The Song of Jonah

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The book of Jonah is a masterclass in irony. We saw this several times in chapter one, most glaringly in Jonah seeking to outrun God in a ship on the sea, and then later confessing that The Lord is the the maker of the sea and the dry land. And here in this song that Jonah sings in the belly of the fish there is several moments of irony. Jonah confesses in this song of his that he longs to be near the Lord. Yet in chapter one we read that Jonah has sought to flee from the presence of the Lord. Jonah has found both to his detriment, and to his benefit, that there’s no where he can run that God will not be there.

Jonah’s Prayer

Jonah calls out to God from the belly of the fish, Jonah considers himself as good as dead, and the Lord hears Jonah.
Jonah 2:2 ESV
2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
There is an oddity to the way in which Jonah speaks in this Psalm that he is singing in the belly of the fish. It seems Jonah expects to die in the belly of the fish but he’s . He was delivered from drowning… but now he’s in the belly of a fish wondering how am I going to get out of this mess?
Jonah’s prayer carries the language of the Biblical laments - but yet there is gratefulness as well. He references many Psalms in his prayer to the Lord. Jonah likely does not have a copy of the book of Psalms that he is reading by torch light in the belly of the fish… but instead he has these things remembered. To us this gives us a guide in how we ought to learn from the scriptures. Learn them, and memorize them, when so that when darkness comes they may continue to be a lamp unto your feet and light unto your path.
The importance of knowing the Scriptures that you might recall them in times of suffering. In the times when you are in a slump and can’t recall much of anything because of your sorrow - and yet what you remember is what you have
We can see this evidence by verse 2, as Jonah is seemingly referencing Psalm 118:5
Psalm 118:5 ESV
5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.
In our distress, like Jonah, we ought to turn to the Lord and call out to him… doing so with repentance and humility. Knowing that God saves.
As noted previously in chapter 1, the more Jonah seeks to go away from the presence of the Lord the closer he finds himself to sheol. And now here in verse 1, Jonah sings as he has indeed made it to the land of the dead. Though as noted by David in Psalm 139:
Psalm 139:8 ESV
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
There is no escaping the presence of God.
Jonah 2:3 ESV
3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.
Though, Jonah may have been thrown overboard by the sailors but he knows that God has done it. Jonah says that God cast into the sea and that the Lord’s waves and billows passed over him. This is a verse that helps us to understand that seeming tension between God’s divine sovereignty and human action.
Quotes Psalm 42:7 - Psalm 42 is written by the sons of Korah - likely during the time of David.
Psalm 42:7 ESV
7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
Where the Psalmist in Psalm 42 was likely speaking in a figurative sense - Jonah was actually living the breakers and waves crashing over him.
As Jonah did in verse 2, Jonah speaks again in verse 4. And though Jonah is likely cold, wet, and sitting in the dark he manages to find something to look forward to - and this is where we find another strong bit of irony in this book.
Jonah 2:4 ESV
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’
Looking toward the temple of God is where Jonah will find his salvation. The temple in this sense is not about the literal temple building but it is about the presence of God. Jonah is looking forward to the day when he will again be at the temple and looking upon God. But he understands that he is driven away from the Lord’s sight. Which is exactly what he wanted in chapter 1. He wanted to flee from the presence of the Lord - and while Jonah has found that not even in the grave that is the fish’s belly can he escape the Lord - and yet in the judgment he has faced there is a sense that Jonah has experienced what it is like to be driven from the Lord’s favor - and now all he desires is to see the Lord again.

Jonah’s Prison

Verse 5 mirroring verse 3 refers back to the language of being covered in water and seaweed. Jonah’s language in verse 6 then speaks of him being imprisoned. And this prison language seems to connects back to verse 3 - though the metaphor becomes clear in verse 6. He is using the same language of being surrounded by water and being cast into the heart of the seas. He’s locked away in the belly of the fish. The bars are closed upon him forever. We likely will never find ourselves in a situation like Jonah’s - and if you do spend 3 days in the bely of a fish - no one will believe you. As many in Jonah’s day compared the grave to a prison cell so does Jonah - The bars of Sheol have closed upon him.
And though that seems as if it should be the end - Jonah does not stop there.
Jonah 2:6 ESV
6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
Though the bars were closed The Lord brings Jonah up from the pit - the pit is another word that is used for the grave or for Sheol. Jonah is anticipating the fish spitting him up on to dry land. Jonah is anticipating a resurrection - and we’ll get into this in a few weeks when we discuss the sign of Jonah that Jesus speaks of.
Jonah 2:7 ESV
7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
While at times it sounds as if Jonah thinks of himself as good as dead - here his is much more hopeful - he remembers the Lord - and he prays - and again he references the temple - the place where he longs to be - the place where God’s glory dwells.
This picture of Jonah’s prison slowly moves toward the final segment of the prayer which is praise. However, as he gets there Jonah makes a strong statement against idolatry.
Jonah 2:8 ESV
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
The vanity of idolatry. And those who worship ideas abandon the their hope of steadfast love.
Jonah likely seems to refer to either the Ninevites in front of him, to whom he was supposed to go, or the pagan sailors who are behind him, whom cast him over board and then worshiped the Lord once the storm was calmed. And yet consider what Jonah has done. Jonah has in his sin, forsaken the responsibility before him. Though Jonah has not used wood or stone he has created a different idol that he would seek to praise that he might forsake his hope of steadfast love.
But Jonah’s next statement in verse 9 contrasts this statement against idolatry…

