Jeremiah 17:7
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Context
This blessing is the counterpart to the curse of verse 5, part of a poem contrasting two ways of living -- reliance on human strength versus reliance on God.
What Does Jeremiah 17:7 Mean?
The person who trusts in the Lord and makes Him their hope is blessed. This verse stands in deliberate contrast to verse 5, which pronounced a curse on the one who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength. Here the alternative is set out plainly: blessing belongs to the one whose confidence rests in God. The two halves reinforce each other -- "trusteth in the LORD" describes present reliance, and "whose hope the LORD is" describes future expectation. Together they paint a life oriented entirely toward God for both security now and outcome later.
What makes this trust blessed is not that it guarantees ease but that it is rooted in someone unfailing. The next verse will compare this person to a tree by water, unshaken by heat or drought. The contrast is not between people who face trouble and people who do not; it is between those whose roots reach the unfailing source and those who do not. The verse calls the reader to examine the actual object of their trust. Blessing flows not from the strength of our faith but from the trustworthiness of the One we trust.
In the Original Language
"Trusteth" is batach, to rely on with confidence and security. "Hope" renders mibtach, the object of one's confidence -- so the verse says the Lord Himself is both the trusting and the thing trusted in.
Cross References
“Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”
- Psalms 40:4
“He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.”
- Proverbs 16:20
“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
- Psalms 34:8
Application
Examine where your confidence actually rests, and deliberately place both your present security and your future hope in the Lord rather than in your own resources.