice that Jeremiah says to him, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.” In the next verse, Zedekiah assures Jeremiah that he won’t have him killed but he can’t guarantee Jeremiah that he will listen. And indeed, in the end, he does not listen.
Jeremiah practically begs Zedekiah to follow God’s Word. “Please obey the voice of the LORD which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.” Jeremiah has no vindictive spirit. He is not happy to see God’s judgment fall. He desires the best for Zedekiah and for his nation. He pleads with Zedekiah to surrender to the Babylonians, for the good of the nation and for the good of himself. But Zedekiah can’t do it. He fears his own princes. He fears the abuse of the Jews already captured by the Babylonians. And I believe, perhaps most of all, he fears looking weak or cowardly to others. “I’m king. I must fight. I must resist. I must appear strong and in control.”
It’s ironic that the strongest, wisest thing that Zedekiah could do in this situation was to surrender, to admit that God was in control and to follow His plan even if it didn’t look good to others. But he just couldn’t do it. And in chapter 39 we’ll find out just how much it cost him.
Surrender to God’s will is tough for us. Something in our heart says, “I’m king. I must fight. I must resist. I must appear strong to others.” So we find ourselves running to and fro trying to meet the expectations of others and trying to maintain our tenuous hold on our own perceived kingdom. However, in the end, we find that there is a paradoxical truism in God’s universe that is “when we try to appear strong we become weak but when we realize are weakness we become strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). It is in letting go of our grip–our tight grip on our own agenda, our own pride, our own way–that we fall into the hands of God.