Jonah’s Praise

Jonah in verse 9 makes a statement of allegiance to the Lord.
Jonah 2:9 ESV
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Jonah concludes his prayer with a exclamation that is repeated through the Scriptures. That “salvation belongs to the Lord”.
We read this in:
Psalm 3:8 ESV
8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah
Revelation 7:10 ESV
10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 19:1–2 ESV
1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
The refrain simply means that God is a saving God. But MOre than that - that God alone can save. There is no salvation found in vain idols, or false gods -
Jonah’s quote here is a confession that the Lord saves. Which is a grand statement from Jonah. He knows that the only way that he was able to get out of the storm is because the Lord saves, and he is well aware that the only way he will get out of the belly of fish is because the Lord saves. Yet knowing that the Lord saves is also the very reason he runs from Nineveh.
Jonah 4:2 ESV
2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
We will discuss that more when we get to chapter 4, however, what we see in Jonah is the understanding that the Lord saves, but that Jonah only wants the Lord to save his people - not those in Nineveh.
Jonah 2:10 ESV
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
As Jonah began his prayer by speaking to the Lord, so has the end of the prayer been marked by
And this beautiful prayer of seeming repentance is then offset by the picture of Jonah being vomited upon the dry land.
It almost carries the same jarring nature as when you’re having a nice time with someone and then out of nowhere they start using profanity.
And if you know the rest of the story of Jonah this prayer doesn’t seem to match the remainder of his actions and attitudes in chapter 4. Though the prayer is remarkable there are still attitudes that Jonah carries in the remainder of the narrative that stink like vomit.
So what do we learn from Jonah’s song here in Jonah chapter 2?
To go back to verse 10, God desires more than just lip service.
Jesus in Matthew 15
Matthew 15:8–9 ESV
8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
While Jonah has this incredible song full of orthodox truths about the Lord his sovereign judgment, omnipresence, mercy and salvation - it seems that he still has as lot more to learn.
I think there’s three major lessons that we can see in the song of Jonah here.
As mentioned earlier, you cannot run from the presence of God. God hears the prayers of his children… however, contrary to what many people we are not all children of God.
John 1:12–13 ESV
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
This ties to the second take away:
Salvation belongs to the Lord… gospel presentation… how
Like Jonah we have sinned greatly. We have rejected God’s laws by deciding to do what we wanted rather than what God calls us to by the law that he has written upon our heart, and written in his word.
But Salvation belongs to our Lord…
Much like Jonah’s prison locking him into the grave, into the belly of the the only hope of escape he has is the Lord. And in the same sense, the only hope we have to be saved from the prison that is our sins is the Lord. Only through faith in Jesus Christ, the son of God, can we be saved from our prison. Jonah’s refrain “Salvation belongs to the Lord” is the same for us. There is no other name by which we might be saved than Jesus Christ. The bars to our prison were closed and Christ Jesus took the record of our debt and nailed it to his cross when he died . But Jesus - similar to Jonah having descended into hell (as the apostle’s creed tells us) - raises from the dead - defeating death. And those who believe in his name are given the right, by him, to become children of God.
Though this song of Jonah’s even though it is riddled with irony on Jonah’s part still teaches us about the character of God. Jonah reminds us that God cares for his people. Jonah celebrates, here and later complains, that the Lord saves. And in the person of Jonah we see that the Lord even saves grumpy prophets who go AWOL.
In moments of utter darkness and despair, whether they were brought on by our sin, by someone else, or just the flow of life you will not be so far from the Father that he will not hear the prayers of his children. If Jonah can pray from the belly of a fish and the Lord hear his prayer there is no where that those who have been given the right to be called children of God can go that God cannot hear their prayers.
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