Charles Spurgeon Commentary Jeremiah 14:2-6

"Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they sit in black upon the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads. Because of the ground which is cracked, for that no rain hath been in the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads. Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh [her young], because there is no grass. And the wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage." — Jeremiah 14:2-6 (ASV)

The distress in the land was so great that the city gates, where, in more prosperous times, business transactions took place, and meetings of the people were held, were deserted. There was nothing that could be done while the nation was in such sorrow, and a great cry of agony went up from the capital of the country: The cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

The highest in the land sent their children to hunt even for a little water to drink. They went to the cisterns where some might have been expected to remain, but they found none. They returned with their vessels empty; they were as ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. The covering of the head was the sign of sorrow.

You remember how, in the day of his distress, David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered; and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

The ground had been reduced by the drought to such a state of hardness that it was useless to plow it, for there was no hope of any harvest coming.

Even the wild creatures of the field shared the general suffering. The hind, which is reckoned by Easterners to be the fondest of its young, forsook its fawn and left it to perish because there was no food.

And the wild asses, which are able to endure thirst better than other creatures and are always quick to perceive water if there is any to be found, tried in vain to scent it anywhere. They snuffed up the wind like dragons,—like cobras, or serpents, or jackals, as the word may be variously rendered—but they snuffed in vain. Their eyes became like coals in their head: they did fail, because there was no grass.

What then? Well, the prophet turns to prayer as the only means of obtaining relief.