141 The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought. 2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem goeth up. 3 And their nobles send their little ones for water: they come to the pits, they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed, they are confounded, and have covered their heads. 4 Because the ground is chapt, for there hath been no rain on the earth, the ploughmen are ashamed, they cover their heads. 5 For the hind also calveth in the field, and forsaketh [its young], because there is no grass. 6 And the wild asses stand on the heights, they snuff up the wind like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 14:1-6
Commentary on Jeremiah 14:1-9
(Read Jeremiah 14:1-9)
The people were in tears. But it was rather the cry of their trouble, and of their sin, than of their prayer. Let us be thankful for the mercy of water, that we may not be taught to value it by feeling the want of it. See what dependence husbandmen have upon the Divine providence. They cannot plough nor sow in hope, unless God water their furrows. The case even of the wild beasts was very pitiable. The people are not forward to pray, but the prophet prays for them. Sin is humbly confessed. Our sins not only accuse us, but answer against us. Our best pleas in prayer are those fetched from the glory of God's own name. We should dread God's departure, more than the removal of our creature-comforts. He has given Israel his word to hope in. It becomes us in prayer to show ourselves more concerned for God's glory than for our own comfort. And if we now return to the Lord, he will save us to the glory of his grace.