Midrash sa Jeremias 29:13: Midrash Tehillim

Another thing I will call out to you, O Lord. As it says in the scripture (Isaiah 26:13), "O Lord our God, other lords than you have ruled over us, but we acknowledge your name alone." What does "other lords" mean? It means that they have humbled us, as it is written (Proverbs 27:22), "Even if you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly." Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said, "They have humbled us like a husband who demands of his wife," as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:1), "Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman but she does not please him because he finds something indecent about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house." (Isaiah 26:13) We will acknowledge your name and praise it, for you have not performed miracles for us until you have hallowed your name among us. The wicked Nebuchadnezzar decreed that we should worship foreign gods and bow down to images. We offered our lives for the sanctity of your name, so that we would not transgress against you, as it is written (Daniel 3:16-18), "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.'" Immediately his anger was kindled, as it is written (Daniel 3:19), "Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face twisted and he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual." Rabbi Yochanan said, "He decreed that if they were bound with one cord, they should be bound with seven. The Rabbis said, 'If he heats the furnace seven times hotter, he should heat it forty-two times hotter.' When they saw this, they offered themselves to the flames to sanctify the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. Where did they learn this from? From the frogs. What is written about them? (Exodus 7:28) 'In your ovens and your kneading bowls.' When are kneading bowls found near an oven? When the oven is hot. This teaches us that they offered themselves to the flames to sanctify the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. What happened to them? All the frogs died, but those that went into the oven did not die because they had given themselves over to be burned in order to fulfill the decree of the Holy One, blessed be He." Todus, a Roman man, said, "From here we learn that if the frogs, who have no merit from the Patriarchs and no covenant, did not die because they gave themselves up for the sanctity of God's name, how much more so should we, the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who have the merit of the Patriarchs and are commanded to sanctify God's name." Plutin, a Roman man, said, "They learned it from the Torah, as it is said, (Devarim 4:29)'But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him.' The Rabbis said they learned it from Jeremiah, as it is said, 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.'" (Jeremiah 29:13)...

To the conductor, on the melody of David. I will listen to my prayer. As it says in Proverbs 15:29, "The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous." Whenever Israel called out to the Lord, He answered them. They called out to Him in Egypt, and He answered them, as it says in Exodus 3:7, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings." He answered them at the sea, as it says in Exodus 14:15, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward." He answered them in the wilderness, as it says in Numbers 21:3, "And the Lord heeded their plea." They entered the land and called out to Him, and He answered them, as it says in 1 Samuel 7:9, "And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him." Even in the days of Solomon, He answered them, as it says in 1 Kings 8:54, "And when Solomon finished praying, all the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple." And even now, in exile, He answers us, as it says in Lamentations 3:55-56, "I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’" And we, at the edge of the earth, call out to You. And the Lord said to us, "From the edge of the earth you have called me, but when you were in the land, you did not call on me. Therefore, it shall be said, ‘From the edge of the earth I called to you.’" Jeremiah also said, in Jeremiah 29:12, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you." And in Jeremiah 29:13, "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." And Moses said, in Deuteronomy 4:30, "When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice." Therefore, from the edge of the earth I call to You.