Jeremiah 20

 Pashur, priest and governor, struck Jeremiah and put him in the stocks. Jeremiah told Pashur that God will cause Pashhur to witness his friends fall by the sword and will give Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. The Lord will turn over the wealth and treasures of Judah to its enemies. And Pashhur and his friends will die in Babylon because of the lies they spread. 

Meanwhile, this was too much for Jeremiah. On the one hand he was in despair of the mockery. He wished he was never born. Yet, he declared:

But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.

Therefore, he prayed:

But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper...But, O Lord of hosts, You who test the righteous, and see the mind and heart, let me see Your vengeance on them; for I have pleaded my cause before You. 

Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has delivered the life of the poor from the hand of evildoers.  

COMMENTARY 

During chapter 20, Zedekiah was the last king of Judah on the throne, and he was one of the worst. He rejected the messages from Jeremiah. Up to this point he was ignored but now it was the first time he was physically persecuted.

Jeremiah had told Pashur that he was destined to destruction and all those he knew. The southern kingdom was going into captivity. The rejection was too much for Jeremiah to bear, and his heart was breaking but he was conflicted about not sharing the Lord's warning with His people. He said he could not hold it back.

from ThePreachersWord